Noctisardor Bypass No Expectation. No Drama.

The feral girl didn't think so much about her relationship with Rowyn, but in a way the boy had saved her as much as she'd saved him. Goldfinch had spent weeks here alone with only Etienne's occasional visits to fill her belly and ease her mind. Otherwise she'd sustained herself on meager meals and cold nights. Even a simple girl like her knew that a wolf could only carry on that way for so long.

Their pairing had settled some primal insecurity within her, whether it lasted a season or a lifetime. It felt right; she felt safer.

Though not in the presence of those beasts. Goldfinch eyed them again, fear morphing into disdain.

The one in the back. She looks thin. Not quite sickly, Goldfinch thought, but unwell in a way nearly invisible to the eye. Weaker, maybe. Even then the task seemed almost impossible.