H A I L E Y
The front door clicked shut. I was in the kitchen, a half chopped carrot on the cutting board. "Liam, is that you? Dinner's almost ready."
I wiped my hands on my apron and walked into the foyer. He was standing by the door, just staring at the floor, looking pale and exhausted. Not just tired from a long day at school, but a bone deep kind of weariness I hadn't seen on him since he was a child with a bad fever.
"Liam? Honey, what's wrong?"
His head snapped up, a flicker of panic in his eyes. "Nothing, Mom. I'm fine. Just… long day. School was rough."
I stepped closer, narrowing my eyes. He wasn't fine. His scent was off. The warm, familiar aroma of my son, my pack, was muddled, tangled with something else. Something metallic and strangely sterile. I took another, deeper br
