Mag-log inAlaric presses his lips together, giving a small wave towards the phone, and Bastian bows his head slightly. “It looks like Ronnie found something, we thought you might want to hear it,” Callen says. “Hang on.” Muffled voices come through the speaker, and something thumps before Paige speaks agai
** Jake’s POV **The silence that settles after Ronnie’s words is uncomfortable. For a long moment, no one moves. The forest seems unnaturally still around us, as though even the birds have decided this isn’t a conversation they want any part of. Ronnie clears his throat. “So,” he says, his gaze d
** Jake’s POV **A minute later, the cabin door opens again. Callen steps out with far too much satisfaction written across his face. Poppy follows a second later. The moment she sees all four of us waiting, she hesitates, her steps faltering. Her gaze lands on me, then Leo. Then it drifts to Alaric
** Jake’s POV **My wolf practically whines in my head as my eyes track Poppy walking inside with Callen. Every second I spend with her makes every second away from her more difficult. “I know this is difficult,” Ryder says, pulling our attention back to him. “But for Poppy’s sake, you all need to
“Hey,” Paige says softly.“Hey,” I reply, my voice cracking. Her smile fades and her eyes narrow as she studies me. “What happened?”“Nothing, I’m okay.”Callen snorts a laugh, and I shoot him a look. “Callen, get out,” Paige orders.“Well, that’s rude.”“Out,” she demands, and he wisely retreats,
** Poppy’s POV **The door closes behind us with a soft click, and I finally take my first real breath in hours. I want to freak out. I want to shout that this isn’t supposed to be happening. But allowing myself to get worked up is not good for anyone or anything. Stuff will break, people will pani
** Ryder’s POV **The second the car doors shut, the world goes quiet. It’s not a peaceful or relieved quiet; it’s a stunned silence.Paige sits between me and Parker in the back seat, staring straight ahead. She hasn’t said a word since the police finally let us go. Her glow has dimmed to almost no
Paige snorts a laugh. “Honestly? I have no idea. But tell him thanks; that actually helps more than he thinks.”We turn down a familiar street, and my chest tightens painfully. These houses haven’t changed. The same cracked pavements. The same leaning fences. The same park.My childhood feels like a
** Paige’s POV **I feel it before Ronnie says the words, a subtle pull in my chest, threads tightening between me and each of them, different textures, different temperatures.“You are Spirit,” Ronnie says to me, his voice steady. “Not light alone. Not life alone. Spirit is will, choice, meaning. Y
The absence shifts and my head snaps toward the treeline, the Twiceborn all following my gaze with their hackles raised. The hollow I felt earlier… it’s closer now. Still not visible, still wrong in a way that makes my skin crawl, but aware… watching.“Ronnie,” I say urgently. “That thing I felt. It







