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.
“Isla, get out here or I am going to leave you behind.” My voice cut through the house, sharp enough to sting. It was already past noon, sunlight pouring through the windows in lazy sheets, and my patience was long gone. Guards had arrived earlier in the morning and hauled most of our belongings away to the new location. All that remained was us. Or rather—her. For some infuriating reason, Isla was still not ready.I stood in the sitting room, arms crossed, jaw tight, already knowing without checking exactly why she was taking so long. She had a date. Again. With the same werewolf she had been seeing for weeks now, sneaking glances and soft smiles like this was some harmless romance.I exhaled through my nose. I hoped—fiercely—that she hadn’t been foolish enough to fall in love.Werewolves had mates. Fate-bound, irreversible mates. And when a true mate appeared, everything else became irrelevant. Promises, affection, history—it all vanished. Isla would be discarded without hesitati
SAGEOnce, I had wondered what it felt like to have a mate.Not in the abstract way people talked about it—bonded, chosen, destined—but in the visceral sense. To know a mate. To smell them and have something deep and raw inside you recognize the truth before your mind ever could. To understand the pull that made people reckless, foolish, brave.I had felt a sliver of it once. As Maya.That first time with Adam, years ago, in the caves, there had been something there—something tentative and fragile, like the first note of a song that never quite found its chorus. But time had eroded it. Betrayal had ruptured it. Distance had finished the work. Eventually, even the longing had died.Or so I had thought.Now—I shut my eyes as his voice carried through the door, threading its way into the room as though walls were merely a suggestion.“Sage?”The sound of it made something inside me twist.Lifemates.The word rose unbidden, heavy and dangerous. I held back an incredulous scoff.Lifemat
I stood miles away from the boundary.The invisible line separating the lycan region and its colonies from the rest of the world shimmered faintly to my senses, not with sight but with power—wards layered upon wards, old magic braided with newer ones, humming like a living thing. I could feel it pressing against my skin, familiar and unwelcome all at once. Wards made to keep mostly humans away, except they came around with a guard, someone with a keen eye to the supernatural.This was where I was supposed to be. Not some mountain. In the stage of my plan, this was where I was supposed to be.And yet, for the first time since I fled the mountains, doubt crept in, even without El’s troublesome voice in my head. I paused on a ridge overlooking the land, the wind tugging at my clothes, carrying scents I recognized too well—wolves, earth, smoke, blood old and new. Home, if such a word could still apply to me. Or a cage, depending on how one looked at it.To my left lay the direction of
SAGEI didn’t think I would ever get used to it.I stood before the mirror, unmoving, my reflection staring back at me with a calm confidence I possessed. The room was quiet, dawn creeping in slowly from the edges of the world, and still I couldn’t look away.The wardrobe had offered me only dresses—flowing and elegant, meant for bodies like this one. I wore one now, pale and soft, the fabric clinging in places it never used to, skimming curves I hadn’t fully accepted as mine. My wig rested in my hands, familiar, grounding.My real hair fell down my back in a long, silken cascade—white as snow, but no longer purely so. Gold threaded through it now, fine streaks catching the light whenever I moved, as though sunlight itself had decided to live there. The same gold ringed my eyes, encircling the irises in a thin, unmistakable halo that marked me for what I was.Ancient. Half Ancient, or thereabout.The mark on my forehead had deepened too. It was no longer something faint, no longer ea
So they knew.The thought followed me like a shadow as I walked out of the cave beside the priestess, her voice flowing steadily as she spoke about training, discipline, control—about how I would learn to harness the power now coiled inside my blood.I barely heard her.The Abstenum is in the pack… how do we approach?The words replayed in my mind over and over, growing heavier each time. If the ancients knew of the Abstenum, then it meant one thing—they were coming for it. Not just as observers. Not just as allies.They would fight for it. Against the werewolves. Against the vampires. Or worse… they might negotiate with the werewolves…My fingers curled slowly at my sides. I didn’t care which path they chose, not really. All I cared about was time. I needed my revenge before they arrived in force, before politics and treaties and ancient laws swallowed everything whole.Which meant I couldn’t stay here. I have to leave tonight. The realization settled coldly in my chest. Whatever p
SAGE Prince Valenf was the one who spoke first.“How are you feeling now, Sage?”His voice was calm, measured, carrying the quiet authority of someone who did not need to raise it to be obeyed. I bowed low before him, instinctively, deeply—lower than I had bowed to anyone in years. Power wrapped around him like a second skin, dense and ancient and unmistakable. It pressed against my senses, not aggressively, but with a presence that dared anything around it to forget who he was.Prince of his people.I found myself wondering how old he truly was. He looked no older than Darius—no older than a virile male in his late twenties, broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed, his hair dark and neatly bound at the nape of his neck. But the weight in his gaze told another story. Time clung to him differently. Like stone shaped by centuries of water.“I’m better,” I said, lifting my head. My voice did not shake. I was proud of that.He studied me for a moment longer, then inclined his head slightly. “Sit







