I must be tripping, I already like him more than Calvin. Then again, I picked the worst possible time to fall ill with my exams just around the corner. Hopefully I can overcome this. Are there people that are still team Calvin?
Kamrynn's POV Helion Creek which was located in Helion Forest wasn’t very far from the Blue Bell Pack. That was the only good thing about this entire situation. The creek was known as a forsaken land, a place of dark history and whispered curses. Few dared to set foot there. Those who did rarely returned, and those who did never spoke of what they had seen. It was the perfect place to keep someone hostage.With no roads or paths leading to the forest, my only option was to travel on foot. Thankfully, the journey wouldn’t take more than a day, but the sooner I found Sherelle, the sooner I could return to the palace. To my children. I hated the idea of Rmonica and the others worrying about me, wondering if I was safe. I had to finish this quickly.The sun was dipping below the horizon when I finally reached the entrance to Helion Forest, where the creek lay hidden. The moment I stepped forward, the air shifted. A bone-deep chill seeped into my skin, as if I had crossed into another rea
Calvin’s POV"Faster," I growled under my breath, slamming my foot down on the gas pedal.The car lurched forward, tires screeching against the pavement as I weaved through the winding roads. But no matter how fast I went, it still wasn’t fast enough.Kamrynn was in danger.Sherelle was alive.And I had no idea what the hell she was planning.All I knew was that I had to get back to Blue Bell.The problem? I wasn’t exactly welcome there. Orion had made that painfully clear when he all but ordered me out of his territory. I had no doubt that the moment I set foot near the border, his scouts would try to stop me.I didn’t care.I’d fight my way through every single one of them if I had to. I’d rip them apart if it meant getting to Kamrynn and the twins before it was too late.A sharp ringing cut through the tense silence.I gritted my teeth, my fingers tightening on the steering wheel. The phone—the one Sherelle had left behind at the witch’s cabin. I hadn't put much thought into it whe
Calvin’s POVThe eerie silence of the Helion Forest did nothing to settle the storm raging inside me.Towering trees loomed on all sides, their skeletal branches twisting toward the sky like gnarled fingers. The scent of damp earth and decaying leaves filled my nostrils as I followed the path Sherelle’s message had led me to.A cabin stood in the middle of the clearing, old and unassuming, the wooden panels slightly weathered from years of neglect. It looked like the perfect place to keep someone hidden.Or trapped.I stepped forward, my boots crunching against the leaves, and knocked on the door.No response.I knocked again, harder this time.Still, nothing.My jaw clenched as I reached for the handle and pushed. The door creaked open easily—unlocked.Suspicious.Keeping my guard up, I cautiously stepped inside.The cabin seemed deserted, like it had been out of use for a while. Had I come to the wrong place?"Sherelle!" My voice echoed through the empty cabin, bouncing off the wood
Calvin’s POVPain radiated through my skull, each throb like a hammer slamming into my brain. My body was screaming at me to give up, to collapse, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay conscious. I couldn’t afford to pass out now.Sherelle still had a tight grip on my chin, her nails digging into my skin as she looked down at me with a triumphant smirk."Lorien is no ordinary man," she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction.My eyes flickered to the red-haired bastard standing beside her, the one who had beaten me to a pulp with inhuman ease. He exuded power, his presence oppressive, crushing. His glowing crimson eyes watched me with bored amusement, as if he’d been expecting something far more entertaining than the pitiful wreck I was now.Sherelle’s smirk widened as she followed my gaze. "Allow me to introduce you properly, Calvin," she purred. "Lorien is the last of the Solarian dragons."A cold chill crawled down my spine.A dragon?Impossible.Dragons were extinct.
