DEREK
The Moonstone gardens were bathed in gold and green, lanterns swaying gently overhead. Laughter floated on the cooling breeze, curling like smoke among the trees.
It should’ve felt perfect.
It didn’t.
Above us, the clouds clung stubbornly to the sky, hiding the moon.
The longer they lingered, the tighter my chest wound.
A full moon should’ve been a blessing tonight—a benediction on Mason and Erin’s bond. Instead, the clouds shifted restlessly, thick and uneasy, as if waiting for something they couldn't name.
I stayed near the tree line, hands stuffed into my jacket pockets, trying to ignore the tension crawling along my spine.
This wasn’t my day. Wasn’t my pack.
And yet, it mattered more than anything I'd ever stood witness to.
Mason paced like a caged animal at first, but
