The castle had grown colder in Sayori's absence.
Fenris didn't speak of her, not aloud, but the servants knew better than to say her name. Even Thalen only mentioned her in passing, careful with his tone. The Alpha's temper was fraying, pulled taut by an emotion he couldn't quite name, much less master.
Longing. That was too soft.
Rage. That was too simple.
It was need — raw and buried so deep it made his skin itch and his bones ache. She was supposed to be safe. Hidden. Overlooked. Yet the only human in his household had drawn blood for uncovering the secrets no one else had dared touch.
And she'd done it for him.
He remembered the way she looked last — pale against the firelight, lips chapped, trembling when she stood before him to report what she'd seen. Her voice soft. Steady. Never once asking for praise.
She'd given him truth.
And he'd given her danger.
Fenris stood before the great window of his war room, red eyes fixed on the frost-bitten fields beyond the castle wall. "Summon the High Seer," he said quietly.
Thalen looked up, startled. "The Seer? My lord… she hasn't spoken to anyone in years. Not since—"
"She'll speak to me."
Thalen hesitated. "This is about Sayori."
Fenris's jaw tightened. "This is about my mate."
The word hung there, heavy and final. Even the flames in the hearth seemed to quiet.
Thalen bowed low. "As you command."
---
The High Seer came at dusk, blind eyes veiled in silver threads. Her fingers were stained with ink, her mouth smeared with ash.
"She lives," she rasped, before he asked.
"I know that."
"She dreams of fire. Of teeth. She walks the edge between waking and death."
Fenris's hands curled into fists. "Can you reach her?"
"She is not the one lost," the Seer murmured. "You are."
"I am the Alpha—"
"And yet she does not fear you. Strange, is it not?" The Seer tilted her head. "Stranger still that she listens to you at all. Human ears are not so loyal."
Fenris growled low. "Speak plainly."
"She is not your servant," the Seer said. "She is your mirror. And mirrors must be protected, or they will break."
There was a long pause.
"What will you do, Alpha of the North, when they try to keep her from you again?"
Fenris turned, eyes blazing.
"Then I will break the world to get her back."
---
That night, he summoned his captains.
"Prepare the escort," he said.
"But my lord," one began, "the healer in Hollowmere—"
"I will not leave her in another man's hands."
They dared not argue.
The next morning, the black wolves of the northern court began to stir.
The cursed Alpha was moving.
And his enemies — those who had watched the girl bleed, who had looked away when she screamed — would soon discover just how much wrath a quiet human could inspire.