Calvin’s POVMy world stopped turning.The rage inside me erupted like an inferno, so scorching, so violent, it threatened to consume me whole."YOUR PLAN WON’T WORK," I roared, trying to lunge forward, but the pain in my shattered wrist, my battered ribs, my bleeding skull held me down."I won’t let you do this! And even if you wipe Kamrynn’s memories, Aryna will just tell her the truth. Her wolf will never let this happen."Sherelle’s smirk widened."Ah, Calvin." She sighed dramatically, reaching down to Kamrynn’s unconscious form. "Did you really think I wouldn’t account for that?"With a flick of her wrist, she grabbed a handful of Kamrynn’s hair and lifted her head, exposing the cold, metallic band locked tightly around her neck.My stomach dropped.No…"This," Sherelle purred, tapping the device mockingly, "is an Ostracylle. Quite a rare find, really. You’d be amazed at the things you can dig up when you know where to look."She traced a nail over the metal, eyes gleaming."As lo
Calvin’s POVFloating.I had been floating in an endless abyss, trapped in a cold, inescapable void where time had no meaning. Darkness stretched infinitely around me, swallowing me whole. I had accepted it. Accepted that this was the end.Until suddenly, light—blinding and consuming—burst through the void, piercing through the thick darkness.Pain followed.A sharp, unbearable ache spread through every inch of my body. My lungs burned as if I had been drowning and had just surfaced for air. My fingers twitched. My chest rose with a shuddering breath. My eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but I forced them open, my vision blurry and unfocused.I blinked, adjusting to the overwhelming brightness, and slowly, the world around me came into view.I knew this place.The dark wooden ceiling. The familiar scent of home.My bedroom?Confusion gripped me. This isn't right. I was dying. No—I died.Was this some sort of hallucination? A cruel trick played by my subconscious before my soul faded for
Calvin’s POVFranklin exhaled slowly, his sharp gaze never leaving me. He had been standing at the foot of my bed for a while now, arms crossed over his broad chest, waiting for me to explain myself."I'll give the order for Lysaa’s release right away," he said, his voice steady but laced with curiosity. "But I have to ask—why her? Why now?"I had expected that question. He wasn’t the type to blindly follow commands without understanding the reasoning behind them.I took a slow, deliberate breath, my ribs aching from the effort. “There are a lot of reasons, Franklin. But first and foremost—it’s the right thing to do.”Franklin arched a skeptical brow. “That’s new. Since when do you care about doing the right thing?”A bitter smirk crossed my lips, but I shook my head, brushing off the jab. “Since I started realizing how much damage I’ve done.”He sighed but said nothing, allowing me to continue.“Kamrynn was taken alone,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. “That means our chil
Lorien’s POVIf someone had told me a month ago that my life would change this drastically—and for the better—I would have laughed in their face.And yet, here I was.Kamrynn was truly the daughter of the Moon Goddess because she had worked her magic on me in ways I hadn’t thought possible.In the beginning, I had envisioned our relationship as nothing more than master and breeder. She was meant to serve a purpose, nothing more. But the extraction of her memories and the implanting of false ones had left her fragmented, lost. I had become the only one she knew, the only one she trusted.And I adored it.Given my personality, I had never imagined myself drawn to the sweet and innocent type, but here we were. I wasn’t sure if I could call it love—perhaps it wasn’t—but I was sure of one thing: I wanted her. I relished the way she depended on me, clung to me like a lost kitten.She was like a little pet.She kept me entertained, sated.Not wanting her to have any connection to her former
Calvin’s POVThe night stretched on, quiet and still, as I finally concluded my duties for the day. The weight of leading a struggling Pack never seemed to ease, but at least for now, I could leave it behind. Franklin stayed behind to organize the last of the documents, locking the office as I stepped out into the cool night air.There was only one thing on my mind.My children.I made my way to their room, my steps slow but purposeful. The moment I opened the door, a soft melody greeted my ears.Lysaa.She was sitting on the rocking chair, gently swaying back and forth as she sang a lullaby to the twins. Her voice was quiet, soothing, almost like a whisper against the night. Astor and Arabella were lying in their crib, gazing up at her, their tiny hands curling and uncurling as if reaching for her voice.My heart palpitated in my chest.How could something so small, so fragile, hold such power over me?Lysaa must have sensed my presence because she stopped singing and turned toward m
Calvin's POVI never imagined that two tiny beings could change my life so much.Even with the weight of the Pack still pressing down on me, demanding my time and attention, I found myself drawn back to them—Astor and Arabella. My children. My twins. No matter how chaotic things were, no matter how much my responsibilities as Alpha demanded of me, I refused to be absent from their lives. I had lost too much already.And if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that I couldn’t afford to lose them, too.That first week with them had been a trial by fire. The first few days had been the hardest—two-month-old infants didn’t just accept new faces, even if that face belonged to their father. They didn’t understand who I was, and so they wailed. Loudly. Relentlessly.At first, it made me panic. I could hold my own in a duel, could lead warriors without flinching, but two tiny babies crying at the same time? It left me utterly lost. Marlana—my mother—would step in then, taking them fro
