POV: Everly
She woke to pain.
Not the sharp kind. Not bruises or breaks or bones.
This was deeper.
It started in her chest, like a fire spreading slow and cold at the same time, then bloomed beneath her ribs, winding through her back, her arms, her spine. Her hands trembled as she pushed herself up from the straw mattress, drenched in sweat though the air was freezing.
Her first thought was that she was sick.
But no.
This wasn't illness.
It was… violation.
Selene didn't speak, but Everly could feel her curled tight inside, alert now…uneasy.
Whatever this was, it wasn't physical.
It was the bond.
Something had happened.
Something had broken.
---
The sun hadn't yet cleared the trees when she was pulled from bed by a summons to the Luna's quarters. Apparently, a servant girl had gone missing, and Everly was to fill in.
No explanation.
No concern for her limp or trembling hands.
Just: *"Be quick about it."*
She dressed in silence and climbed the south wing stairs, trying not to vomit from the pressure in her chest.
She was halfway through changing the Luna's bedsheets when the door opened.
And she walked in.
Tall. Gold-haired. Sharp-smiled. Wrapped in a pale blue cloak with the crest of the Moonstone Pack stitched over her breast.
Lyra.
Everly froze.
It had been months since she last saw her. Maybe longer. The Moonstone Pack Alpha's daughter had only just come of age, barely eighteen. She rarely visited Ironfang anymore.
But Everly hadn't forgotten her voice.
Or her cruelty.
Or how she used to whisper "wolfless" like it was a disease.
Lyra didn't look at her at first. Just breezed past, speaking sweetly to the Luna as if they were family.
Then…eyes sharp, she turned.
And smiled.
"Oh. You're still here."
Everly dropped her gaze.
The Luna said nothing.
---
That night, the pain came back.
Worse.
Like heat clawing through her core, trying to rip something out.
She bit into her own wrist to stay silent.
She didn't know what was happening.
But Selene did.
Selene was snarling now, low and constant, a storm trapped under skin.
Everly barely slept.
---
By the second morning, she was reassigned to the Alpha's war floor.
Cleaning. No talking. No lingering.
She kept her head down as she scrubbed the entry stones, eyes stinging from the soap.
She didn't mean to look up when footsteps echoed near the council hall…but she did.
And saw them.
Kyran. And Lyra. Emerging from the inner room.
His hair was damp. His tunic slightly askew.
Lyra was laughing.
Her hand brushed his chest…familiar. Casual. Intimate.
Everly's body locked.
Something inside her lurched sideways.
Selene roared.
Not aloud. Not fully.
But Everly's knees buckled.
She turned away too fast, water spilling from the bucket.
Neither of them acknowledged her.
But she felt his eyes.
Even then.
Even now.
---
Rumors moved fast.
By dusk, the whispers had spread.
Lyra. Second chance mate.
It wasn't confirmed. But it didn't need to be.
The Moon blessed them, someone said. A rare gift. A political bond.
Everly's chest burned.
Not with heartbreak.
With fury.
But not hers.
Selene was rising.
Still quiet.
But no longer resting.
---
At midday, she was sent to deliver scrolls to the armory…an excuse, really. Everyone knew the Alpha's son had been spending most of his time there since the drills.
She arrived just as Lyra stepped out, hair perfect, smile smug.
Everly didn't flinch.
Didn't speak.
But the bond writhed beneath her skin, poisoned.
Kyran didn't meet her eyes.
Not really.
But his hands clenched when he passed her.
And his wolf pushed behind his gaze like it didn't understand what he'd done.
Everly walked away before her knees gave out.
---
Later, she passed the east garden on her way back to the servant's quarters.
And stopped.
Someone was standing near the trellis vines…tall, hooded, facing away.
They turned.
A girl. Maybe older than Everly by a year or two. Brown skin. Vivid green eyes ringed in gold. A small crescent tattoo just below her ear.
She looked straight at Everly.
And smiled.
Not friendly.
Not mocking.
Knowing.
Everly blinked.
The girl was gone.
Just like that.
The garden was empty.
She looked around. No one reacted. No guards questioned the presence of a stranger.
No one seemed to have seen her at all.
But Everly had.
And Selene had noticed too.
Her growl pulsed low, thoughtful now.
Not angry.
Curious.
---
That night, Everly lay on her cot in the dark.
She didn't cry.
There were no tears left.
Just the hollow ache of a bond violated and denied.
Her body ached.
Her skin itched.
Her breath came short.
Selene was closer now.
Closer than she had ever been.
And when Everly finally drifted into shallow sleep, she didn't dream of gardens or doors.
She dreamed of fire.
Of wolves running through moonlight.
Of wind carrying her name.
And just before waking, a voice..no longer quite a whisper…rose in her chest.
**"We're not broken."**
**"We're changing."**