Finally, her shoulders slump. “There’s a spot by the river about a mile from here. Reeyan showed it to me when we first got together. It’s quiet, and no one will bother us there.”
“Perfect.”
We pack a basket with bread and cheese and a bottle of wine that Sera produces from a cabinet in the kitchen. The walk through Grayhide territory is peaceful, the afternoon sun warm on our skin as we follow a winding path through sparse trees and scrubland. Neither of us speaks, but the silence feels comfortable rather than strained. Like we’re both gathering our thoughts for what’s to come.
The spot Sera mentioned turns out to be a small clearing where the river bends, creating a natural pool surrounded by flat rocks perfect for sitting. She spreads a blanket on the largest one, and we settle with our legs dangling over the edge, close enough to the water that I can feel the cool mist on my ankles.
“This is beautiful,” I admit as I accept the glass of wine she pours for me. “I can see why you like it here.”
“It reminds me of that place behind the archives back home. Remember? Where we used to sneak off when Mother’s lessons got too boring?”
The memory surfaces like a bubble rising through still water. Two little girls with silver-blonde hair, hidingbehind dusty shelves and whispering secrets they didn’t quite understand. Back before the curse made us strangers wearing sister masks.
“I remember.” I take a sip of wine, letting the tartness roll over my tongue. “You used to tell me stories about the packs beyond the mountains. Made-up adventures about brave omega wolves who saved their territories from evil alphas.”
Sera throws her head back and laughs. “I’d forgotten about those. I was such a weird kid.”
“You were so creative. I was jealous of that. I was always jealous of you, Sera. You had this fire inside you that I could never match. Even with the curse dampening everything, you still found ways to push back, to question, to want more. I just…accepted it. Accepted being less.”
My sister sets down her wine glass and turns to face me. “You were never less.”
“That’s not how it felt. Everyone always compared us. Sera, the bold one, Caelan, the dutiful one. Sera, who chafed against tradition, Caelan, who embraced it. I spent my entire life trying to be the perfect Llewelyn daughter because I thought that’s all I was good for. The one who colored inside the lines while you redrew the entire picture.”
“Caelan—”
“Let me finish.” I hold up a hand because if I don’t get this out now, I never will. “When you left to investigate the curse, when you mated with Reeyan and broke the binding on our entire pack, I was proud of you. So proud. But I was also angry. Because you got to be the hero, while I was still stuck being the good girl who did what she was told. And then the curse broke, and suddenly I could feel everything I’d been suppressing for two decades, and I didn’t know what to do with any of it.”
Sera’s eyes glisten. “So you went wild.”
“I went searching. For anything that would help me figure out who I actually am without the curse telling me what to feel. Or rather, what not to feel.” I stare out at the river, watching sunbeams dance across the surface. “The bar that night, the stranger I went home with…I wasn’t just being reckless. I was trying to feel something real for the first time in my life. I wanted to know what it was like to want someone without the curse muting every sensation.”
“And you found Patrick.”
“I found my mate. I didn’t know that’s what he was. Not until later. But even that first night, something felt different. Like I’d finally found a missing piece I didn’t know I’d lost.”
Sera reaches over and takes my hand. Her fingers are cold from holding the wine glass, but the gesture warms something inside me. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. After the curse broke, I was so focused on helping the pack adjust, on building the Cultural Center, on my own relationship with Reeyan…I didn’t stop to think about what you might be going through.”
“You had a lot on your plate.”
“That’s not an excuse. You’re my sister. I should have made time.”
We sit with that for a moment, with the river rushing past and the sun continuing its slow descent toward the horizon. There’s grief in the space between us, mourning for all the years we lost to a curse neither of us asked for. But there’s hope, too. A chance to rebuild what was stolen.
When she speaks again, Sera’s voice drops low, almost confessional. “Can I tell you something? Something I’ve never admitted to anyone?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve been jealous of you, too. These past eight months, I’ve watched you throw yourself into life with such abandon…. Part of me wishes I could do the same. Isn’t that ridiculous? I’m the one who broke the curse. I’m supposed to be free. But even now, I catch myself holding back. Gauging every reaction and measuring every emotion against what I think I should feel instead of just…feeling it.”
“The curse was part of you for twenty-three years. You can’t expect to undo all that overnight.”
“I know. But it’s frustrating. I watch you dance at pack gatherings like no one’s looking. I see the way you laugh too loud and talk too much and take up space without apologizing for it, and I think…that’s what freedom looks like. That’s what I fought for. So why can’t I claim it for myself?”
I squeeze her hand. “You will. It just takes time.”
“Says the woman who went from curse-broken to married-to-a-Thornridge-wolf in less than a year.”
The joke falls flat, but I appreciate the attempt. “Speaking of which, have you heard from Mom and Dad?”
