“With Miles.” I nudged her forward, helping her onto my back. She slid into place, arms wrapping around the fur of my neck. I adjusted her weight, feeling her warmth press against me, her breath soft at my ear.For the first time since this nightmare started, I allowed myself to feel something beyon
LaurenThe sterile scent of the hospital room clung to my senses as I sat in the small, dimly lit space, the weight of the situation pressing down on me from all sides. Though, Doctor Belsing’s office house’s medical wing smelled more of wetwood, moutain air and a chill.Gingi was working on my leg,
Me? How? Impossible.I was just a nobody. A lowborn, raised in the gutters. My parents were poor, I was a waitress from the south side. We had nothing. No titles. No legacy. Just a life of struggle, day after day. So how—how could this be? Why me?“Lauren… a Lyan?” Alexander asked, his voice rough.
Abigail The air in the lodge felt thick, like something was being kept unsaid. Mom was pacing, frustrated, with Dad in the kitchen and I could feel the tension all the way down the hall. Something was wrong—more than just the cold outside.Since Mom and Owen came back from the brink, things had bee
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to feel. There was this aching sadness deep inside of me that I couldn’t explain, but it was there, gnawing at my insides.All I wanted was for everything to go right, to have just one thing go according to plan. Instead, I was running away from the only
LaurenI stood in an empty, dark field, the silence thick, suffocating. In the distance, I saw Owen and Abigail, their voices fading the further I ran. The ground seemed to swallow my every step, and no matter how fast I moved, they slipped further away.Then, Alexander appeared, but his face was co
Owen’s claws were out, only… now Abigail’s were too.There eyes flicked up at the sound of our footsteps, and the pitying look he gave me made my stomach turn.Abigail’s claws instantly retracted, “Mommy?”“What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice tight with both confusion and fury. “Get over
LaurenThe plane hums gently beneath us, a constant low vibration that lulls my tense muscles, but the restlessness in my chest refuses to fade. The world outside the window is a blur of clouds, white and endless, stretching into infinity. It’s a view I should be able to appreciate—one that should
Owen’s face darkened, and I could see the conflict brewing in his chest, muttering. “Redhead…”It was like a boiling pot on the verge of overflowing.“Shut up, Theo,” he spat, his voice cracking with frustration. “You’re full of it. You think I’m going to let you anywhere near Abigail again? I’ll—”
TheoThe woods crackled around me as I sprinted through, paws slipping on mud and rotting leaves, the air thick with pine and damp earth. My legs burned, muscles aching, but I couldn’t slow down. Couldn’t afford to.I knew I was being hunted. Heard the howls—Alexander’s guard wolves, technically—clo
“Crap…” I muttered under my breath. “What a pain…”The situation had just gone from bad to worse.Mark didn’t look happy to be here. His eyes darted around, still wide with confusion, his lips parted slightly as though he was trying to piece together where exactly he had ended up. But it wasn’t just
TheoThe cell door creaked open, its rusty hinges groaning like the bones of an old man.My body screamed in protest as I pushed myself to my feet, every muscle aching, every bruise a reminder of the last few days. The cold air hit my face as the guards dragged me out, their laughter ringing in my e
The room went completely still. Mom’s voice barely heard as she whispered, “Abigail…”My heart stopped. My blood ran cold. I could feel my face going pale, my breath catching in my throat. He hadn’t just said that. He couldn’t have.I pushed back from the table, fury flooding my chest. “Yeah, I’ve b
AbigailDinner was a war zone of silence.The only sounds were the clinking of cutlery against plates, the occasional scrape of a chair being pushed back. And with every passing second, the tension in the room grew, like a pressure cooker about to blow its lid.Owen and I sat at opposite ends of the
He pick up a tea pot, examining it, completely unbothered. “I could give you everything back. Everything you lost. The status, the power, the wealth. I’m sure you miss it. I can offer you everything you lost. Status. Power. The world that should’ve been yours.”I straightened before letitng out a sc
SophiaIt was one of those night, the ones where everything felt like it was still. The cabin was quiet, save for the gentle crackling of the fire. I had a mug of tea in hand, the warmth seeping into my fingers as I stared out at the barren trees.My cheeks were still cool from my tears, but I had c
I didn’t even try to hide it. Why bother? He was by the pond, chopping wood like it was a hobby, not a chore. Sunlight danced on the water, turning everything a little less ugly—or maybe I was just getting used to it. The cabin. The earthy smell. The life I was forced to engage with.For a moment, I