Draven.
The night had swallowed the last of the torches, the clearing empty now except for scattered petals and the faint echo of howls long faded.
Guests were gone, Jesse among them—his parting grin still burned in my mind, sharp with that stunned edge after I’d dropped the truth about the pup.
Regret gnawed at me like a wolf with a bone. I shouldn’t have told him.
Goddess, what was I thinking? Letting him believe it was mine at first would’ve been safer—cleaner.
But the words had spilled out, raw and honest, and now they hung between us like a blade waiting to fall.
Valtira would hate me if she knew. She’d never look at me the same. And I couldn’t bring myself to confess—not tonight, not when everything finally felt right.
I scanned the pack hall one last time. The corner wher
