Burn Bright

• Sage Hardesty³⁰¹

Cry Wolf

• She was tall and slender, like a runway model—she looked expensive. Her brown hair was streaked with gold highlights emphasized by gold glitter brushed across her cheekbones and, more heavily, over a pair of magnificent blue eyes⁷²
• Not only beautiful, but dramatic, as well, and the combination made her memorable⁷²

Burn Bright

• Well-tended nails²¹⁹

Wild Sign

• Tall and slender, with gold-streaked brown hair and deep blue eyes, Sage looked more like a fashion model than most of the fashion models⁶

Werewolf

Burn Bright

• Had her own nightmares suffered at werewolf hands⁹⁴
• About being a werewolf: “What I wouldn’t give to live an ordinary life, you know? No monsters. No dead bodies. The kind of life where I could get outraged that some guy is getting paid more than me for doing the same job. That a speeding ticket is enough to ruin my whole day.”¹¹⁰
• Sage wasn’t old-old. Older than she looked, maybe, but not old enough to have experienced institutionalized slavery²²²
• Light and dark golden brown coat²⁷⁸

Wild Sign

• Born in the last hundred years¹³

Aspen Creek Pack AKA Marrok Pack

Grandma Daisy

Burn Bright

• She was a Realtor, selling high-priced Montana dreams to very rich people who wanted to get away from the city¹⁹³

Cry Wolf

• Voice was thick and purring with Southern charm⁷²

Burn Bright

• Owns an SUV⁸⁵
• Perceptive¹⁰⁸
• Sage's voice was beautiful. Born in the Deep South, it flowed out like honey on a sore throat, soothing and sweet¹⁰⁹
• Had several credit cards and a hefty bank account under the name Samantha Harding³⁰¹

Burn Bright

• All business, none of the political maneuvering that Leah was prone to⁷⁹
• Sage was funny, sharp, and warm at the same time, a combination that let her get away with saying things that a lot of people were thinking—and not getting in trouble for it¹⁰⁹
• Would follow orders¹⁹⁸
• The dead didn't usually bother her much²⁵²

Cry Wolf

• Knew about everything going on in the Marrok's pack¹⁶⁸

Burn Bright

• Very good at knowing exactly what to say and when to leave things alone¹⁰⁹
• A good shot¹⁵⁷
• Didn't have the knowledge to start one of the cars without a key²⁷⁷

Cry Wolf

• Was brutally assaulted, which had resulted in her seeking sanctuary in Aspen Creek¹⁶⁷

Burn Bright

• Killed by Asil³⁰²

Burn Bright

• Sage was a beautiful woman, but her grin transformed her face. Made her less beautiful and more approachable⁹⁶
• Liked to wear nice clothes. Part of the reason for that was her job, and part of it was she wore them like armor. She didn’t wear soft things, colors and fabrics to make her look sweet. The clothes she wore gave her visual power. Here, they declared to the world, is a strong woman¹⁹⁴
• Likes merlot²¹⁵

Wild Sign

• The shopping queen⁵

With the Cornicks

Cry Wolf

• Between her and Leah, Sage was the more dominant of the two, but Leah took her place from her mate⁷²
• Sage is the only one who gets away with calling Charles 'Charlie'⁷⁷
• is afraid of Charles⁹⁷
• Anna liked Sage¹⁰⁵
• Sage likes Anna and thinks she has more backbone than you'd think after her old Alpha abused her¹⁶⁶
• Sage had whisked Anna away for an emergency trip to Missoula the day before her wedding, so she’d even had a proper gown²⁹³

