Share

School Hunting

last update publish date: 2025-07-07 23:40:46

Zenith’s POV

This morning started like a painting I didn’t want to finish, soft light streaming in through linen curtains, the faint hum of birds outside, and Alejandro sitting across from me, watching as I add delicate brushstrokes to my canvas.

He does not say a word. He rarely does, anyway. But there is something reverent about how he watches me paint, like I am creating a piece of the universe he has not seen before. My phone buzzes on the table, dragging me out of my bliss. Mom.

I pick it
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The First Fracture

    ZenithSleep did not come easily that night. Not because I was afraid. At least, not entirely. Fear was simple. Fear could be identified, faced, controlled. What unsettled me now was something far more difficult to contain. Awareness.The child had responded. Not instinctively or reflexively but deliberately. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt it again. That impossible moment in the forest when the corruption recoiled beneath my feet, when the construct had frozen as though something inside it recognized a force it could neither consume nor understand. And beneath all of that...The baby. Present and listening.I lay awake beside Alejandro while rain tapped softly against the Haven windows. His arm rested across my waist protectively, even in sleep, his body warm and solid behind me. Usually that steadied me instantly. Tonight, my thoughts still churned like stormwater.The room remained dark except for the low amber glow of the hearth near the far wall. Shadows flickered softly acros

  • The Haven Of Shadows    What the Ancient Flame Finally Said

    AlejandroNobody spoke while we returned to the Haven. Not because there was nothing to say. Because there was too much.The forest behind us no longer felt entirely dead, but it did not feel alive either. Patches of green had remained where Zenith’s power and the child’s response had touched the corruption, scattered through the gray earth like fractures in winter ice. Proof. That was what unsettled everyone most. Not theory or prophecy but evidence.Koa walked ahead this time, unusually quiet, his sharp gaze constantly moving through the trees. Lucien remained near the rear, silent as smoke, but I could feel the vampire thinking. Fast. Ruthlessly.Ragnar walked beside Seraphine in complete silence. Protective again. Interesting. And Zenith...I tightened my hold on her hand slightly. She looked calm outwardly, but our bond betrayed the truth beneath it. Her emotions moved in waves now, confusion tangled with awe, fear threaded together with fierce protectiveness.Not for herself. Nev

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The Thing Beneath the Silence

    AlejandroNobody spoke for several seconds. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath with us. A thin streak of green still wound through the dead grass near Zenith’s feet, fragile but undeniable. Life pushing back against absence. Not aggressively or violently. Just...naturally. Like dawn arriving after a long night.Zenith stared downward, visibly unsettled. “I didn’t cast anything.”“I know,” I said quietly. That was the problem. Or perhaps the miracle. I still had not decided which.Lucien rose slowly from his crouched position, brushing gray dust from his fingers. The vampire’s expression had lost its usual amusement entirely. “That,” he said carefully, “should not be possible.” Koa let out a strained breath beside us. “Fantastic. We’re back to sentences nobody wants to hear.”But even he sounded quieter now and more cautious. Ragnar stepped closer to the restored patch of earth, his pale eyes narrowed with frightening focus. Then, without warning, he crouched and pressed his

  • The Haven Of Shadows    What the Hollow Leaves Behind

    AlejandroThe rain began just before dawn. A slow, silver rainfall that drifted through the forest surrounding the Haven like something half-awake. The kind of rain that carried scent farther than sound. Wet earth. Pine bark. Blood.I stood on the eastern overlook with my hands braced against the stone railing, staring into the trees below while Inferno remained restless beneath my skin. He had not spoken since the Hollow Arc touched the edge of our awareness inside the Placed Zone. That silence bothered me more than rage ever could.Behind me, the Haven was waking. Footsteps echoed faintly through the lower corridors. Wolves shifting patrol rotations. Vampires retreating from the coming daylight. Witches reinforcing the perimeter lines with low murmured incantations that vibrated softly against the walls.But underneath it all, tension coiled through the territory like a wire pulled too tight. Because everyone had felt it. Not the constructs or the attackers but something deeper. Som

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The Shape of What Is Seen

    Alejandro We didn’t wait, because waiting had already cost us clarity once. Now, we controlled the next move. “Divide,” I said. Not loudly or forcefully. But it carried across all twenty-nine. Koa blinked. “…just like that?” “Yes.” Lucien’s smile sharpened. “Finally.” Ragnar didn’t speak. He simply turned and chose his position. That was how it began. Not chaos or scattering but structure, precise and deliberate. The Haven didn’t break. It refracted into smaller units. Pairs, triads and single anchors. No predictable pattern. No mirrored movement. No full picture. Zenith remained with me. Of course she did. Not because she had to. Because she was the axis. Jax stood opposite us. Not beside or behind but forward. The first point of contact. He didn’t hesitate, neither did he question. Good. “Remember,” I said. He nodded. “Don’t resist everything.” A pause. “Only what matters.” That was the difference now. Before, we would have fought it. Now, we filtered. Jax stepped past the thre

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The Silence That Follows

    AlejandroWe did not stop walking. Not immediately. Not even when the corridor ended. Because something followed. It was neither because of the footsteps nor the presence but the absence. Like the world behind us had been… edited.Koa was the first to glance back. Just one, quick and instinctive glance. “…it’s gone.” I didn’t answer because it wasn’t. You don’t feel something like that…And then nothing. You feel where it was. And that was worse.We crossed the boundary into Haven territory. The shift should have been immediate, familiar, grounded and ours. Yet it wasn’t. It felt subtle but wrong. Like a note slightly off-key in a song you’ve known your entire life.Zenith slowed. Her hand pressed more firmly against her stomach. “It followed,” she said quietly. Lucien’s gaze sharpened. “Impossible.” “No,” I said. “Not followed.” I turned slightly. Not enough to face it. Just enough to feel it. “It marked.”That word settled deeper than anything else. Koa frowned. “…marked what?” I di

  • The Haven Of Shadows    Oaths in Ash and Light

    Alejandro’s POVThe moon is high when I find him. Koa stands at the edge of Plot Thirteen, just beyond the reach of the porch light. He is still healing. I can smell the silver in his blood, the faint bitterness of wolfsbane clinging to his veins. But he stands like a sentinel. Silent. Unmoving. Wa

  • The Haven Of Shadows    A Garden For The Moonlight

    Zenith’s POVThe new cabin smells like cedar and rain. There is a softness to it now, like the place had been holding its breath for years and finally....finally, exhaled. Alejandro has not said much about the renovations, but that is how he is. Quiet, watchful, always moving mountains behind the s

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The Desire To Belong

    KoaThe pain is dull now. Dull and distant, like a memory I have not yet decided to keep. The kind that lingers just under the skin, too proud to fade but not loud enough to demand attention. Silver and wolfsbane, a coward's poison. It burns slow, stalling the body, whispering doubt into the bone

  • The Haven Of Shadows    The Healer And The the Wolf

    ZenithThe wind is different up here. It feels sharper and a tad bit more honest. It bites my cheeks as I move through the thinning trees, Alejandro trailing behind me in silence. He has not spoken much since Inferno relayed the message, only told me what I needed to know. Koa is wounded with Silve

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status