Lynette is startled by the speed—and probably the desperation—in my voice and face. She hesitates, her hand gripping the edge of the doorframe, giving me just enough of a chance to wedge myself between the door and the frame.“So you see… um… I didn’t come here without a purpose.” My voice comes out rushed, almost frantic. “There’s an absolutely valuable reason why I’m here.” I hesitate, scrambling for something, anything, that sounds reasonable. “So, please, calm down and let me explain… I mean, talk! Yes! Haha.”What the hell am I doing?What am I? A damn teenage boy?“Dammit,” I mutter under my breath, dragging a hand roughly through my hair. The strands stick to my fingers, damp with sweat. My heart is pounding, not just from the mortifying awkwardness of this situation, but from everything she is. It’s too much. She’s too close, too intoxicating, too ‘her’.The reasons why my thoughts are tangled, my breathing shallow, and my control splintering pile up like a relentless avalanch
The door clicks shut behind me, but my focus is elsewhere—on her back as she moves ahead, leading me into the living room. The silk robe clings to her every curve, the hem swaying just enough to draw my eyes lower. My gaze drifts, helpless against the magnetic pull of her figure, and I catch myself staring at the gentle curve of her ass.My wolf stirs, growling softly in the back of my mind. “Control yourself.” he warns.The living room is cozy, dimly lit by warm lights that reflect off the water walls, casting shimmering patterns on the walls. Fishes swim lazily behind the glass, their movements graceful and hypnotic, but I can’t bring myself to admire them. My attention keeps snapping back to her, to the way her body moves, the way her presence dominates the room.I sink onto the edge of the couch, my shoulders tense, feeling out of place yet strangely comforted by the intimacy of her space. My hands rest on my thighs, fingers drumming nervously against the fabric of my jeans. She r
I glance at her from the corner of my eye, my gaze snagging on the curve of her cheek as the faint light dances over her features. I know she’s aware of me watching her; it’s impossible she wouldn’t notice. But she says nothing, choosing instead to focus on the movie. Her silence only amplifies my awareness of her—the soft sound of her breath, the occasional shift of her posture, the subtle, teasing brush of her hand against mine as we occasionally reach for the bowl at the same time.“You’ve been staring at me for the last thirty minutes,” Lynette says suddenly, her voice breaking through the fog of my thoughts.I snap my head toward her, my mouth opening to deny it, but the knowing look in her green eyes stops me. She’s smiling, playful yet sharp, and I realize she’s letting me off the hook.“The movie’s over there, you know.” She gestures toward the screen, her tone light.“Right.” I nod stiffly, forcing my gaze forward.For a while, I focus on keeping my breathing steady. The fain
The room is dimly lit, the flickering glow of the TV casting shifting shadows on the walls. The muted colors of the movie ripple across our faces, a soft kaleidoscope of blues and golds. To her, the silence between us might feel comfortable, serene even. But for me, it’s a battlefield—a relentless war of self-control. Somehow, she’s managed to close the gap between us entirely, leaving no space for me to breathe or think clearly.Her heat seeps into my skin where her side presses against mine, her head nestled on my chest as if it belongs there. Her fingers trail absentmindedly along the edge of my turtleneck, her touch featherlight but devastating. Each time her fingernails graze the bare skin of my neck, a jolt shoots through me, tightening the knot of tension in my stomach. It feels as though she’s testing me, testing the strength of my restraint—or perhaps figuring out just how hard she’d need to swing her ax to cut through my defenses entirely.My muscles tense under her touch, e
A growl builds in my chest, low and guttural, as my instincts stirs. Different voices roar, filling my head and drowning out reason. For a moment, I’m consumed by it, lost in the heat of her, the feel of her, the taste of her.But then Fenrir barks sharply, the sound reverberating in my mind like a whip crack. “Stop!”I jerk back violently, the motion throwing Lynette off balance. She tumbles from my lap, hitting the floor with a dull thud, and my heart lurches as her head collides with the edge of the coffee table. Panic floods me, cold and suffocating. “Lynette!” I scramble to my feet, my body trembling as Fenrir snarls in my head, his demand echoing: Leave before we hurt her more.“I’m s-sorry…” My voice comes out hoarse, broken. I rake a hand through my hair, my chest heaving. “I have to go.”Lynette is sitting up now, rubbing the back of her head where it hit. She glares at me, her eyes shining with anger and something that looks dangerously close to betrayal. When I reach out to
The hum of the jet’s engines is a low, constant vibration beneath my feet, filling the cabin with a muted white noise that does little to calm the storm in my head. Outside the window, the world is a blur of dark skies and faint stars. My chin rests heavily on my palm, my eyes unfocused as I stare into nothing. The faint scent of leather from the seats mixes with the sterile air of the plane, but it feels distant, like everything else around me.I tell myself I took this business trip because it was important. Necessary. But that’s a lie. The truth is, I needed to run. I needed to get away. And while what happened with Lynette isn’t the only reason, it’s the one weighing most heavily on my mind.She knows I’m Kassian.The thought sits in my chest like a stone, heavy and suffocating. It’s almost laughable—something I didn’t realize until hours after fleeing her house. It wasn’t until I replayed the scene in my head for the hundredth time, each detail etched into my mind like a scar, th
