The Wolf Without a Voice' and the Three Who Claimed Her

POV: Rafe

I woke up screaming.

At least, I thought I was screaming. My mouth was wide open, my throat straining with effort, my entire body shaking with whatever sound should have been tearing out of me. But like always, nothing came. Just the silence that had followed me my whole life.

My hand flew to my chest, pressing hard against the spot where it hurt. It felt like someone had reached inside my ribcage and was trying to rip something vital out of me.

I gasped for air, my silk pajamas soaked through with sweat. Moonlight streamed through my window, bathing my enormous bedroom in silver light. Everything a Sterling heir could possibly want.

Everything except the one thing I actually needed.

My bedroom door flew open and Father rushed in, his sleeping robe hastily tied. His eyes found me immediately.

"Another one," he said. Not a question.

I nodded, still gripping my chest.

He sat on the edge of my bed and pulled me against him, his hand rubbing circles on my back. At eight years old, I probably should have been embarrassed to still need this, but I hurt too much to care.

"It's worse tonight, isn't it?" Father's voice was quiet. "The pull is stronger."

I nodded against his shoulder.

"She's close," he murmured. "Your twin is somewhere nearby. That's why you can feel it so intensely."

Twin. The word still felt strange even though Father had explained everything last week after I'd drawn that picture of two children holding hands. I had a sister. A twin sister who'd been separated from me when we were babies.

"The dinner party starts in two hours," Father said. "Are you still sure about this? You don't have to sneak out tonight. We could wait, find another way to locate her."

I pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes, then shook my head hard. No waiting. I'd already waited eight years without knowing what I was waiting for. Now that I knew she existed, now that she was close enough for me to feel, I couldn't wait even one more day.

Father studied my face, then sighed. "Alright. But Rafe, you have to be careful. We still don't know why you were separated as babies. Someone deliberately sent you down that river in opposite directions. There might be people looking for you. For both of you."

I nodded to show I understood.

"Try to rest until the party starts," Father said, standing. "You'll need your strength. And remember, you have to be back before dawn. If Vivienne or my grandparents notice you're gone, there will be questions I can't answer."

He paused at the door. "When you find her, remember that she's probably had a very different life than you. She might not understand what's happening. She might be scared. Be gentle."

I nodded one more time, and he left.

I lay back down and stared at the painted stars on my ceiling. My chest still ached with that terrible pull, but underneath the pain, something else was growing.

Hope.

Tonight I was going to meet my sister. Tonight I was finally going to be whole.

Two hours later, I stood in the main hall of the Sterling estate, dressed in my formal dinner suit and trying not to fidget while adults talked about things I didn't care about.

The hall was packed with the most important families in Silver Moon Pack. Everyone who mattered had been invited, which meant the house was full of people I was expected to smile at politely.

I hated these events. Too many people trying to talk to me and then looking uncomfortable when I couldn't answer. Too many pitying looks. Too many whispers about poor Lord Daemon's defective adopted son.

But tonight the crowd was actually useful. With this many people around, no one would notice one small boy slipping away.

I stood beside Father near the grand staircase, my posture perfect. Vivienne was on his other side in an emerald dress, playing the perfect hostess. She hadn't looked at me once since the guests started arriving, which was normal.

"Lord Daemon," a pompous looking Alpha approached. "Wonderful party. And young Rafe is looking well."

"Thank you, Marcus," Father replied smoothly. "Rafe has been making excellent progress in his studies."

"Still not speaking though?" The Alpha's mate gave me that pitying look I'd learned to hate. "Such a shame. Have you considered that specialist school in the northern territories? I hear they work wonders with special children."

The way she said special made it sound like something disgusting.

Father's hand tightened on my shoulder. "Rafe is exactly where he needs to be. He doesn't require fixing."

The couple looked startled by Father's sharp tone and moved on quickly.

"Insufferable people," Father muttered. He glanced down at me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, but my hand drifted to my chest again. The pull was getting stronger every minute. It felt like an invisible rope was tied around my heart, tugging me toward the eastern territories.

Toward the slums.

Toward her.

Father checked his watch. "The main course will be served in twenty minutes. That's when you slip away. Everyone will be focused on the food and the speeches. I'll make sure no one notices you're missing."

I squeezed his hand in thanks.

"Good luck," he whispered. "And be safe."

Those twenty minutes felt like the longest of my entire life. When the dinner bell finally rang, the crowd started moving toward the formal dining room. In the confusion of everyone finding their seats, I disappeared.

No one noticed. I walked quickly toward the servant's entrance at the back of the house, my heart pounding.

The night air hit my face when I stepped outside. Cool and crisp and filled with the scent of the full moon. My wolf stirred inside me, restless and excited.

Find her, my wolf seemed to whisper. Find our other half.

I didn't know exactly where I was going. I just followed the pull in my chest, letting it guide me. My feet carried me down the paths of the Sterling estate, past the gardens and stables, toward the gates.

The guards were used to seeing me wander the grounds. They nodded as I passed, probably thinking I was just escaping the boring party.

Once I was out of their sight, I started running.

The pull in my chest was almost painful now, like a hook caught in my heart dragging me forward. I ran through the commercial district with its closed shops. I ran past the residential areas where middle-class families lived in nice houses.

And I kept running as the buildings started changing. The houses became shabby. The streets became dirty. The lights became fewer.

I'd reached the slums. The place Father always told me never to go alone.

I didn't care about the danger. I didn't care about anything except following this pull that got stronger with every step.

My feet carried me to the edge of the slum district, to a building that looked slightly better than everything around it. A school.

The pull in my chest suddenly got so strong I stumbled and had to catch myself against a tree. This was it. She was here, somewhere inside this building.

My sister was here.

I moved closer carefully, staying in the shadows. All the windows were dark except one on the third floor. A single light glowed there, warm against the darkness.

Without thinking, I started climbing the tree near that window. When I reached the right height, I carefully pulled myself along a branch until I could see inside.

And that's when I saw her.

A girl. Small and thin, with dark hair falling in tangled waves around her face. She was on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor with a brush that looked too big for her hands. Her clothes were ragged and stained. Her arms were covered in bruises.

But her face.

Looking at her face was like looking in a mirror.

The same silver-grey eyes. The same sharp cheekbones. The same shape to her mouth and nose. We looked exactly alike except she was a girl and I was a boy, and she looked like she'd been through hell while I'd been living in luxury.

As if she felt me watching, her head suddenly snapped up. Her eyes locked onto mine through the window.

The world stopped.

Recognition slammed into me like a physical blow. Not just that I knew her, but something deeper. Something that went way beyond memory or logic.

This wasn't just some girl who looked like me.

This was the other half of my soul.

This was my sister.

And from the way her eyes went wide, from the way her hand flew to her chest in the exact same spot where mine ached, from the way her mouth opened in a silent gasp that matched my own, I knew she felt it too.

She recognized me just as completely as I recognized her.

After eight years of being incomplete, of searching without knowing what I was looking for, of feeling like part of me was missing, I'd finally found her.