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“I don't know any cartoons,” I said irritably, hoping Miles would leave it at that. But it was Miles. What did I expect?

“What kind of childhood did you have?” he laughed, and Bayla and Larissa also stared at me as if they didn't know whether I was joking.

“A nice one,” I clarified, barely audibly, and memories of an untroubled world in which Julian and I had still been friends came crashing down on me like a huge avalanche.

If it weren't for Miles, I would have been lost in my memories, but that prick distracted me.

Something in his jaw tensed violently as he turned away from us with his eyes downcast and walked to the window. He pushed the curtain aside slightly, sat down on the windowsill, and stared outside.

“It's best if everyone takes a few minutes and then writes their chosen name on a list.” Bayla was so insistent on the idea of names. But I had no idea what to choose. “And no one questions the names of the others.”

Larissa began to wander thoughtfully through the salon area, her gaze wandering repeatedly to the antlers.

I also started wandering around, headed for the large painting and began to wonder whether Jeremiah and Tayen Copeland had had member names, whether they were the botanical names under the deer masks, and if so, which ones had been theirs...

The fact that we were all taking this so seriously was unsettling. They were just code names, right?

Hysteresis

Angus MacRae

A strange atmosphere prevailed in the candlelit secret room. Everyone was so quiet. Some were pacing around, and I sat here, completely overwhelmed, on the window sill of the tower clock, not knowing what code name to give myself.

On top of that, Miles had gone up the black Victorian metal spiral staircase and was now looking down from the railing on the second level, as if inspecting the room. Every few seconds, I had the feeling he was watching me, but I didn't dare look up from the candles until I had come up with a suitable name.

Something. Something that would be forever.

My uncle had called himself Inkbird. What a fitting name for this mysterious man who lived in a world of books.

The thought that there was nothing that really characterised me triggered a wave of frustration in me.

I was an athlete, but not really passionate about it. Law fulfilled me, but it would be a lie to say that the hours, days, and nights in the library were fun. I was the daughter of the Alpha, the sister of the future Alpha, and the future fiancée of the next Russian Alpha.

It wasn't just that I didn't have any meaningful hobbies, I was a pretty appendage, even though this pack meant the world to me. A life without the guys was unthinkable.

An idea flashed through my overcrowded mind, and I clung to it to keep from forgetting that there was at least one snippet floating around in my head that I could call my own. I repeated the name in my head over and over, and it felt strangely... good.

When I looked up, our eyes met, but unexpectedly, Miles immediately looked away, broke out of his trance, and disappeared into the rows of shelves on the second level so that I could no longer see him.

Now my miserable curiosity was piqued.

Larissa reached for the black notebook lying on the side table next to the couch, where she had settled back down.

“That's the book we got from Alarik,” I remarked, and Bayla turned to me in surprise.

“Oh, yes... I almost forgot. We want to use one of these little black notebooks as our means of communication. Larissa doesn't need hers.”

“Means of communication? Why did I give you my phone number?” I asked, confused.

“Who knows how safe it is to communicate via our phones, especially now that this hacker is active,” Bayla began. “Even if we save each other’s numbers under our code names. The book is more for emergencies. Or if one of us thinks that a text message wouldn’t be safe at that particular moment.”

“Not at all conspicuous to use Alarik's book and leave it up here,” came a sarcastic voice from the steel spiral staircase.

Miles had come down without me noticing.

“Not really, if we set up a hiding place for the book where anyone of us can find it and access it unobserved,” Julie interjected.

“This isn't a good place,” Miles pointed out, and I nodded.