“Different from last time?” Seth asks quietly.
“Way different.” I crouch, press my palm to the earth. The ground hums with old magic. “The Ether wasn’t this active before. It’s like something woke it up.”
And then I see it.
Silver threads run the forest floor like veins—faint, frayed, pulsing weakly. They aren’t creeping in; they’re pulling out, all of them drawn in the same direction. They stop hard at the boundary markers, like they’ve hit glass.
“Those are hers,” I say. “Bree’s.”
Stellan studies the line where the threads hit the ward. “The border’s holding. For now.”
Rhett’s jaw works. “How much did he take?”
Bree doesn’t answer. She’s staring at the pale threads with that steady, dangerous calm. “Enough.”
I stand. “Then we cut the line at the source.”
The hair at the base of my neck bristles. My wolf stirs, uneasy.
Bree appears at my shoulder, voice low. “What is it?”
“Not sure yet.” I stand, brushing dirt off my hand. “But something’s been here. Recently.”
She doesn’t flinch at the charge in the air; she never does anymore.
Her jaw tightens. “Riley?”
“Maybe.” I scan the treeline. “Or someone else.”
Thane’s voice cuts in from behind us. “Nyx was watching us the first time we were here. At the well.”
The memory hits me—that damn crow perched in the trees, eyes too intelligent, tracking Bree’s every move.
“She knows we’re here,” I say quietly.
The last few vehicles trickle in over the next half hour. By the time everyone’s accounted for, there are maybe one hundred and forty people scattered along the roadside—Feeders, mostly, with a handful of others who followed because they believed in something they didn’t have words for yet.
Bree stands near the center, flanked by Thane and Stellan. She’s giving quiet instructions, coordinating the approach. Stellan says something low, and she laughs—soft, unexpected.
I catch the moment Stellan’s hand lingers at her waist before he steps back.
Something shifts in my chest. Not jealousy. Just… awareness.
She’s not just ours anymore. She’s becoming herself in ways none of us can fully claim.
And that’s how it should be.
Her eyes find mine across the space between us. She smiles—warm, certain—and nods slightly. An invitation.
I move closer without thinking, drawn by that quiet pull that’s always been there.
When I reach her, she doesn’t say anything. Just lets her shoulder rest against mine for a breath, solid and real.
It’s enough for both of us.
Bree looks past the markers, toward the sanctuary hidden somewhere in the darkness. “Nyx said to look for the glowing daisies. That’s our way in.”
I nod. “Then we move careful. Stay tight.”
