That evening, Ronan sat through the welcome dinner in a daze, mechanically eating food he couldn't taste while his wolf paced frantically beneath his skin. The Great Hall buzzed with conversation as students from different packs began the careful dance of alliance-building and social positioning that would define their academy relationships, but all he could focus on was the empty seat at the Southcrest table where Juliana Capulet should have been.

"You look like someone who's seen a ...