POV: Everly
It started with a whisper.
Not from Selene.
Not from the trees.
From someone else.
"You walk too quietly."
Everly froze halfway through the corridor near the southern training wing. Her hands were full, laundry she'd been ordered to deliver to the warriors' quarters and the voice had come from just over her shoulder.
She turned.
And there she was again.
The girl from the garden.
Only this time, she wasn't vanishing.
She stood leaning against the stone wall like she belonged there, arms folded, smirking just slightly. Her dark curls were braided back, half-wolfish leathers hugging her figure. Her eyes, green rimmed in gold, sparked with something wild.
"You always look like someone's about to hit you," the girl said casually.
Everly's mouth opened. Then closed.
"I…" She blinked. "Who are you?"
The girl laughed, soft but clear.
"You always start conversations that way?"
Everly stiffened. "You were in the garden. I saw you."
"Of course you did. You're supposed to." She pushed off the wall. "No one else sees what doesn't want to be seen."
"What do you mean?"
The girl ignored the question and instead glanced at the folded linens in Everly's arms. "Is this what they've got you doing today? Glorified laundry detail?"
Everly didn't answer.
The girl stepped closer, not threatening, but curious. Her gaze swept over Everly with something that wasn't pity… but wasn't judgment either.
"You smell like someone who's never been claimed."
Everly stiffened. "I don't have a…"
"You do." The girl cut in gently. "But that's not what I meant."
There was silence between them for a beat too long.
Everly searched her face. "Are you from here?"
A laugh again. "Hardly."
"Then why are you…"
"Because not all packs throw their unwanted away." Her tone was light, but something behind her eyes darkened. "Some of us build something better."
Everly's fingers gripped the fabric tighter.
"What are you talking about?"
The girl smiled. Not kindly. Not cruelly. Like she knew something and wasn't ready to share.
"You'll understand soon."
Everly's voice was barely a whisper. "Understand what?"
But the girl was already turning.
"Wait," Everly called after her. "What's your name?"
She paused at the hallway corner and glanced back.
"Spirit."
Then she was gone.
---
Later that afternoon, Everly found herself in the kitchens, still shaken. Spirit hadn't just seen her, she'd *spoken to her like they were equals.* Like Everly *mattered*.
She hadn't had a real conversation like that in…
Maybe ever.
She turned to one of the older kitchen women, trying to keep her tone casual. "That girl. The one near the southern wing. In the black leathers?"
The woman blinked. "Who?"
"She said her name was Spirit. Dark braids, green eyes…"
"There's no one by that name assigned to the southern wing," the woman said, already turning back to her pot of stew. "You sure you weren't dreaming, dear?"
Everly's chest tightened.
"I…never mind."
---
By sunset, the courtyard buzzed with news.
Lyra wasn't just staying for the week, she'd been formally invited to attend warrior council briefings.
That wasn't standard for visiting daughters.
Not unless… they were being considered.
Rumors of her being Kyran's second chance mate were everywhere now, thick as smoke.
Everly stayed silent, as always. Eyes down. Movements careful.
But her skin itched with heat every time Lyra passed.
When she arrived in the gathering yard that evening, the air was unusually still.
Too still.
And Everly felt it before it happened…Selene humming low, like a warning.
She turned just as a tray of dirty plates was "accidentally" shoved from the serving table by a passing elbow.
The crash drew attention from every corner.
Everly instinctively dropped to her knees to clean it up, but not before Lyra's voice rang out above the murmurs.
"Careful with your hands, girl. You don't want to damage the only thing of value you've got left."
A low chuckle rolled through a small cluster of warriors.
The Luna stood nearby.
She said nothing.
Kyran was in the far corner.
He didn't look.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't move.
Everly's hands trembled as she cleaned the glass.
But her eyes didn't water.
Selene didn't whimper.
The wolf inside her growled. Low. Cold. Awake.
---
That night, Everly stood in the outer courtyard, staring at the treeline.
The wind was strange.
Sweet.
Like the garden from her dream.
She didn't know what she was waiting for.
But something inside her whispered that she *wasn't alone*.
And then she heard it.
Her name.
Whispered soft. From the dark.
Not Kyran's voice.
Not Selene's.
Someone else.
And when she turned to look, the trees moved like they'd breathed her name into the wind.
She didn't sleep that night.
And this time, she didn't feel weak because of it.