The Wolf Mark

he physical exhaustion that wore her down. It was the heaviness that pressed against her chest, like something

cked him. He had been so scared in his final moments, so desperate to speak, but it was too late. T

till echoed

's coming. It's too late for me.

spoken to Marcus after he'd sent her back to the house. He had been blunt, dismissive even. "This isn't your fight," he'd said. But she knew it wa

the door handle, but stopped just before it. Her hand hovered over the cold metal, and for a moment, she was struck by the overwhelming sense that someone was wat

ctor Keller. The entire town of Shadow Creek seemed suffocatin

f not more so. She set her bag down on the counter, her eyes scanning the room. The sil

, sitting on the bed where she had left it. Amber walked toward it, feeling a pull, like she was mea

ey were meant for her. She flipped through the pages again, more carefully this time, reading the cryptic passages that seemed to tell a story sh

er entry, dated just a few

d, and I can't run anymore. The wolves, they're not just beasts. They'

gain. *They'll come for her next.* Her aunt hadn't been talki

e mark. The curse

e walls closing in on her. She couldn't breathe. She wasn't ready for this-none of it. But

her chest as she stood frozen for a moment, unsure whether she should open it. But there was

oor. She opened it slowly, only to find Marcus standing

" he said, his voi

g aside so he could enter. "What's going

ou shouldn't have seen what you saw in the woods," he said after a long pause. "Victor Keller was a part of someth

oil inside her. "Victor's dead, and I don't know why, but I know I have something to do w

d line. Finally, he nodded. "I should have known you wouldn't just

feeling a sense of drea

ndant of the Duvall bloodline. The wolves-the pack, they're bound t

hey were true. She didn't want to believe it, but the journal, Victor's death, and the stran

ore?" she asked, her voice risin

Duvalls were once protectors of the forest, guardians of the balance between the human world and the supernatural. But

ly's past-about the strange things her aunt had written in her

rse a group of people?

ct the town, to stop something even darker from being unleashed. But the pack grew too powerful, too uncontro

ldn't even process what he had said. *The last Duvall.* The weight of the statement settled heavily

voice trembling despite her best effort to stay co

w the fear in them. "You're going to have to make a choice, Amber. You eithe

had believed, was unraveling. She was part of something she didn't understand-something ancient and dan

n?" Amber asked, her

nd the curse, its origins. But most of all, you need to understan

ng he had told her. This wasn't just about surviving the town. It was about sa

at was coming. But she knew one thing f