I watch the crowd swallow her, my heart battering against my ribs like a trapped bird. The air feels heavier with each passing second, the smell of sweat and people thick around me, and my palms are clammy, slick with a nervous heat I can’t shake. My legs, locked in place moments ago like iron pillars, suddenly feel unsteady beneath me, trembling with urgency.Move.I force one foot forward, then another, until I’m sprinting. The world around me becomes a blur of motion and sound—voices rise and fall like a chaotic symphony, the shuffle of shoes against pavement grating against my ears. I shove past people, their startled protests barely registering as the bond pulls me forward, searing my chest like molten fire. It’s a warning, a promise, a curse all at once. If I don’t reach her, if I let her slip away, this fire will consume me.“Damn the goddess,” I mutter under my breath, teeth clenched. Damn this bond. Damn everything that’s kept me from her. Fenrir growls low in my mind, his pri
I arch a brow, trying to suppress the smile threatening to break free. “I am. Is that a problem?”She blinks at me, her skepticism clear. “I’m talking about you, in the kitchen, making dinner. Not ordering takeout. You can cook?”I hesitate, the question hitting a nerve I hadn’t expected. My mouth opens, then closes as I debate how to answer. The memory of her asking me—just the other night—what I loved doing in my spare time flits through my mind. I couldn’t answer then, too ashamed to admit the truth. But now, with her standing so close, looking at me with curiosity that borders on wonder, I feel my defenses crumbling.Cooking. It’s not a big deal to most people, but for me, it’s everything. My childhood dream was to be a chef, to lose myself in the art of creating something beautiful, something that brought joy. Even when my life spiraled into violence and chaos, I clung to that dream, nurturing it in the quiet moments when the world wasn’t looking. But admitting it to her feels li
“Please, don’t be afraid of me,” Zalie sobs, her voice raw with desperation. “I’d never hurt you, Lynette. Please…” she reaches for me again, but before her fingers can so much as graze my skin, Ivanna yanks her back.“Don’t, Zalie,” she says firmly. “You’ll scare her more than she already is.”Scare me? More? The room is still spinning, my chest tightening with something I can’t name. The sharp scent of blood lingers in the air, iron-thick, curling in my throat. The horror of everything I’ve seen—the bodies, the monsters, the things I cannot unsee—sits like a lead weight in my stomach. And yet, even through the panic clawing at me, a strange numbness has settled in, wrapping itself around my mind like a fog, dulling the sharp edges of reality.“She’s actually taking this better than Lyla did,” Ivanna continues, her voice attempting to sound light but failing. “She’s not screaming the roof down or collapsing—”“That’s because I never collapse.” The words tumble out before I can think.
Vampires are real. Vampires are real. Vampires are fucking real.The words hammer inside my skull, looping over and over, but they do nothing to ground me. Time distorts, stretching impossibly thin, every second dragging as if the universe itself is holding its breath.The bloodthirsty monster lunges, his face twisting into something even more grotesque midair. His already inhuman features warp—cheeks hollowing further, his mouth widening far too much, revealing rows of jagged, gleaming fangs dripping with saliva. His eyes gleam with manic hunger, locking onto me like a predator savoring the moment before the kill.My breath catches. A sharp, involuntary inhale.Every instinct in me screams to move, but I can’t. My body feels disconnected, as if my mind is still trying to catch up with the sheer impossibility of what I’m seeing.If I were the type to faint, this would be the moment. The fear—the shock—is suffocating, pressing down on me so hard my limbs feel like dead weight. But I do
A voice drifts through the haze of my sleep, a whisper slicing through the thick fog of unconsciousness.“Lynette.”The sound is distant at first, barely more than a breath against the silence, but then hands grasp my shoulders—too rough, too frantic. A sharp jolt rocks my body as the grip tightens, fingers pressing into my skin with a desperation that yanks me from the comfort of slumber.I groan, swatting at the unseen hands, trying to burrow back into the warmth of my blankets. But the shaking doesn’t stop. It’s insistent. Urgent.“Lynette, wake up, please. We’re in danger.”The words drift around me, sluggish and weightless, refusing to fully register. I mumble something incoherent and roll onto my side, chasing the remnants of sleep, the lingering warmth of dreams.A pause. A breath. Then, a different voice—sharper, more impatient, cutting through the haze like a knife. “Oh, let me do it!”Silence hangs for a moment, thick and heavy, before— “Lynette, you’re drooling. And Kassian
