LOGINI was probably in my hundredth cookie when I suddenly felt a presence behind me. I knew it wasn’t Naomi because my friend had gone upstairs to get her phone.
“How are you slim like a runway model when you eat like a pig?”
The cookie fell to the floor instantly from my tottering hand, and my heart erratically went over the fence.
What was Adam doing here?
What did he want? Why was he right behind me? And where was Naomi now that I needed her?
I was stiff, rimrod straight on the high kitchen stool, whilst my pulse jumped haphazardly when Adam suddenly started trailing his finger down my arm.
I inhaled sharply the next minute, when he bit my ear lobe, when he slid his hand around my waist, when his kooky breathing slammed into my hearing neurons.
How could someone be so brash? How could someone be so entitled? Did he think he could have his way with me because he was hot, because I was a mere statistic to him?
He must be out of his mind!
I jumped out of my stool without giving him any warning, a smile flashing across my lips a second later, when I heard him gasp harshly. I wish he had fallen to the ground.
Willfully stilling my nervous nerves, I turned around to face him, swallowing down saliva as I took in the fine imagery of his chest which was bare of any clothing. He was only wearing beach shorts.
Damn! Adam was so hot!
Clearing my throat, I awkwardly picked a cookie from the white plate on the counter, pretending it was normal that he was hitting on me.
“What do you think that you are doing,
Adam?” I asked, biting down on the cookie which I knew might get stuck in my throat—my nerves were jumping. Even though Adam had never raised his hand on me, had never joined the bullying gang, he was still a culprit for enjoying my misery. And there’s the fact that he had been the one to kickstart today’s episode of bullying with just a question.
“What do you think I am doing? Don’t you want it? Isn’t that why you wore such an outfit? To bask in the attention of the opposite sex…” Adam stated coldly, perusing my frame. I was still wearing the bikini. I felt naked under the unabashed scrutiny.
“No, that’s not true. I didn’t know you all were coming. Shouldn’t the school still be in session? Why are you people here?” I asked him, mentally slapping myself for mustering up a boldness that I didn't know I had.
If someone had told me that I would be talking with Adam this way— standing in the kitchen, a tray of cookies between us—I wouldn't have believed it, not in a million years.
Seeing as Adam’s gaze had never left me or rather my boobs since we stood opposite each other, I would say Naomi was right. Wardrobe malfunction had contributed to my bullying for so long.
“Well, the principal had told us to go home for playing around with you. Isn’t that so cruel, huh?” Adam queried, his countenance still aloof.
Yet, I scoffed, before I could stop myself.
And then, realizing the misstep, I shut my eyes out of habit, expecting a knock for exhibiting such rude behavior in front of the Prince .
But I heard him laughing—a rich timbre that sent tingles down my spine.
When he stopped, I wanted him to continue. It was the first time I had heard him laugh. It was beautiful.
“You have really grown wings. I don’t know if that is a good idea or a bad one.” He muttered slowly, as he stepped into my space.
His sudden closeness made me a nervous wreck and a mushy fellow at the same time. And when he placed his index finger on my belly and began to trace invisible lines around it, his head dipping low as if he wanted to kiss me, when his eyes met mine in a heart racing melody, I became flabby.
“…But I would let it slide because I want to kiss you so badly. I want to know the taste of my playtoy’s lips.” He whispered smoothly, bringing my attention to his well shaped lips.
God, I was curious too.
For a second, I was tempted to know what the feeling was like, kissing the son of our high and mighty lycan king, even though I knew it was a forbidden territory for me. If Claire should find out…I am dead.
“What do you think?”
His gaze kept dropping to my lips intermittently.
But I was silent.
Foolish me just stared at his lips and kept imagining how those seemingly red entities would feel on mine.
I was beginning to think that letting Adam have my first kiss might not be a bad idea after all.
That’s what his closeness did to me. It got rid of my common senses and reduced the weight of his numerous sins against me.
