The scent of old paper and the weak sunlight filtering through the bookstore's high windows, was Winter's sanctuary. Here, amidst towering shelves, the oppressive weight of the Cross mansion had been lifted off Winter's chest, just slightly. Her fingers traced the familiar, worn spine of a book before sliding it back into place with practiced movements.
"Ugh, kill me now," Tessa's voice, filled with frustration, echoed through the quiet. She emerged from the back room, lugging a heavy bin overflowing with shredded paper and discarded waste. Her usually bright auburn hair was pulled into a knot, and faint smudges of dirt stained her cheek. She dumped the bin near the recycling station with a clatter that sounded so loudly even in the stillness. "Seriously, Winter. Just put me out of my misery."
Winter raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter. Tessa was an omega in the Cedar Ridge pack, a smaller, less influential group bordering the Stones. "That bad?"
"Bad?" Tessa scoffed, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Bad is an understatement. It's demeaning. It's… it's intentional humiliation." She paced the small space behind the counter. "Do you know what my 'pack duties' consisted of yesterday? Cleaning out the communal dumpster area. By hand. Because the hose was 'frozen'. It wasn't frozen, Winter. Beta Liam just decided it was too much trouble to check. Then, because I apparently didn't scrub hard enough – with my bare hands in freezing water – I got assigned latrine duty at the patrol barracks. Latrine duty! Like I'm some… some servant!"
Winter listened, a knot of empathy tightening in her chest. "Sounds like Liam needs a swift kick where it counts."
Tessa barked a harsh laugh. "Try suggesting that. You'd be next on latrine duty, or worse. It's always like this. The grunt work, the literal garbage cleaning, the errands no one else wants. 'Omega contributions,' they call it. Feels more like punishment for existing." She slumped against the counter next to Winter, her shoulders sagging. "And the looks. The constant reminders that you're the bottom rung. The disposable one. It grinds you down, you know?"
"Yeah," Winter said quietly, her gaze fixed on a display of travel guides she was supposed to be refreshing. "I know a bit about grinding." Her own life was circled around being an outsider so she sort of did.
Tessa nudged her shoulder gently. "Speaking of… how's the zoo? Any new exhibits?"
Winter's lips thinned into a grim line. The nightmare still clung to her like a second skin, and Sable's claws pricking her sweater felt like a print. That evil witch. "The usual circus. Sable decided trash duty was beneath the maids this morning. My arm feels like she used actual steel claws, not just the suggestion." She rubbed her upper arm unconsciously.
"That woman is poison," Tessa hissed, genuine anger flashing in her eyes. "How you live under the same roof…"
"Choice isn't exactly a luxury I possess," Winter said flatly. "Orphanage, then the Crosses. Not much of a selection."
Tessa sighed, her anger momentarily replaced by curiosity. "I still can't wrap my head around it. A human, raised by the Stone Pack Alphas? How… how was that even possible? How did you survive?"
Winter picked at a loose thread on her dark sweater. "Survival is the key word. Vincent saw a PR opportunity, I think. The benevolent Alpha taking in a poor, abandoned human child. Made him look like a hero. The reality was… different. Sable made sure of that from day one. The kids at school picked up the scent of my weakness like sharks." She didn't elaborate. The scars were hidden, but the memory wasn't. "Being human in a werewolf world is like being a mouse at a cat convention. You learn to be quiet, fast, and hope they're not too hungry."
"And Caspian?" Tessa prodded, her voice dropping slightly. "He seems… different. Less mean towards you?"
Winter snorted. "Caspian? He's harmless in his own way. Mostly just an annoying gnat buzzing around." A flicker of distaste crossed her face. "Though, speaking of exhibits… walked in on a rather unsavory one yesterday. Him and Evelyn Rock. Going at it like rabbits on his bed."
Tessa's jaw dropped. "Evelyn? His cousin? Seriously? Goddess, the Stones really are something else." She shook her head, a mixture of disgust and fascination. "Doesn't that… bother you? Living with all that?"
"Bother me?" Winter met Tessa's gaze, her green eyes cold and dry. "Tessa, after the things I've seen and endured in that house? Two wolves rutting barely registers. It's just… background noise. Depressing, slightly nauseating background noise." The casual acceptance in her own voice was chilling, even to her.
The bell above the shop door jingled. Henry Vance, the bookstore owner's son, strode in, bringing a gust of cold air. He was tall, broad-shouldered like most dominant wolves, with sandy hair perpetually ruffled and kind, if currently troubled, hazel eyes. He was a Gamma in the Cedar Ridge pack, Tessa's pack, and generally considered one of the good ones.
"Afternoon, ladies," he called, unwinding a thick scarf. He headed straight for the small coffee machine tucked behind the counter. "Gods, I need caffeine. Running on fumes."
"Rough day at the pack office?" Tessa asked, her posture unconsciously straightening a little. Henry's presence often had that effect; he carried authority without the usual arrogance.
"Rough doesn't begin to cover it," Henry groaned, pouring himself a large mug. He leaned against the counter, mirroring their positions, the lines of stress evident around his eyes. "Spent the entire morning with my uncle, the Alpha. Going over security protocols. Again. Feels like that's all we do lately."
Winter started restocking bookmarks into their display holder. "Trouble?" she asked, her tone carefully neutral. Pack security wasn't usually her concern, but anything that caused tension in Austen City could ripple out.
Henry ran a hand through his hair. "Trouble's putting it mildly. The Rogues… they're getting bolder. Much bolder. And exponentially more brutal."
Tessa paled slightly. "Brutal how? More thefts? Trespassing?"
Henry's expression turned grim. "Worse. Killings, Tessa. Targeted killings of pack wolves. It's not just skirmishes over territory lines anymore. It's… executions. Ambushes. We found another patrol member last night, just outside the western perimeter. Young kid, barely shifted his first full moon." He swallowed hard, his knuckles white on the coffee mug. "Torn apart. Not in a fight… it was deliberate. Messy. A message."
A cold dread, different from her usual anxieties, sank into Winter. The image from her nightmare – crimson on snow – flashed behind her eyes. She forced it down. "Why now? What's changed?"
"That's the million-dollar question," Henry sighed. "Uncle thinks it's a new Rogue Alpha consolidating power. Someone ruthless, smart. Organizing the scattered groups. They're not just feral outcasts anymore; they're coordinated. And they're targeting us. Pack security, patrol routes… they seem to know things." He took a long gulp of coffee. "Hence the frantic hiring. We're trying to bolster the patrols, upgrade surveillance tech, everything. But finding wolves willing to step into this… this escalating violence? It's tough. And expensive."
Tessa wrapped her arms around herself. "It feels like the whole city's holding its breath. Like something terrible is coming." Her voice was small.
"It feels like it already is here," Henry corrected softly, his gaze distant. "The attacks are increasing. The brutality… it's unprecedented. We're locking down tighter, but…" He shook his head, "Is it enough?""
Winter finished with the bookmarks, her movements precise. The familiar scent of paper and dust usually soothed her, but Henry's words had injected a new kind of chill into the bookstore. Rogues. Killings. A new, brutal Alpha. The wolves tearing at her in her dreams suddenly felt less like phantoms and more like harbingers.
She glanced out the window. The streets of Austen City looked normal under the pale winter sun. People hurried past, bundled against the cold, oblivious to the doom. Oblivious to the escalating war between the packs and the shadows gathering at their gates.