LOGIN“Stop! Don’t do this!” They can’t hear me, can’t feel my desperate attempts to stop this. I’m trapped inside the worst moment of my life with no way to change it. The world fractures around me, and for the briefest second, my mother’s fingertips brush mine. “Live, Poppy.” Then darkness explodes
** Poppy’s POV ** I blink against the darkness surrounding me. The cabin is gone. The smell of dinner. The warmth of the fire. The laughter in the kitchen. All of it has vanished. Instead, cold asphalt presses against my bare feet. I know this place. Not because I’ve seen it before, but because I’
“It seems our timing,” Leo says, looking between us, “is perfect.”“No, it’s terrible,” Alaric corrects flatly.“That depends on who you ask,” Jake shrugs.Alaric ignores him, turning back to the stove to flip the chicken with far too much focus.“So, what were you saying about defence lessons?” Leo
** Poppy’s POV **I thought Alaric would have been pissed at learning his brother had my number all along and had been messaging me, but he’s amused, and maybe even a little proud. He shakes his head again and laughs; it’s so contagious that I can’t even be mad.“Come on,” he says, standing from the
** Poppy’s POV **Bastian has been gone too long for a simple perimeter check of the cabin. I don’t know why that bothers me, but it does. I catch myself rubbing my thumb over the rim of my coffee mug again. It’s gone lukewarm, but I haven’t taken a sip in several minutes. Instead, I keep glancing
“I only detected five scents in the pack centre,” Bastian says. “The sixth entered here.”He points to a patch of flattened fern that none of us had even looked at.“They were already travelling together.”“That’s what we thought,” Leo says.Bastian doesn’t answer. He simply keeps moving, following
** Paige’s POV **They’re all looking at me.My mates, Jake and Poppy, Ronnie still clutching his book like it’s going to answer every question we haven’t even thought of yet, and Jaxon. My sweet Jax, he looks at me like I’ve just told him I’ve bought the entire Lego shop.Outside, nine wolves stand
“I don't have a name, but I just know. I think… I’m something that shouldn’t exist,” I admit.Callen swears. “Fantastic. I love that for us.”Jake clears his throat shakily. “Paige, the visions could be a trauma response or magical memory bleed-through. You need to breathe.”“I am breathing,” I whis
“I’ve got you,” Leo says, and for the first time in what feels like forever, my brain actually hears it.Leo settles on the floor beside the sofa. He lets out a breath, looking uncomfortable. He’s an enforcer, a warrior. Not a doctor or therapist, but he tries anyway. He places one hand lightly over
The thought should scare me; it doesn’t.“Is everyone safe?” I ask finally. “The pack?”There’s a pause before Callen answers. “Most of them. We lost nine. The rest made it to Midnight.”Nine. I swallow the grief that swells in my throat. Every death weighs on us, but tonight… tonight they were mine







