MasukAlejandroThe drive took just under an hour. Modern roads gradually surrendered to narrower mountain routes until even the GPS admitted defeat. NO FURTHER ROUTE AVAILABLE Lucien glanced at the dashboard. "I appreciate a navigation system that knows when to surrender."Koa looked up from the tablet in his lap. "I don't.""You wouldn't.""I like solving problems."Lucien smirked. "You like creating half of them." From the passenger seat of the second SUV, Esme's voice crackled through the hands-free radio. "I heard that.""You were supposed to."Laughter drifted through both vehicles. It was strange how normal we had become. Two luxury SUVs carrying an Alpha, a vampire, witches, rogues, an ancient warrior who had survived before recorded history, and enough modern equipment to outfit a scientific expedition.If anyone had passed us on the road...They would have assumed we were documentary filmmakers. In a way...They wouldn't have been entirely wrong. We were documenting history.The aba
AlejandroThe days following Caelan's birth passed in a blur. Not because the Hollow Arc attacked. Not because the Haven stood on the edge of another battle. Because life... had simply refused to slow down.I had expected sleepless nights. I had expected diapers, bottles and discovering that newborns possessed lungs powerful enough to wake an entire villa. I had not expected my own employees to accidentally reveal my existence to the entire world.The announcement spread far beyond anything ArdentWolf's executives had imagined. Within hours, business journals, technology magazines and international news networks had picked it up. By the following morning, every major office across four continents had decorated their lobbies with congratulatory displays.Apparently becoming a father had made me internationally interesting. I still wasn't convinced why. Fortunately, Inferno's wards were. No journalist ever came close to the Haven. Those with harmless curiosity simply found themselves ta
AlejandroI was halfway through reviewing a software architecture proposal when my phone exploded with notifications. One after another. Messages...Emails...Missed calls.Even the encrypted executive group chat that usually remained silent except during emergencies had erupted into chaos. I frowned. "...What happened?" Zenith looked up from the couch, where Caelan slept peacefully against her chest. "Everything okay?""I have no idea."I unlocked my phone. The first message came from Olivia, ArdentWolf's Chief Operations Officer.OLIVIA: Boss... before you get angry... please read the article first.A bad beginning. The second message came from Marcus, Head of Global Security.MARCUS: Please don't fire the Public Relations department until we've explained ourselves.I closed my eyes. "They're definitely in trouble." Zenith tried very hard not to laugh. "You haven't even read it yet.""I know my employees." I tapped the link. The article opened instantly. For several seconds...I simpl
AlejandroLately, the Haven awakens long before sunrise. Not because of an emergency. Because thirty people had collectively decided that sleeping was somehow less important than checking whether Caelan was still asleep.Zenith looked up from where she sat on the oversized sofa in the villa's family room, gently rocking our son in her arms. "You'd think he was made of glass." I glanced toward the doorway. Jax had appeared for the third time in less than an hour.The moment he realized Zenith had noticed him, he cleared his throat. "I was... passing.""You don't pass the nursery three times in forty minutes," Lucien observed from his place near the fireplace. "I lost my way." Lucien looked around the open-plan living room. "...In the same hallway?"Jax frowned. "The Haven has become bigger.""It hasn't.""It feels bigger."Koa burst into laughter. "The poor man just wants to see the baby." Jax looked thoroughly offended. "I have seen the baby.""You've inspected him like a guard check
AlejandroThe first sound I heard was not an alarm.Not a warning from the wards.Not Inferno’s voice echoing through my mind. It was a tiny, indignant squeak from the bassinet beside our bed. I opened one eye. Darkness still clung to the room, the digital clock on the nightstand reading 4:17 a.m.Zenith didn’t move. Caelan squeaked again, apparently offended that the world had not responded quickly enough. I carefully slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Zenith. The attempt lasted approximately three seconds.“You’re doing the thing,” she murmured without opening her eyes.“What thing?”“The ‘I’m being very quiet’ thing.”“I am being quiet.”“You bumped the dresser.”“I barely touched it.”She smiled sleepily and pulled the blanket higher around her shoulders. "Take your son.”I lifted Caelan from the bassinet. He immediately settled against my chest, blinking up at me with the solemn expression newborns somehow manage despite having existed for only a few days.“There,” I whispere
AlejandroBy sunrise, the conference room had transformed into something that looked less like the headquarters of a supernatural alliance and more like the operations center of a high-end research team.Three laptops were open across the walnut table. A large digital display covered one wall, showing satellite imagery of the Sierra Nevada. Another screen displayed historical maps Eamon had painstakingly digitized over the years. Coffee cups outnumbered notebooks.Koa insisted that was how all important discoveries were made. Lucien insisted that was how keyboards died. Kael was already taking apart one of the Haven's drones. "You just bought those.""They'll fly better.""They already fly.""They'll fly better." Lucien sighed. "I have learned not to ask."The stone tablet from Plot Thirteen rested in the center of the table. Months ago, Zenith had asked Kael and Caius to retrieve it from the overgrown land beside the villa. She hadn't known why. She had simply... felt that it belonge
Koa’s POV Brooklyn Heights, New York. Brooklyn Heights, New York. The world does not stop for debt. It does not care about oaths made in the shadows or blood spilled on moss-covered stones. But I do and that is why I am here. The wind in this city tastes like rust. Too many horns. Too many lies.
Zenith’s POV I’m just rinsing the brushes when I hear the knock. Three soft taps. Then a pause. Then two more. I glance at Alejandro. He stills, head tilting slightly, eyes narrowing. Wolf-mode activates. “No one should be visiting,” he murmurs. “Not here.” My stomach tightens.He reaches the door
Alejandro’s POV Paint clings to the air, that sharp, clean scent of linseed oil and turpentine and dried colors, but beneath it, there’s something older. Earthier. It clings to her.Zenith stands in front of her easel, sunlight dripping over her from the windows like golden lacquer. One bare foot
Zenith’s POV I wake up with a start. But it is not fear that yanks me from sleep. It’s him. Alejandro. His side of the bed is empty, though the sheets are still warm. A breeze drifts in from the cracked window, and a scent of pine and... something electric wafts in. I sit up, heart pounding, but n







