Chapter Text
Prologue - The Bridge
July 2005 - Mount Rainier region, Washington State
The storm had rolled in fast-thick clouds swallowing the moon and rain slamming down like bullets. The highway was nearly deserted, just two streaks of headlights cutting through the night as Markos sped recklessly into the dark.
“Get off me, Markos!” Nerina’s voice cracked as she shoved at his arm, still locked around her waist. She was curled against the passenger side door, trapped between cold window glass and his suffocating grip.
The tires hissed across wet asphalt. They were going far too fast. Too fast for her to jump. Too fast for him to stop.
Panic surged through her chest like a second heartbeat. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. The inside of the car was hot with tension, but outside, the night was ice cold and full of drowning.
The storm raged on, and the rain hitting the windshield sounded like fists. Like the world itself was trying to get her out.
“Markos, stop. Please-calm down.” She tried to steady her voice, to ground him like she used to during pack training. But it came out shaky. She wasn’t sure if she was calming him or herself.
He didn’t stop.
His eyes were dark, wild-furious that she’d ended things. That she no longer wanted to be his. And now? His skin trembled, heat rolling off him in waves. He was close. Too close.
No. No. Not now. Don’t phase-
“If I can’t have you, no one can” he snarled, words heavy with something monstrous underneath.
The bridge appeared ahead-old, narrow, slick with rain. And in a terrifying moment of clarity, Nerina realized: he’s going to crash us.
She tried to grab the wheel. His grip tightened. The car veered.
Metal screamed against concrete.
Then water. Cold. Rushing. Swallowing.
The car slammed into the river below, and darkness engulfed everything. Her head cracked against the window. A roar of water. Her breath gone. Blood blooming in the water from her arm-he’d phased inside the car.
The heat of his transformation split the air, and shards of pain slashed across her side. The pressure shattered the window next to him and Markos-now a massive grey wolf-leapt free, vanishing into the storm.
Coward.
She was still inside. Her bones screamed. Her lungs burned. She clawed at the seatbelt, the door, anything-
But her body was heavy. The river pressed against her. Her vision blurred. Bubbles escaped her mouth as the cold crawled up her throat.
A crash.
A burst of light.
Glass broke.
And then arms. Strong, familiar arms. Ezren, her brother.
His face hovered over hers, dripping wet, panic carved into his usually unreadable features. He was shouting, but all she heard was water. Her lungs screamed.
Then-air.
He breathed life into her, and she gasped, choking and coughing up river water, her body convulsing. She was lying on the road. Rain soaked her. Her vision cleared-
And that’s when she saw her.
Kaela.
Lying on the edge of the bridge. Blood trailing from her temple. Her limbs twisted in a way that was all wrong. Her hair fanned out like a halo, stained crimson.
Ezren ran to her. Dropped to his knees.
“Kaela-” his voice broke as he lifted her into his arms, shaking her, calling her name over and over. But she didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
Nerina watched the woman who raised her-her sister in all the ways that mattered-slip away in Ezren’s arms.
And then, mercifully, the darkness returned.
Chapter One – Something like home
Three Months Later...September 2005
Nerina could breathe again. Sort of.
Her body had healed-scars along her arm where Markos had phased, faded bruises beneath her skin-but the ache in her chest was permanent. Kaela was gone. Ezren hadn't been the same since. He missed his wife. And she missed her sister.
When Nerina found out that Kaela hadn’t hesitated when Nerina fell in the water. Nerina had sent a quick SOS text: He’s in a mood again. Kaela and Ezren had followed them in the car, speeding down the back roads. Kaela saw the crash happen and didn’t wait-she jumped from the still-moving car, dived into the river.
She hit her head on the rocks before she even reached the waterline.
She died instantly. A warrior’s instinct. A mother’s heart.
Ezren had nearly killed Markos afterward. Nerina stopped him-but barely. The pack stepped in. Ezren stepped down. The man they’d once called the fiercest Alpha across the Northern tribes was now... quiet. Heavy. Wounded.
Ezren Seke, former Alpha of the Ashani, once a legend, now a shadow, had reached out to an old friend-Sam Uley. The moment Sam heard what happened, he welcomed them. No hesitation.
Ezren was the one who’d helped Sam when he first phased, back when the pain and the noise nearly tore him apart. Ezren had taught him control. Purpose. Brotherhood.
To Sam, Ezren wasn’t just a warrior-he was the blueprint.
And now, he’d returned with his sister.
Nerina.
The one who lived.
The one who never stopped hearing the sound of rain.
They moved. Left the territory. Left the memories to start fresh.
To Forks.
Forks, Washington – Sam and Emily’s Home
The front porch light was glowing softly, spilling golden warmth onto the damp wood. It smelled like pine and fresh baked cornbread-comforting in a way Nerina didn’t realize she’d missed.
Ezren stood still for a second beside her, hand clenched on the duffel slung over his shoulder. He hadn’t spoken much during the drive. He rarely did anymore unless it was about pack structure or patrol rotations.
When Sam opened the door, there was no pause-no hesitation.
He stepped forward and pulled Ezren into a hug. One of those tight, back-slapping, wordless ones that only happened between men who had lived through hell together.
Ezren didn’t hug back right away.
Then he did.
It wasn’t loud or dramatic, but it shook something loose in Nerina’s chest.
“Brother,” Sam said quietly.
Ezren nodded. “It’s good to see you.”
Then Sam turned to her.
“Nerina?” His voice was a little rougher, but warm. His eyes flicked briefly to the faded scar across her arm, then back to her face.
“You’ve grown up so much.”
Nerina groaned, half-smiling. “Oh, don’t start, Sam. I’m barely five foot four.”
Sam laughed, and she let him hug her. It was strange being back here. Safe. Normal. But a different kind of normal than before.
Inside, Emily hugged her like a big sister. The house smelled like honey butter and sage. There were soft throw blankets everywhere. Her heart ached with the kind of warmth you only notice after too long in the cold.
As they sat around the table, Nerina’s eyes drifted toward the fire crackling in the hearth.
Every other summer. That’s how often they’d come to visit when she was a kid.
Back before Ezren had phased. Before everything changed.
She remembered Jacob’s crooked smile, how he used to let her paint his nails just to annoy Billy. She remembered Quil teaching her how to skip rocks even though she kept hitting herself in the shin. She remembered Leah, cool and confident, they would gossip about the boys and Leah would go on about how much of a crush she had on Sam. It was silly really but it was her childhood.
And then there was Paul…
She rolled her eyes just thinking about him.
They’d fought constantly.
He once told her she had the personality of a kicked pinecone. She told him his face looked like it lost a fight with puberty.
Good times.
She hadn't seen him in years, but she could still hear the way he used to drag out her last name with mockery-
“Se-kehhh.”
Nerina took a sip of water and sighed.
She wasn’t ready to see him again.
But that didn’t matter.
Forks was home now.
And whether she liked it or not… these wolves were her family.