Aiden’s POV

We gathered after the battle, and you could see it in our faces still hanging there, like the scent within wounded earth, which we are tending to as a pack. Every time we lost one, it was like a cut to our heart, reminding us of the cost for every life saved.

The silence that fell over the clearing after they had won was a grave one. We healed silently as we fed on the remnants of battles waged far too long. I had sat and watched with a twinge in my heart as Hayley kneeled next to the moans of an injured resident, soothing them back to...