Kieran’s POV

I feel the tension in the air the moment I wake. It isn’t the usual morning stiffness or the lingering pain from the strike. No, this is different. There’s something—someone—lurking in the edges of the pack healer’s presence, something that doesn’t fit.

Her hands hover over my wound, and the faint brush of her fingers sends a tiny flare of heat up my arm. Not the warmth of normal healing, but a subtle, almost dangerous sting. My muscles tense automatically, though I ...