INICIAR SESIÓNJuneSomething moves through me from the top of my skull down to the soles of my feet like cold water finding every crack, filling every space, settling into me until I am absolutely, completely, terrifyingly calm.The mark on his neck is wrong in a way that I feel before I fully understand it. The skin around it is bruised dark, purpling outward from a center that looks infected and angry and rotting at its edges. It does not look like something that was given. It looks like something that was taken. Forced into skin that never consented to it, that has been fighting it ever since, and losing the fight slowly in the most awful and visible way.Someone put their mark on him.On my mate.I stare at it for a moment that stretches longer than it should.Somewhere underneath the cold that has settled into me, something is burning. I can feel it distantly, the way you feel a fire in another room, present and real but separate from where you are standing right now. Rage, probably. The kind
Caleb Tanya steps closer again. Slowly. Like she already belongs in my space. The lantern light flickers across her face while she crouches in front of me, her eyes fixed on mine with that same obsessive softness that makes rage crawl beneath my skin. “You still look at me like you hate me,” she murmurs quietly. I pull harder against the silver chains around my wrists. Pain slices through my skin instantly. “I do hate you.” Instead of anger, she smiles. Like hearing that means something to her. Like even my hatred is enough attention to make her happy. “You’ll stop eventually,” she whispers. “Once you understand that I love you more than she ever could.” The bond inside my chest burns harder at her words. Like she is somewhere close. My June is close. I know she is near. My wolf stirs violently beneath the silver poisoning our system, reacting to her presence instinctively. Tanya doesn't notice the change in me... that my wolf is fighting against the effects of silver
Caleb The first thing I notice is the smell. It reaches me before consciousness fully does, before I have even opened my eyes or understood where I am or why my arms will not move the way I am telling them to. It is rot and rust and something older than both, the kind of smell that settles into stone over years and decades and does not leave because nothing has ever come through to push it out. Animal carcasses, I think, when my brain starts working again. Something dead in the corner, maybe more than one thing, the sweet-sick heaviness of it layered under damp earth and mold and the particular cold that belongs only to rooms that have not seen light in a very long time. I open my eyes. The cell is stone. That is the clearest thing. Stone walls, stone floor, a ceiling low enough that standing upright would be a near thing even without whatever is currently holding my arms behind me. There is a single source of light, a lantern or something like it, sitting on a ledge cut into the
JuneI am sitting on the edge of the bed when it happens.The window is open a few inches and the night air moves through the curtain in slow, lazy waves. I have been listening to it for the past half hour, that soft pull and release of fabric, waiting for the sound of Caleb's footsteps in the hallway. He should have been here an hour ago. This is the first time he has been late... he is never late.I pick at a loose thread on the blanket and stare at the door and try to remember the last thing he said before he left. He had brushed his fingers along my jaw. Told me to sleep. Smiled that quiet smile that he saves for moments when it is only the two of us, like it is something he does not hand out easily. I had rolled my eyes and said I would, knowing full well I would not.I never sleep well when he is not here.It is strange, how quickly that happened. How fast my body decided that his presence was a thing it needed to function properly. Months ago I could sleep anywhere, on anything
CalebThe patrol runs later than usual tonight.By the time I make it back toward the pack borders, the woods are dark and quiet, moonlight slipping through the trees in silver streaks. The cold air sticks to my skin beneath my jacket, carrying the scent of pine, damp earth, and distant rain.Usually, I like this part of the night.The silence.The feeling of my wolf settling after hours of moving through the territory.Tonight, that calm lasts exactly three seconds.A sharp mindlink crashes into my head.Caleb.My steps stop instantly.It is one of the wolves stationed near the care home.Every muscle in my body tightens.What happened?We spotted someone near the property. A girl. Young. She was watching the building from the tree line.My wolf lifts his head immediately.Danger.Where is she now?She disappeared into the woods before we could move in. We stayed in position because we thought it could be a distraction.Good.I turn sharply toward the eastern woods without wasting an
Caleb I stand beside June while the woman at the finance desk counts the cash slowly, clearly surprised by the amount sitting in front of her. June waits quietly with her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket. Her face gives away almost nothing, but through the bond I can feel every emotion she keeps locked behind that calm expression. Fear. Love. The helpless ache sitting inside her chest. The employee looks up after a moment. “This clears all remaining bills for Elise’s care,” she says gently. “And these additional payments cover several upcoming months as well.” June nods once. “Good.” Her voice stays calm and even, but I know why she is doing this. This is how she tries to protect the people she loves. She cannot stop Elise from getting older. She cannot fight illness with her fists. She cannot force time to slow down. So instead, she pays every bill she can because somewhere in her mind it probably feels like preparation. Like if everything is taken care of, Eli
LucasWhat happens next barely exists as time. It is there and gone, like light cutting across my eyes so fast my brain lags behind it.James moves.The next second his hand turn into a claw.Arthur jerks, breath ripping out of him as James’s arm drives forward. I register the sound before I regist
AuroraLucas’s face freezes in a way I have never seen before. Not anger. Not calculation. Just pure surprise, wide-eyed and unguarded, like his thoughts tripped over each other and fell down the stairs.I laugh before I can stop myself. It slips out warm and unguarded, and that seems to shake him
AuroraWe walk again after, our steps falling into an easy rhythm like they have always known how to find each other. The night air feels softer now, cooler against my cheeks. My fingers stay laced with his, and every so often his thumb traces a quiet circle against my knuckle. Not asking. Just the
AuroraLast night with Dad stays with me in a way I did not expect. Nothing about him changes on the surface. Same posture. Same clipped tone. Same way of looking at me like he is measuring something invisible. And yet, there is something else threaded through it. Something quiet. I realize it now







