LOGINCarla woke with the sensation of sinking.For a few seconds, she didn’t know where she was. The ceiling above her was too high, too dark, the black wooden beams disappearing into shadows that seemed to move when she tried to focus.The smell in the air was a strange mixture of snow, smoke, and something ancient. Very ancient.She blinked slowly. Her head was throbbing, her neck sore exactly where the blade had touched her. Her fingers instinctively felt the skin, searching for the cut, but found nothing. No scar, no scab, no mark. As if it had never happened.The bond was the first thing she looked for. Nothing. The emptiness hit her like a punch, stealing the air from her lungs. Alexei wasn’t there. She couldn’t feel him, couldn’t feel anything. No anger, no worry, no trace of that constant warmth that had become as familiar as her own breathing. Only absolute silence where there should have been life.Panic tried to rise. She pushed it down hard, sitting up abruptly in the bed.Bed.
Alexei was going insane.Literally.The office in the Rurik mansion seemed too small to contain the violence vibrating inside him. The air around his body rippled in small invisible distortions, the windows trembling slightly as the uncontrolled frequency of his rage escaped without permission.The phone was crushed between his fingers. The screen, already cracked, gave way completely with a dry snap. The last signal from the tracker had disappeared fifteen minutes ago — an eternity compressed into nine hundred seconds.Carla had simply vanished. Erased from the map, erased from the bond, ripped from the world as if she had never existed. And that made no sense.Not after everything. Not after the mark. Not after an entire year of feeling every beat of her heart as if it were his own.He should be able to feel her. Always.Even from a distance, even while she slept, even when she was angry and ignoring him on purpose. The bond was the only constant in a world of chaos, the balance tha
Carla 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
A week and a half had passed.They were in Vienna to resolve pending matters regarding the new export route for Rurik Motors. The day had been full: meetings, dinners with suppliers, and technical visits.But now, at night, the two of them were on the hotel balcony, drinking whiskey and looking at
With nowhere to go, Sasha entered the first bakery he saw. He ordered a strong coffee, bitter as the cold morning, and stayed there, standing, observing the movement without really seeing anything.He paid, thanked with a brief nod and returned to the car, leaving the cup resting on the console. He
Alexei drove in silence, his left hand firm on the wheel, while his right rested on his own leg, restless, as if it were being forcibly restrained. Carla, in the passenger seat, kept her arms crossed, posture straight, gaze lost out the window.But she wasn’t oblivious. She felt everything.The sil
Dmitry stayed there for long minutes, simply feeling the light and precious weight of a sleeping Susan on top of him, her face peaceful, her breathing slow and warm against his chest.With care, he brushed aside a strand of her red hair, caressing her cheek with a silent, almost reverent affection.







