Page 26 of Unveiled

By the time they slipped into the shelter of trees and rocks, one by one they returned to human form, gasps, shudders, the soft thud of knees bending under the force of it.

Adrian felt the shift pressing again, the human skin waiting beneath the fur. He stood barefoot in the cold, breath steaming, and pulled on his clothes with fingers that still felt half-clawed.

Rowland was the first to speak, his voice rough. “That,” he said, tugging on his shirt, “was worth every blasted step.”

Piper smiled, her cheeks flushed. “We needed it.”

Max nodded once. “Pack’s calmer.”

Garrett didn’t speak. He dressed with sharp movements, his jaw clenched, but his eyes were less wild than they’d been earlier. The mountain had taken something out of him, or put something back.

They walked down the slope, across the land, and into the fort together, boots thudding on stone, warmth spilling out to meet them.

Inside, the air smelt of woodsmoke and stew, and home.

Adrian paused inside the door, letting the heat sink into his skin. His clan moved around him, laughing softly, shoulders bumping, alive.

For tonight, they were safe.

For tonight, they were whole.

Adrian looked up toward the dark window where the moon still hung, distant and watchful. Hope sat in his chest like a small, stubborn flame.

Uncertain, yes, but real.

And as he followed his pack deeper into the fort’s warmth, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the howl they’d sent into the night had been heard by more than the mountains.

Later that night, Adrian felt it, a faint warmth beneath his collarbone, so subtle he almost dismissed it as leftover adrenaline. A spark of heat came and went with no pattern, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.

He’d been pouring tea at the long table in the drawing room, hands shaking more from exhaustion than anything supernatural, when that flicker burnt briefly beneath his skin. He hissed softly and pressed his palm to the ache.

“Burn yourself?” Piper asked, eyeing him over her mug.

“No,” Adrian lied. “Just tired.”

She accepted the half-truth. Everyone was too tired and overwhelmed to question anything.

It continued, growing, deepening, as though something beneath his skin were waking with the dawn. What the fuck is happening to me?

By the next day, Adrian could no longer pretend. The itch throbbed with a heat that felt too deliberate to be natural. He stood leaning against the stone balustrade overlooking the lower courtyard, his breath fogging in the cold air, watching his clan move about with a strange sense of reversed distance. Like he was the ghost drifting above them instead of the man in their midst.

The ache pulsed again, sharper this time, and Adrian closed his eyes.

It’s an infection, he assured himself. Nothing that a bit of cortisone cream won’t clean up. I’ll speak to Piper when I see her. Nothing a little TLC won’t cure.

Chapter Nine

Connor

Snow had begun to fall again, thin, drifting flakes that caught in the lantern light outside The Dry Pig . Connor hated the quiet that came with the snowflakes. Too soft for a day like this. Too deceptive. The valley had been humming all morning, a pulse beneath the earth as though something enormous had rolled over in its sleep.

The path to the village had changed. Not in any way Connor could point to and prove. There were no new stones laid, and no signposts hammered in. But the air felt different as they walked. Less like a storm held in its own throat. More like a place that had decided, cautiously, to keep breathing.

Fraser moved beside him with that steady, predatory quiet Connor had come to respect. The man didn’t waste motion or words. He simply existed with the kind of competence that made Connor’s instincts ease, even if Connor would never admit it out loud.

Laird trailed half a step behind, eyes wide, taking in everything as if he was afraid the world might vanish if he blinked. He had insisted on coming along to see the village, and Connor had decided it was time. More of his clan were clamouring to come here, and he wanted to ensure it was still safe for them. Also, he was anxious for his meeting with Xiathen, eager to see what new chaos was waiting in the wings today.

And, of course, Adrian would be there.