Page 63 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

“Are we sharing our trauma?” His voice is light but there’s a dark curiosity lacing each word, almost daring me to speak the truth.

“No,” Raven says quickly. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” She holds my cheek and stares into my eyes. “When you’re ready, I’ll listen.”

Hating how long I’ve had to hide who I am from her, I grimace and decide to give her some of my past. “I was thinking about my family.”

Understanding flashes over her face, and she drops her gaze, thumb running over my whiskers. “Carter taught me a little bit about changelings. They sent you away?”

I nod in confirmation, worried that if I answer with words, the whole story will spill out of me. Anger flares in her irises, and she brings her other hand to my face, holding me in place as she says, “They have no idea how special you are.” Then the woman who’s changed my entire life course leans forward and presses her lips to mine in a tender affirmation of her words. “No idea,” she whispers, mouth moving against mine before she kisses me again.

My soul cracks with her words, and I close my eyes again, hoping to Mother Faerie this isn’t a dream.

* * *

RAVEN

Perfection is a fool’s wish. Scars are what makes a person beautiful. Physical, psychological, it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing more worthy of love than a broken soul with stitches holding it together. A smile filled with so much depth you can reach inside and find nothing but darkness lurking within it. Or a person who, no matter how hard they laugh, can’t quite conceal the hurt in their eyes. Being damaged doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy; it just means the people who choose to love you, despite all your chips and cracks, see who you are beneath the marks the world has left on you.Thatis real.

Adler’s pain echoes through the link, still filling my stomach with churning unease. Whatever memories haunt him are dark. He didn’t have to explain what happened. His family threw him away like trash, trading him for a human because the fae believed he was cursed.

I wish they could see the man I see now, because they’d know there’s nothing cursed about him. He’s broken and imperfect but there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s more than a changeling. Dropping my forehead to his chest, I inhale him, breathing in his familiar sandalwood scent. There’s a small pulse of hope flitting through the link, almost like he’s trying to keep the emotion from us. Sending a wave of calm and reassuring thoughts, I wrap my arms around his torso and hug him, resting my cheek against his chest.

“This is what makes a pack special,” Carter says quietly. “There’s nothing that compares to a Luna’s pack. We are one. We share pain. We share joy. No one needs to carry the weight of regret or shame because we’ll do it together. Together we are strong. Together we are one.”

“One,” Everett says.

Draco exhales, like he’s been holding his breath for a few minutes, and says, “One.”

“One, for better or worse.” Brayden chuckles, probably thinking how it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets any better.

“One,” I say, squeezing Adler again.

His chest expands with a deep breath, and he breathes the word too, completing the pack. Holding us together.

He is the nurturer, but he needs it as much as he’s going to give it to us,Joan says.

I know.

The pain he let out without realizing it told me all I needed to know. Adler is afraid of family. If I’m honest, part of me is scared to hand my heart to five people. Each of which hold the ability to break a piece of me. The only person I’ve let in since Mom and Dad is Aunt Lou. I’ve given them my trust.

Here’s hoping they don’t destroy it.

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