Where The Ice Gives Way Chapter 24

**Charlotte**

I look at Charlie, who looks at me just as confused. “A pack of what?” Charlie asks.

“A pack of wolves,” Blake’s dad answers. Charlie and I go still. Does he know? How would he know? Neither of us answers. Neither of us dares to. That’s our secret. The one thing we’ve had that wasn’t taken from us. The one thing we didn’t have to explain. We’ve kept it locked between us like a fist around a key. Blake’s dad leans forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together like he’s waiting for a confession. “Gareth,” Mara scolds, stepping up behind him. She comes to rest her hand on his shoulder, a quiet warning, and he covers her fingers with his own and taps them twice like he’s telling her he’s got this. Then Gareth’s gaze shifts past us to Blake. “Shift,” he says. The word lands in the room like a command the house itself recognises. Blake steps into the open space of the living room, away from the furniture, like he’s done this before, like the room has been arranged with this in mind. His eyes flick to mine for half a second, and my chest does that pull again. Then he breathes in, and everything changes.

His shoulders jerk, his spine arches, and I hear the sound of bone shifting, bending into something it was never meant to be in human form. His jaw tightens, and his hands claw at the air. His shirt splits at the seams and fabric tears in quick, brutal lines. His jeans shred at the thighs as his muscles expand. It is terrifyingly real. I watch, frozen, as Blake’s bones bend and break and rebuild—his skin ripples. Black fur bursts through, swallowing the last of his human shape. His hands become paws, heavy and massive. His face elongates, teeth flashing white for a second as the muzzle forms. His eyes stay dark and focused the whole time. Then it’s over. A large black wolf stands in the middle of the room, breath steaming faintly in the warm air. He is bigger than Charlie, and I like that. Thick shoulders, powerful legs, fur so black it eats the light around it. I gasp, hands flying to my mouth. Charlie makes a sound beside me, half choke, half swear, and his hand clamps around mine so tight it hurts. “You’re a…” I whisper, but the word won’t come out. I look between the wolf and Gareth, mind scrambling. “He’s a…” I try again. Gareth’s voice stays calm. “Wolf.”

Charlie swallows hard, eyes wide, face pale. He looks like his whole world just slid sideways. Mara steps forward slowly and lays a hand on the black wolf’s shoulder, fingers sinking into thick fur, and the wolf leans into her touch for a heartbeat. Then the wolf steps away from her… towards me. I tense for a second as he comes close, head lowered, ears down, almost crawling… like he’s trying to make himself smaller. He lies on his belly right in front of my feet, nudging my shoe once before inhaling and going very, very still. *Mine.* The voice in my head says louder now. Charlie’s voice comes out rough, stealing my attention. “You’re… all of you are…”

“My family are all wolves,” Gareth says, like he’s answering the simplest question in the world. “We’re a pack. Half this town is pack. Some are born into it, some are brought in, some marry in, and some find us the hard way.” He lets that sit for a second. “Mara and I are the Alpha and Luna of our pack,” he continues. “Which means we lead them. We keep order and protect our territory. Blake will one day take my place as Alpha.” Charlie’s eyes flick to Blake… well, the wolf, then back to Gareth. “Why are you telling us this?” Gareth holds his gaze. “Because you two are wolves.” My stomach drops hard enough that I swear I feel it in my knees. Charlie’s grip on my hand tightens until my fingers go numb. His breathing turns shallow. Mara’s voice is gentle. “We can smell it on you.” Theo, leaning against the doorway like he’s been there the whole time, lifts a hand awkwardly. “Yelen called it on day one,” he adds. “He’s got a good nose.”

Gareth’s gaze doesn’t leave us. “Is your father a wolf?” he asks. Charlie’s head turns slightly toward me. His green eyes meet mine, and for a second, we don’t need words. We’ve had a thousand silent conversations like this. Do we tell them? Do we lie? Do we run? I swallow and look back at Gareth. “I don’t know,” Charlie says finally, voice cracking. “He’s just… Dad.” Gareth nods once, like he expected that answer. “Have either of you shifted before?” My fingers curl into Charlie’s hand. Charlie hesitates. I feel it in the way his grip tightens, in the way his breathing changes. Then he gives a small nod. “Yes.” Gareth leans forward a fraction, elbows on his knees. “And you know what you are?” Charlie’s eyes flick to me again. I can see the memories there, like flashes. That first night. The panic. The pain. The way the world became too sharp. The way we ran until our lungs burned, and it felt like we could finally breathe. Charlie’s mouth tightens. “We thought we were the only ones,” he says. Mara’s expression shifts and softens, but there’s something pained under it too. “Did your wolves not tell you?” she asks quietly. My throat tightens. The wolf voice in my head stirs at the mention, like it’s listening. I force myself to speak. “I thought the voice in my head was made up,” I say, and the words feel strange and exposed. “I ignored it for a long time until it went away… and then recently,” I continue, voice quieter now, “when we came to this town… it started speaking again.” Mara takes a slow breath. “What does she say to you?”

I swallow hard. The answer feels too private. Too intimate. Like saying it out loud will make it real in a way I can’t undo, my eyes drop without permission to the wolf at my feet. I whisper the word before I can talk myself out of it. “Mine.” Charlie goes rigid beside me. Mara’s eyes flick to Gareth. A silent understanding passes between them. Gareth’s voice is low when he speaks again. “That,” he says, “is not madness. That is your wolf recognising what you haven’t been taught to understand.”

My heart stutters as somewhere deep inside, under fear and bruises and years of survival, the voice stirs again, clearer now and satisfied. *Mine.*