LOGINCarla realized something was wrong the moment she left through the hospital’s back door. The parking lot was far too quiet. The snow fell in lazy flakes over the parked cars, covering everything with a clean white layer.But the bond… the bond felt strange. Too quiet.She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and frowned. That didn’t make sense. Throughout the entire day, even while ignoring Alexei, she could still feel him. Anger. Worry. Anxiety. All mixed together.Now… nothing. Absolutely nothing. As if someone had closed a door.Her phone vibrated inside her coat pocket. She pulled out the device. No new messages, no calls. Her chest tightened immediately.Idiot.She had spent the entire day ignoring the man. Maybe he had given up. Maybe he was angry. Maybe…No. That didn’t explain the strange feeling. Carla quickened her pace toward the parking lot. Her car was only a few meters away. Just a few more steps.Then she heard a voice.“Doctor Carla.”She turned and froze.Three men w
Alexei stood still in the hospital corridor for several seconds after Carla went back into the emergency wing.Without looking back.Without answering when he called her name one last time.The bond was still there.Fragile. Painful. But alive.She was hurt, and he was starting to realize that maybe he had ruined more than just an argument.“You’re fucking up,” he murmured to himself as he ran a hand over his tired face.“You should drag her home.”Alexei ignored the Lycan.“I’m being serious.”“She needs to breathe.”“And what if something happens to her while she’s ‘breathing’?”That made his chest tighten instantly. Because the animal instinct inside him never spoke for no reason.The Lycan was territorial. Violent. Protective. And it had been restless since morning.The phone vibrated in the pocket of his coat.Dad.Alexei closed his eyes slowly.Great. Perfect. One more pile of shit.He answered.“What?”Anatolie’s voice came through calm on the other side.Too calm.“Are you goi
Carla ignored the first message.And the second.The third one too.By the twelfth, she turned off her phone screen with enough force to nearly crack it, the gesture drawing a worried look from a nurse walking by. But she didn’t block Alexei. Because deep down, she knew that would be cowardice — blocking meant running away, and Carla didn’t want to run. She wanted to see. She wanted to know if he kept trying.And Alexei kept trying. Of course he did.The phone vibrated again inside the pocket of her lab coat as she walked hurriedly down the hospital corridor, her sneakers making a muffled sound against the freshly cleaned floor.Lex🐺: “You alive?”Two minutes later, when she still hadn’t replied:Lex🐺: “Wrong answer. You should have started with ‘hi, love of my life.’”Five minutes:Lex🐺: “Karlochka.”Then:Lex🐺: “I know you’re ignoring me on purpose.”And then:Lex🐺: “This is emotional bullying.”Carla closed her eyes for a second before putting the phone away again, pressing he
Susan remained motionless on the sofa, her fingers stopping their caress of Demyan’s hair. Even the child seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere, his little blue eyes shifting from one adult to the other.Dmitry showed no immediate reaction. Which was worse. Much worse. If he had exploded, if he had shouted, Alexei would have known how to react. But his brother’s absolute stillness, the way every muscle seemed to freeze, was infinitely more terrifying.“Who?” His voice came out low, a deadly whisper. “Who said that?”“One of the prisoners. He recognized me, said I was just like my mother.”Dmitry remained completely still for a moment. His face betrayed no emotion, but Alexei knew his brother far too well not to notice what was happening behind that mask.Calculation. Analysis. And a cold fury, far more dangerous than his own.“And you didn’t think it was important to tell me this immediately?”“Because I knew exactly what you would do!”“And what would that be?!” Dmitry’s voice
Alexei woke up before the alarm.The room was still submerged in the bluish twilight of morning when he slowly opened his eyes, feeling the warm weight of Carla sleeping against his chest. Her breathing was soft, rhythmic, completely oblivious to the whirlwind already beginning to form in his head.For a few seconds, he just stayed there. Quiet. Motionless.Her scent still permeated the sheets, a mixture of soap and something exclusively Carla that the Lycan recognized anywhere. Her small body curled against his made the inner beast purr contentedly like a damn house cat.“Our female.”“You’re ridiculous.”But he didn’t push the thought away. Because, since the day before, it was the first time Alexei could breathe without feeling like his head was about to explode. She had that effect on him — she calmed storms that even he didn’t fully understand.Carla slept deeply, her dark hair spread across the pillow, her mouth slightly swollen from the kisses of the night before. Fucking beaut
Alexei didn’t know exactly at which moment he had lost control.Maybe it was when Carla opened the door wearing his damn shirt. When her brown eyes challenged him in silence, still hurt, still angry, but hot in a way that drove him absolutely insane.Or maybe it had been long before that — the second the Demidov had mentioned his mother in that underground cell and the entire world had collapsed under his feet.It didn’t matter anymore.Because now Carla was between his body and the bedroom wall, her bare legs wrapped around his waist, the dark shirt bunched up between his fingers, and Alexei could smell her invading every inch of his self-control.That natural scent. Clean. Warm. Feminine.No artificial perfume in the world came close to it.The Lycan inside him growled softly, satisfied, like an animal that had finally found its place after hours lost in the dark.“Finally. Stop thinking about those worms. She’s here.”Alexei almost rolled his eyes mentally.“You never get tired of
The sound of the double doors closing behind him was a physical relief. The Conclave was ready.All the clans present, runes sealed, circles active, magical traps disguised beneath luxurious tapestries. Nothing more could be done that night. Nothing… except return to her.Alexei climbed the stairs
The great hall of the Rurik mansion had been transformed.Ritualistic torches burned in obsidian holders. Bands of black and silver velvet hung from the ceiling, intertwined with enchanted branches that bloomed under the influence of the moon, even with the sky covered. Among the stained-glass wind
The soft light of the magical torches rippled across the walls of the protection wing. Inside, the scent of lavender and damp earth still lingered in the air, mixed with the heat left by the protection circles drawn on the floor with blood, moon dust, and enchanted herbs.Sasha slowly pushed the ha
Meanwhile, at the Rurik mansion…The darkness of the room dissipated slowly. The energy, once drained, began to return like warm mist upon the skin.Deep in her mind, Susan dreamed.But that dream was not merely a reflection. It was a glimpse. A whisper of what was to come.She was in a field cover