I stare at Zalie, but my mind is miles away. She moves with fluid precision, her arms slicing through the air like ribbons, but I barely register it. The soft hum of the music, the rhythmic thud of her feet against the wooden floor—it all feels distant, muffled, like I’m underwater. The air smells faintly of honey and amber, mixing with the sharp tang of sweat, yet even that barely sink in.Something is wrong with my head.A cold prickle creeps up my spine, a dull ache blooming at the base of my skull. I’ve never been someone who forgets easily—I remember things with unsettling clarity, possibly even from infancy. But sometimes, especially when strange things happen, my mind turns foggy, as if something is deliberately blocking me from realizing the truth.It’s never mattered much before. Honestly, I never cared. I never gave a damn about anything, not even enough to sneak into Rowan’s secret room, despite knowing every single password he uses.But this—this is different.I’ve never l
Ice erupts from the ground like a living beast, devouring the room in jagged, ruthless hunger. Spikes explode in every direction, sharp as spears, glistening with lethal intent. The walls freeze over in an instant, a thick layer of frost crawling up like veins of an ancient beast awakening. The very air stiffens, every breath clouding white.Oliver, Brian, and Lucian barely manage to avoid the deathly onslaught, their movements sharp, instinctive. One warrior isn’t as lucky—a jagged spike rips through his arm, another through a leg, blood staining the pristine ice in crimson streaks.A thick, glass-like sheen coats my vision. My skin burns—not with heat, but with a frostbite so intense it feels like my veins are solidifying into shards of ice. Every fiber of my being pulses with raw, bleeding cold, the kind that doesn’t just freeze flesh—it kills.And at the center of the carnage, the rogue hangs impaled against the ceiling, thick ice spears bursting through his torso, pinning him lik
A wet, sickening squelch fills the hallway as my boots crush flesh and shattered bone, the blood-soaked remains of the rogues sticking to the soles like a grotesque second skin. The stench is unbearable—a mix of burning meat, rot, and something fouler, something wrong. The air itself feels heavy, thick with the metallic tang of spilled blood and the lingering heat of battle.I move forward, my steps measured, my heartbeat steady, but inside, my mind is anything but calm.Tracking the children had been easy once Lynette sent me the location of Rowan’s old tracking data. It led me to a hidden underground chamber I hadn’t even known existed—despite living in that house for three years. That alone was unsettling, but what really ate at me was the certainty that Lynette had never been in there either. She isn’t the curious type, never the kind to dig for secrets. If she had gone in, she would have seen things she couldn’t unsee—truths about Rowan that would have sent her running for the hi
Kassian’s POVI pace up and down my office, my claws scraping against each other as I bite into them—a nervous habit I can’t seem to shake. The room feels smaller than usual, the walls pressing in, the faint scent of leather and recycled air doing nothing to settle my nerves. The air is thick with tension, stagnant with the weight of everything I’ve screwed up.Lynette is passed out on my couch, her breathing steady but shallow. My heart clenches at the sight of her, fragile and unaware. This isn’t how she was supposed to find out—not like this. I was planning to tell her slowly, ease her into it. But now? Now I’m as good as rejected.I run a hand through my hair, fingers tangling in the strands as I force myself to keep moving. The tiled floor squeaks beneath the pressure of my steps. Oliver and Brian sit nearby, their eyes tracking my movements like wary hunters watching a wounded animal. They say nothing, but their silence is heavy, suffocating.This is partly their fault.First, I
My heart pounds against my ribs as the car rolls into the parking lot of Kassian’s company, a nervous flutter twisting in my stomach.I haven’t seen him in five days. Not since the news broke out. It’s not that he’s avoiding me—he’s just buried under work. Every time we talked on the phone, his voice was laced with exhaustion, tension leaking into even the smallest words. I wanted to do something, anything, to show my gratitude for his support. And since Kassian always makes me feel cared for, I thought it was time to return the favor.Which is why I spent the last five days attempting to cook something edible.With Elliott and Tyson’s reluctant help, I dedicated every free moment to taming my disaster-prone kitchen skills. But I underestimated just how incompatible I am with cooking. What was supposed to be a simple dish turned into something that looked more like a monster summoning circle than an actual meal. I don’t know how it always happens—but viola! It does.Still, I couldn’t
The air shifts instantly. The arm wrapped around my waist tightens, his grip no longer gentle. His entire body stiffens, muscles coiling beneath me. A faint tremor ripples through him, his entire presence turning rigid.The silence is suffocating.“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice cracking under the weight of it all.A low, guttural growl rumbles from his chest, vibrating against me, raw and primal. The sound is nothing like the Kassian I know—it’s something deeper, something untamed. I flinch, but I still don’t dare lift my head. I don’t want to see the fury I know is in his eyes.His voice is sharp, shattering the tension like splintering glass. “Is this the first time?”I nod, my throat tight, trying to hold back the sob building inside me. The air around us grows heavier, thick with something unseen but powerful. The sheer force of his anger radiates off him in waves, an intensity I recognize all too well. It’s the same kind of presence I felt in the temple, the same suffocating pr