Kamrynn’s POVSleep refused to come.I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind an endless swirl of questions. The key sat hidden beneath my pillow, yet it might as well have been burning a hole through the mattress.I couldn't stop thinking about it.For once, I was grateful that Lorien had chosen to sleep in the living room tonight. The distance between us gave me a rare moment of solitude, a chance to breathe without his watchful gaze lingering over me.I sat up slowly, careful not to make any noise. The room was dim, moonlight casting silvery streaks across the floor. My fingers hesitated for only a moment before I reached beneath my pillow and retrieved the key.Holding it up to the light, I turned it over between my fingers, studying the intricate grooves along the metal.What if this was a mistake?What if Lorien had placed the collar around my neck to protect me from something?I clenched my jaw, gripping the key tighter. No. That didn’t make sense. If it was for my safety,
Kamrynn’s POVI stared at the key in my hand, turning it over between my fingers, the weight of it sinking into my skin.What did it open?My mind ran through possibilities, but nothing seemed to make sense. Lorien had hidden it carefully, tucked away where I’d never think to look.My hand drifted up, almost absentmindedly, brushing against the shackle jewelry thing around my neck.I froze.A keyhole. That's right, the other day I realized it had a keyhole. Which is very much strange for something that's supposed to be jewelry.I turned the key over in my palm, my fingers tracing its cool, metallic surface. It was small, unassuming—yet its existence unsettled me in a way I couldn’t quite put into words.I inhaled sharply, my grip tightening on the key as realization slithered through my mind like a shadowy whisper.Could this key… unlock it?If it did, that would mean this wasn’t a necklace.It wasn’t a piece of jewelry meant to symbolize love, devotion, or commitment.It was a shackl
Kamrynn’s POVIt had been days since I heard that name."Kamrynn."A voice in my head had whispered it so clearly, so intimately, that it sent shivers down my spine.And I hadn’t been able to get it out of my mind since.I didn’t understand why it unsettled me so much. I knew my memory wasn’t whole—I had long accepted that pieces of my past were missing. But was Kamrynn someone I used to know? Someone important?Someone I had forgotten?I should ask Lorien.It was the logical thing to do. He would have answers.And yet, every time I thought about it, something held me back.I couldn’t explain it. It was just an instinct, a whisper in the back of my mind warning me to stay quiet.But why?Why couldn’t I bring myself to tell him?I had no reason to hesitate. Lorien had always been there for me. He was my husband, the only person I had ever known. The only one who had ever cared for me. He had been nothing but patient with me, always so gentle, always—I trusted him.Didn’t I?I sighed,
Calvin's POVI gritted my teeth, weighing my options.I had no idea how long it would take for Rmonica to fall asleep—or if she was even a heavy sleeper to begin with. Every second I wasted was a risk, a gamble I couldn't afford to take.I had to act. Now.Overpowering her would be easy, especially in her current state, but that didn’t mean I could just pin her down and walk out of here. She was the Alpha’s mate, the Luna of this Pack. One mind link, one call for help, and I’d be dead before I even reached the front gates.I was already screwed. No matter what I did, the odds weren’t in my favor.Just as I clenched my fists, readying myself to take the risk, Rmonica suddenly sat up in bed.I froze, holding my breath.She pressed a hand to her mouth, her expression twisting in discomfort. Then, with a sharp inhale, she shot up from the bed and rushed out of the room.Gone.She left.A wave of relief crashed over me.She was probably going to throw up.That meant I had minutes—maybe seco
Calvin’s POVI remembered it as clear as day; their scent. Though they were too young to have developed their own unique scent, especially with no wolf, I could tell their presence from a mile away.Soft, warm, pure. A delicate blend of milk, the gentle sweetness of talcum powder, and that inexplicable, almost heavenly aroma that only babies carried—the scent of innocence itself.It tugged at something deep inside me, something primal. They were close by.I closed my eyes for a brief moment, allowing my senses to fully absorb it, to let it guide me. I had memorized this scent from the very moment I had discovered their existence. No matter where they were, I would always find them.Astor. Arabella.Selene, please let them be safe. Please don’t let them be in the same room as Rmonica or Orion.I took another deep breath, following the softest traces of their scent, weaving through the corridors with careful, calculated steps. The palace was eerily quiet, the only sounds being the dista
Calvin’s POVThe air was thick with tension as we arrived at the outskirts of the palace under the cover of night. The towering walls loomed ahead, their stone faces bathed in the pale glow of the moon. Every inch of the palace was guarded, every pathway watched. One mistake, one misstep, and this mission would be over before it even began.I clenched my fists. Failure is not an option.Lysaa stood beside me, clutching her white cane tightly. She was tense, but she had agreed to do this. Franklin was positioned with the car a safe distance away, waiting for my signal."Alright," I whispered. "You remember what to do?"Lysaa exhaled sharply. "Unfortunately, yes.""Good. I’ll direct you from here. Just walk straight ahead for now."Lysaa took careful steps forward, tapping her cane against the ground. The two guards patrolling the walls immediately noticed her and rushed over."Halt!" one of them barked. "Who goes there?"Lysaa flinched, playing the part of a vulnerable blind woman perf
Calvin’s POVThere was a time when I had firmly believed that there was nothing I couldn't do. But lately I've been reminded over and over again that I'm still a mere mortal, one who the moon goddess herself had to humble. This was one of those situations.The bitter feeling of helplessness had become a common presence in my life of late. This wasn't any other situation, this was my flesh and blood we were talking about. Every second that passed, my children were slipping further away.Franklin paced in front of me, his boots crunching against the gravel. Lysaa sat stiffly on the hood of the car, arms wrapped around herself, her expression unreadable."What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Franklin finally spoke, his frustration evident. "Blue Bell doesn’t remember Kamrynn, and they sure as hell won’t just hand over the kids. We can’t fight them for this. So what’s the plan?"I didn’t respond right away. My mind was working through every possible option, every path that could lead