SAGEI reached for Makeh just as she rose to her feet.She had stretched both hands toward me, palms open, her expression unreadable in that infuriatingly calm way of hers.“What is going on?” I asked, suspicion tightening my voice.“I am going to show you your parents,” she replied simply.My breath caught. For a heartbeat, I did not move. My hands twitched at my sides. I had asked the question. I had demanded the truth. But now that the answer stood within reach, doubt coiled through me.“Are they… dead?” I asked quietly.Makeh’s gaze softened. “No.”Alive. The word echoed in my chest. Alive meant possibilities. Alive meant answers. Alive meant complications.I swallowed.“What could possibly go wrong?” I muttered, though the irony was not lost on me.Before I could change my mind, I slipped my hands into hers.The world collapsed.There was no spinning, no falling—only a sudden, absolute obliteration of everything familiar. Light vanished. Sound vanished. Even the sensation of my o
SAGEI bit back a curse the moment Makeh released whatever spell had sealed my lips.The words burned at the back of my throat, hot and vicious, but I swallowed them down before they could escape and wake Adam. He shifted slightly behind me, still deep in sleep, blissfully unaware that a being had been standing by our window moments ago.My thoughts, however, were another matter entirely. What in the goddess' blazing—Makeh's shoulders shook with silent laughter.Of course she could hear that.And what is so funny?!I glared at her as carefully and murderously as one could glare at an entity before dawn. Slowly, I slipped out of bed, careful not to jostle Adam. His arm reached instinctively toward the empty space I left behind, fingers brushing the sheets.I smiled, watching him, then remembered the golden dragon breathing light into my eye and nearly scaring me into a third death.Priorities. I would come back to him later... We could, maybe, bring to reality my first dream... After
SAGESleep took me gently that night.It wrapped around me like warm silk, pulling me under without resistance. I did not remember closing my eyes. I only remembered Adam’s arm around my waist and the steady rhythm of his breathing at my back.And then I was laughing.I was on one of the long marble countertops in the western wing, my back against cool stone, Adam standing between my knees, his hands firm at my hips. The morning light streamed through the tall windows, catching in his hair, turning it molten gold.“The maid will be back any second,” I whispered, though I could barely keep the laughter from my voice.“All the more reason to hurry,” he murmured, his mouth brushing my collarbone.I swatted his shoulder, breathless, my heart racing with delicious recklessness. My dress was halfway undone, my breasts nearly bare, and his hands were everywhere at once.He kissed me again, deeper this time, and I tangled my fingers in his hair.“We are going to get caught,” I insisted, even
SAGEI had thought I understood what pride felt like.I was wrong.From the raised dais where I sat between Adam and his brothers, their Lunas flanking them like jewels, I waited to watch my sister walk toward destiny.The hall of the witches’ community had been transformed beyond recognition. Where once there had been stone floors etched with ancient sigils, there now lay layered carpets in deep plum and midnight blue, threaded with silver runes. Hundreds of floating candles drifted near the vaulted ceiling, their flames golden, casting soft halos against carved arches of white marble. Incense curled lazily through the air—lavender, myrrh, and something sweeter I could not name—blending into a scent that felt ceremonial, sacred.Garlands of night-blooming flowers hung between pillars, their petals pale as moonlight. Crystal orbs suspended by invisible magic hovered along the walls, each containing swirling lights like captured constellations. The entire hall glowed as if the sky its
ADAMI had never thought peace would feel like this… warmly fulfilling. I laid on my side, propped up on one elbow, watching Sage sleep in my bed.My mate.The word still did something to me. It settled deep in my chest, intoxicating, grounding, all at once. After everything, after the years, I had her here. In my room. In my arms.The doctor had insisted she be transferred here after the final examination. “Rest,” he’d said firmly. “Complete rest.” As if I needed convincing.She laid curled slightly toward me, her hair fanned across my pillow like a spill of midnight silk. Her breathing was steady, her lashes resting gently against her cheeks. Without the tension that had shadowed her for weeks, she looked younger. Softer. I brushed my fingers lightly over her cheek.She stirred.A soft, sleepy moan slipped from her lips, and I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at mine. It was ridiculous how that tiny sound affected me. I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.Her
SAGEThe idea of being taught magic again should have frightened me. It did not.If anything, it made something quiet inside me settle. I had never been too proud to learn. I had clawed my way through every skill I possessed—combat, control, leadership—often the hard way. Starting from the beginning did not scare me.What unsettled me was something deeper. I did not think I had the magic gene anymore. It felt gone.Not dormant or sleeping. Gone.As though the goddess had taken back what she had lent me. The abyss, the ancient bloodline that had awakened in me, the tether to something divine—all of it felt like a door that had closed and sealed.Maybe that was the cost. Maybe that was balance.I had reached into power no mortal body was meant to hold twice in one day. I had bent the sun to my will. I had burned an entire region clean.Perhaps the universe had decided that was enough.I flexed my fingers slowly, studying them. They looked ordinary. Human.Was I human again?The thought







