LOGINA force grips Kai and throws him across the compound. His back slams against the wall with enough impact to make his teeth clack together. Air bursts from his lungs. A high-pitched ringing fills his ears, drowning out the sounds of the battlefield. He slides down the wall, his fingers scraping at the rough stone, unable to grasp anything.He finds it again, blinks it back, drags air in, gets his hands under him, and looks up.Jackson is still in her grip.He is fighting it. His hands on her forearm, his body trying to find leverage, his legs kicking once, twice, finding nothing. His face is changing color. But that's not what Kai sees first. What Kai sees first is what Numenessa is doing. The hand that holds him is glowing, faintly, a deep and specific illumination that travels upward from her palm and into Jackson, and where it travels, energy drains.Numenessa observes him with a sense of quiet satisfaction as the light spills into her palm. The corners of her mouth curl into a smil
The ground remembers every hit.Stone has cracked in a wide ring around where Numenessa first landed. Hairline fractures race outward through the compound, splitting steps, climbing pillars, disappearing beneath buildings.Dust still rises from the impact site in slow curls. The light drains warmth instead of giving it. Too white, too cold, the light of something that does not belong to this world's sun.Garren shifts mid-stride.His body fights the change, as though the wolf inside him is not a companion but a second self that must be wrestled into the surface.An Eta takes one involuntary step backward.Bones announce themselves loudly. His shoulders crack, then his spine, the sound of it splitting through the compound air as he drops forward onto his hands. His knuckles split, darkening, nails curling and thickening as the skin beneath them tears.His jaw unhinges.A string of saliva stretches between his upper and lower fangs. His tongue swells faster than his mouth can reshape ar
"Everything," he growls, "everything I've done, every choice I've made, every sacrifice and hardship, I did it for you and your sister. For this pack." He tightens his grip just a bit. "And you stand before me and call it selfishness."Kai chokes out a sound that almost resembles laughter.Garren releases him.He lands and braces himself against the wall with one hand. Slowly, he straightens up. He rolls his jaw, touches the corner of his mouth, and looks at the blood on his fingers."There he is," Kai says quietly. "The man I grew up with."Garren cracks his neck and flexes his hand, looking at his son. "You embarrass yourself."Kai lunges forward.The wolf within him propels him, covering the distance with a force that should connect.Garren slips aside. Kai catches nothing but empty air. Losing balance, his body crashes into a chair that collapses under him, leaving him sprawled across the stone floor.He lies there for a moment.Kai spits blood onto the stone, plants one hand in t
The balcony outside Kai's room catches the afternoon light at an angle that makes everything below look deceptively peaceful.Kai stands at the railing with his forearms resting on the stone, watching the compound with stillness. Three days. Three days of walking these grounds, eating at this table, sleeping under this roof, and he is no closer to Torren's grave than the morning they arrived. No closer to a single honest answer about his mother. Every question he raises meets the same wall — a polite redirect, a subject change so smooth you almost don't notice the door closing.Every soldier he passes snaps to attention. Every pack member on the street bows their head. They celebrate him, genuinely, it seems, pressing forward to shake his hand on their walks through the territory, offering food, offering their names, looking at him with open warmth.It doesn't feel like anything. It mostly feels like noise.Although he wishes to stay longer to conclude his investigation, the rumors ab
The night's air carries the smell of diesel, wet stone and old smoke. Nothing like where they'd come from. Even the breeze feels tired.Garren stands at the balcony railing with both hands clasped at the small of his back. Below, the compound spreads out in the dark."Is everything ready?" he asks."Yes, Alpha." Elder Harvey stands two paces behind him, a folder under one arm. He opens his mouth, then closes it again, exhaling through his nose.The corner of Garren's mouth lifts. His eyes catch the light faintly but he doesn't turn around."You're not sleeping, Princess." He senses Frida without even looking her way.Harvey turns, trying to see who he's talking to only to see Frida standing at the balcony entrance, one shoulder against the doorframe, arms loosely crossed. She has changed into a dark robe, her hair down,Harvey straightens immediately. He crosses to her and takes her hand, pressing his lips briefly to her knuckles. "My lady."Frida looks down at the gesture with exhaus
Kai is breathing hard, trying to stay calm. Jackson is watching.Ivy bites her lip, smirking at the heat that fills her. She likes that they can’t help themselves when it comes to her.Kai groans and goes to step forward. Jackson blocks him, pushing her back behind him. Kai bares his teeth.“You sensed it too. She wants it,” Kai bites out.Jackson rolls his eyes.“Go for a run. You're a mess tonight.” Rubbing his neck, Jackson sighs. "You'll ruin her if you should take her."He backs Kai off, but it doesn’t matter because Kai grabs her, dragging her out toward the bathroom on the left and shutting the door before Jackson can stop him.He presses her into the door, holding her there as his mouth closes over hers. He is so fast it makes her breathless.In seconds, they ripped each other of clothes, breathing heavily, eyes glowing like hungry beasts.He lifts her onto his waist, his cock begging at her entrance, his lips covering hers, his hands fucking her wild strands of hair up even m
The basket slips from Numenessa's hands, spilling herbs across the ground. She stands still, not out of fear. Her eyes catch her reflection.The river that flows through her garden is clear tonight, with moonlight transforming its surface into liquid silver. And there, looking back at her, is a fac
"I just arrived," she blurts out, the words rushing from her. "I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk and... well, I think I got lost—""Lost?" Jackson’s smirk is knowing, almost teasing. "You know this mansion's layout, Ivy."Her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She opens her mouth to argue, but K
He has tried to bury that memory but with Jackson mentioning it, he remembers. The night Kai unintentionally challenged his father against his plan to wipe out a whole weak pack simply because he deemed them unworthy. When the pack's defender tried to fight him, his power exploded, nearly killing
The kiss is a mistake he doesn't have time to regret.One heartbeat she’s furious, breathing hard enough to shake, and in the next she’s on him—soft mouth, reckless heat, a collision he never saw coming.Kai reacts before thought can interfere.His hand finds her hair almost in disbelief, fingers c