Burn Bright

• Bran found out about her and rescued her as soon as he heard⁹⁴
• Though Sage got along with Leah just fine, it didn't spare Leah from Sage's pointed comments¹⁰⁹
• Sage and Leah were possibly as close to friends as two very dominant women (werewolves or not) could be. Leah actively liked Sage and usually behaved herself in front of her. Sage snipped and snarked at her and about her but ultimately had Leah’s back¹⁵⁶
• Charles remembered what she’d looked like when Bran had brought her here, the look in her eyes the same as Anna’s eyes when they’d first met¹⁹⁴
• Sage didn’t look at Charles with fear in her eyes anymore. He liked her. She was smart, funny, and wise. Someone he could trust to have his back¹⁹⁴
• She was the only one who ever got to call him Charlie. Because the first time she’d said it, she’d been bruised and scared. When his father had introduced him to her, she’d raised her face to look him in the eyes, terror making her shake. Then she’d said, with hopeless defiance, “Hello, hello, Charlie.”¹⁹⁴
• Charles had never heard Sage lie before²⁵⁶
• Leah did not allow herself to get close enough to Sage to fall victim to one of her witchy tricks as Charles had²⁷⁷
• Had hunted with the Marrok's mate for two decades or more²⁸⁴
• Sage was realistic enough to know that she wasn’t a match for Bran or Charles. Still, sometimes in her dreams she plunged this very knife into their bodies and heard them scream in payment for the pain she’d had to suffer for their actions. If they had not interfered in Grandma Daisy’s plans, Sage would have simply been one of the many children who had no magic and therefore served as helpers. Grandma would not have picked Sage to be her werewolf spy. Her life would have been normal. The pain of the Change, the torture of being the plaything of Grandma’s picked group of rogue wolves—that was all the fault of Charles and Bran Cornick, who had robbed Grandma Daisy of her prey and hidden him away. Even using his hair and blood, they could not find him. Sage knew now that it was because Grandma Daisy’s own half-failed binding spell, now broken, had changed the artist beyond recognition. If Bran had not changed Frank Bright’s name, though, they could have found him by his true name. All of Sage’s suffering was the Marrok’s fault²⁸⁷
• Thinking back over all the time she’d known Sage, Anna couldn’t decide if Sage had been very good at deception or just very good at avoiding things that were lies. Maybe Charles would know. Maybe it didn’t matter anymore²⁹⁴
• Was Leah's best confidant³⁰⁰
• Sage's betrayal had totally blindsided Bran³⁰⁶

Wild Sign

• Sage was the only person allowed to call Anna’s mate Charlie—not excepting Anna herself. Sage treated him like a big brother. Charles treated Sage as if she were any other member of his father’s pack: to be protected but also to be held at a distance⁴
• And the semi-good-natured ongoing rivalry between Leah and Sage (that Anna was convinced they both enjoyed) served as a reminder that no one in this pack needed to worry a more dominant wolf would overreact to a little snark⁶
• Leah was not someone Anna could give a hug to, even had it been appropriate to the situation. Sage was the only one who might have been able to do such a thing—and Sage had been a lie³⁰⁶

With Asil

Cry Wolf

• Sage had been invading his hothouse almost since he’d built it. He would have long ago reduced anyone else to shreds for interrupting his solitude. Slapping down Sage was as rewarding as beating a puppy: it accomplished nothing except to make him feel abusive¹⁶⁴
• Hello, hello was her usual greeting to Asil¹⁶⁴
• Asil liked that he didn't have to constantly apologize for his volatile mood swings¹⁶⁶
• She took off her coat and settled in just to his right to start on the next row of bushes, so he knew she was in the mood for a good talk. Otherwise, she’d have started on the other side of the bushes, where she wouldn’t get in the way of his work¹⁶⁶
• Sage, he knew, was beginning to suspect that his madness was feigned¹⁶⁹

Burn Bright

• Seldom to be found too far from Asil if he was present⁹³
• Sage and Asil had something going on- something they'd been pretty private about¹⁴⁰
• Currently Sage is playing hard to get¹⁵⁶
• Attached herself to Asil to see if he could be persuaded to tell tales about the wildlings²⁸⁵

Roses in Winter

• Called Asil her favorite evil monster that wants to die²⁸⁸

With the Wolves

Burn Bright

• The first year Sage was here, she got lost for three days in the middle of an ice storm. Jericho found her and brought her to his cabin, dried her off, and called Bran. He lit a fire in the little stove—and went outside to wait for Bran to come and pick her up²⁵¹
• Sage was scared of Jericho²⁵⁶
• Sage was the pack's traitor²⁵⁸
• Gave Hester, Jonesy and Jericho to the skinwalker²⁹³
• She’d killed Devon as painfully as she could manage without delaying too long²⁹³

Wild Sign

• Rachel was sporting a case of hero worship for Sage. Anna understood that. Sage had been the first to welcome Anna to the pack, too. Sage made it a point to protect newcomers until they could stand on their own two (or four) feet. She was an effective protector; her reputation as a fighter left most of the pack unwilling to push her too far⁷
• Sage had betrayed them all in a thousand small ways before she died. It would be a while before they quit flinching at just how thorough that betrayal had been⁷⁶