“Huh,” I muttered, sitting down on an overturned crate. “Didn’t think you could cook.” She snorted, picking up the wrench I’d tossed earlier and turning it over in her hands. “Don’t get used to it. This is a one-time thing.” I smirked, scooping up a bite of casserole and letting the flavors sett
Kayla I caught the helmet Nicholas tossed me, fumbling with it for a moment. He tugged his own helmet on with ease and climbed on the bike before I had a chance to make sense of the invitation. “Are you getting on, or do you need a formal invitation?” he asked, his voice muffled by the visor.
With a contented sigh, I rested my head on his sturdy back and watched the trees rush by. We rode like that for some time, just weaving down the empty roads. Towering pine trees flanked us on either side, their tall peaks stretching toward the fading sunlight. The forest around us started to grow
Kayla Big, fat snowflakes tumbled lazily from the darkening sky. They melted the second they touched my cheeks, but were rapidly beginning to accumulate on the ground. I shivered and wrapped my arms tighter around myself, my thin leather jacket doing little—if anything at all—to fight off the bi
We kept walking, and my stomach sank further and further as the snow steadily piled up on either side of the road. My fingers were numb despite being stuffed into my pockets, and my breath was coming out in visible white puffs. Soon enough, the cold had seeped into my bones, as if my jacket weren’
Kayla The forest was darker than I had anticipated, the heavy branches and pitch black sky turning it into a wall of inky darkness. The snow wasn’t falling as heavily here, but the icy wind still slithered through the trees, biting at every inch of exposed skin on my body. My fingers were numb d
“Stay here,” Nicholas said, disappearing back outside before I could protest. He returned a moment later with an armful of sticks and branches, dropping them in a pile near the center of the cave. “You think we can make a fire?” I asked, my voice trembling from the way I was shivering.. “We can
Kayla The first thing I noticed, even before the pain in my body, was the sound of voices. They were distant at first, muffled like they were coming from underwater, but they grew sharper and clearer as I slowly returned to consciousness. My eyes fluttered open to find sunlight spilling into the
Kayla The moment Noah mentioned my father, I nearly dropped the bundle of clothes I was holding. My eyes went wide. “My… My father?” I barely managed to choke out. Instantly, all of the worst-case scenarios went through my head—with my father’s death being at the forefront. I hoped that wasn’t t
“You don’t have to do this,” she said quietly, but she was already sitting up straighter, her eyes lingering on the food longer than she probably meant them to. “I know.” I set the bag down between us, leaning against the cold cell wall as I watched her unwrap the containers. “But I want to.” Gr
Nicholas Last night… The waiter had barely set the plate down before I waved him off, leaning back in my chair as I glanced around the expensive restaurant. It was quiet and dimly lit with candles, the soft hum of conversation mixing with the clinking of silverware. Perfectly normal. Perfectly
“Haven’t abandoned us?” she snapped, cutting me off. Her voice rose, already drawing the attention of the few other customers scattered around the store. “Then where the hell have you been? We’re barely holding on, and you’re here buying scarves and sweaters? Are you using Alpha Nicholas’s money to
Kayla The bell above the door chimed softly as I stepped into the small boutique, shaking the snow off my boots and rubbing my hands together for warmth. The air inside was nice and toasty, filled with the scent of vanilla and pine, and the faint sound of holiday music drifted from the back of the
Kayla The blood drained from my face as I stared at the photograph on the coffee table. I felt sick. My stomach twisted, threatening to betray me as I forced myself to stay still. The room suddenly felt stifling, the air thick and hard to swallow. There Nicholas was, in the same clothes he was w
Nicholas glanced at the representative, his expression calm and pleasant as ever. “Of course. Always glad to see you.” The representative’s gaze simply shifted between us for a moment, his pen still poised over his notepad. He jotted something down that I couldn’t read and then looked back up at u
Kayla The eggs on my plate had already gone cold, and the toast was completely untouched. I picked up my fork, stabbed at the scrambled mess in front of me, and sighed. My appetite had vanished the moment I’d sat down, replaced by a gnawing frustration that only seemed to grow the longer Nicholas
I tilted my head, studying his side profile. “So you must know him better than anyone.” He hesitated, a muscle clenching somewhere in his jaw. I could tell he was treading carefully, trying not to say too much—no doubt he was feeling like the unwilling participant of a domestic feud by now. “I’d