Chapter 27 - Mara’s Redemption

There was a palpable restlessness about the rogue camp the morning after the Blackfangs had launched their last-ditch ambush that I could feel in my bones. Wolves sped back and forth between tents, mending the breakers of the barricades, waiting upon the wounded, and setting an edge on weapons blunted in the turmoil of the night. The air was thick with pine and smoke and the sharp tang of blood—a sour stench reminding us how close we'd come to losing everything. I stood on the edge of the encampment, my boots sinking into the churned dirt, as I watched Kael and Jace speaking by the main firepit. Mara was not in sight, and I imagine she had gone far away after what she did. My wrist throbbed, the crescent mark pounding with a dull ache under my sleeve, a harsh reminder of the ritual that linked Kael and me more solidly than anything ever had before. The bond pulsed beneath my skin, steady and strong, but not enough to rid me of the weariness dragging me down.