Lina
Day two in Noah’s house felt like prison with better furniture and werewolf guards. The twins were going stir-crazy, and honestly, so was I. Being trapped in a stranger’s house in a town full of actual werewolves wasn’t exactly my idea of a relaxing vacation.
“Mama, can we go outside?” Thea whined for what had to be the hundredth time, pressing her face against the window until her nose left smudges on the glass. “Please? We’ll be good!”
“Not yet, baby,” I said, trying to sound reasonable instead of paranoid.
Outside, two wolves trotted down the street. Just another day in Ravenshollow where werewolves grabbed their mail in wolf form and nobody blinked twice.
My phone buzzed again, adding to the symphony of notifications I’d been ignoring all morning. With a sigh, I finally checked the damage.
Sarah:“Emergency??? Is everything okay?? The kids?? LINA ANSWER YOUR PHONE”
Mika:“Boss, the shop is fine but WHERE ARE YOU? Also Mrs. Patterson says if you’re dead she’s switching to the inferior coffee place on Main”
Vivi:“Lina this isn’t like you. Call me!!! Also I stress-baked twelve dozen cupcakes please come back before I drown in buttercream”
Sarah again:“Tyler’s mother is telling everyone you ran off with a man. I told her to mind her business but CALL ME”
Great. Just great. Pine Valley’s gossip mill was working overtime.
I typed back carefully, crafting lies that tasted bitter:“Family emergency upstate. Kids are with me. Back soon. Shop is in good hands.”
To Sarah specifically:“Not dead. Not eloping. Will explain when I get back.”
My own senses were driving me insane, flickering between normal and supernatural like a broken radio. One second I could hear someone’s TV three houses down playing what sounded like a cooking show where someone was dramatically failing at making soufflé, the next I was back to normal human hearing, then suddenly I could detect a bird I couldn’t even see. Nocontrol, just random bursts of too much information that made my head spin.
Knox hovered nearby, pretending to read a book while actually watching me. He’d been doing this all morning, maintaining a careful distance while somehow always being within arm’s reach. It was annoying and weirdly comforting and I hated that I noticed.
“The twins need to run,” he said carefully, setting down his book. “Their wolves are restless. We could go outside and let them-”
“There are literal wolves walking down the street,” I cut him off.
“Those are pack members. They won’t hurt-”
“What happens when your people smell them?” I interrupted, voicing the fear that had been growing since yesterday. “When they realize these outsider kids are yours? That you had cubs with a human? What then?”
His silence spoke volumes.
“That’s what I thought.” I turned back to my phone, pretending his lack of answer didn’t scare me.
The twins had found ways to entertain themselves, at least. Thea was building a fort out of couch cushions while Rowan played with blocks on the floor, constructing elaborate towers with the focus of an architect.
That’s when he did it.
One of his blocks rolled under the heavy bookshelf, too far for his little arms to reach. Instead of asking for help like a normalchild, Rowan simply looked at his hand, concentrated for a second, and then...
His hand shifted. Just his hand. One moment it was a normal four-year-old hand, the next it was a tiny wolf paw complete with gray fur and claws. He hooked the block with one claw and pulled it out, then shifted back to human like he was changing socks.
Normal as breathing, practiced as walking.
I must have made a sound because he looked up at me, block clutched in his definitely-human-again hand.
“Baby,” I managed, dropping to my knees beside him and gently taking his hand. “What... how did you do that?”
“I just changed it,” Rowan said simply, as if I’d asked him how he’d tied his shoes. To demonstrate, he held up his hand and shifted it again. Fur sprouted, fingers shortened into a paw, tiny claws extending. Then back to human. Smooth as breathing.
“Thea can too,” he added helpfully.
