CAST -I ripped the shower curtain back, and what I saw froze every thought in my head. Lila lay crumpled in the tub. Her clothes were drenched, water cascading over her as blood mixed with it and swirled toward the drain. Her hair clung to her face, and a deep gash on her forehead sent streaks of red down her pale skin.Her lips were blue.My legs nearly gave out, but I forced myself forward and dropped to my knees beside her. I reached under her, pulling her into my arms. Her head fell against my shoulder. She was lifeless and cold. So cold.Water soaked through my clothes as I pressed my hand against the gash, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was slick and unrelenting."Linc!" My shout reverberated off the tiles, raw and desperate. "Linc, get in here! I need help!"Nothing.The silence of the house was deafening. The only sound was the rush of the shower and my ragged breaths. I stood, hauling her up with me, her limp body heavy in my arms. Water dripped from her clothes as I s
CAST - The world jolted back into focus as I woke. The room was dim. I quickly looked around, trying to orient myself. I noticed Kat standing near the IV pole. She was fiddling with it, making the metal clank fainting over and over.She glanced down at me. "Sorry, I was trying to get it apart. Didn't mean to wake you."I rubbed a hand over my face, the remnants of the nightmare still clinging to me like cobwebs. My chest felt tight, and the air in the room seemed too thin. Kat must have noticed because she paused what she was doing and sat down on the edge of the bed."What's wrong?" she asked softly."Just a bad dream," I muttered as I scanned the room again. "Where's Lila?""She's fine," Kat reassured me. "She and Linc are showering. No reason to panic."If only she knew. The thought of that dream still made my stomach churn. I leaned back against the pillows, willing myself to relax, but my forearm brushed against Kat's bare leg as I did. I pulled it back like I'd been burned."So
LILA - There were days I didn't remember. Entire stretches of time vanished into a haze of fever and sheer exhaustion. All I knew was the sickness had struck me, leaving me trapped in a cycle of throwing up and sleeping. At some point, Cast must have gotten sick because suddenly, he was there full-time, curled up against me with the same fevered shivers I felt. We must have been a miserable pair, sweating through sheets and blankets, too weak to do anything but endure.When I finally came to, it was to the faint sound of movement and the sting of a needle leaving my arm. I blinked groggily, my vision swimming until it settled on a woman I didn't recognize. She smiled as she noticed me waking."Your color is finally coming back," she remarked. "And, wow. Baby Declan got your eyes. So beautiful."I blinked again, still trying to clear the fog that had settled on my brain. Declan. I sat up slowly, my body protesting the movement. Before I could ask anything, Linc appeared at the doorwa
LILA - Steam filled the bathroom as I turned the water on, letting it warm up. Cast stood by the doorway, his arms crossed. He looked like he hadn't slept in days."I'm not doing this," he muttered. "It's not a good idea.""Get undressed anyway," I replied, pulling a towel from the rack and setting it on the bench. "You smell awful, Cast, and you know it."He sighed, but he started unbuttoning his shirt. He stripped down slowly, avoiding my eyes. I forced myself to keep my eyes on his face. Wolves saw each other naked all the time, but this felt different. It had been so long since I'd seen him like this, and the circumstances now were... quieter. More intimate.When he was completely bare, he hesitated, hovering near the edge of the shower. I stepped forward, ignoring the way my heart thudded in my chest. "Get in. You'll feel better once you're clean."He stepped in, the water hitting his skin and instantly turning it pink. I reached for the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head.
LILA - The bathroom tiles were cool against my back. Cast pressed into me, his hands warm as they slid over my hips. I tugged him closer, letting myself get lost in the pull. His lips moved against mine, each touch carrying a growing urgency that left no space for anything else. Finally, I eased back, resting my hands on his chest. "Go to the kitchen and get the food started," I murmured as I felt his erratic heartbeat under my palms. He lingered before nodding. He straightened in an attempt to pull himself together. "You'll come out soon, right?" "I'm just going to check on Declan," I paused and sighed. "And Linc." He gritted his teeth but nodded. He didn't argue, which surprised me. He stepped back and left the room, the door clicking softly behind him. I leaned against the sink, steadying myself. My reflection stared back at me, flushed and slightly erratic. I splashed water on my face before heading toward the bedroom. When I opened the door, Linc was propped up against the
CAST - It had been two days since Linc lost it over Lila and me kissing in the bathroom. I was glad she decided not to tell him about the shower. If she had, I doubted I'd still be here. Linc's reaction wasn't just anger, it was explosive. Even now, thinking back on it made my pulse spike.After she told him about the kiss, I expected yelling, maybe some passive-aggressive comments. I didn't expect him to storm into the kitchen ready to throw down. I'd barely had time to react before he was right in front of me, shoving me hard enough to knock the breath out of me."Linc, back off!" Lila screamed. It was just enough to make him hesitate."Don't," I stepped forward. "I'm warning you."I wasn't about to let him put all of this on me.He snarled like he was deciding whether to swing. "You don't get to warn me about anything.""You think this is just on me?" I barked. "Maybe stop looking at me like the problem and take a good look at yourself.""Enough!" Lila stepped between us with her
LINC - I didn't think I was going to get sick. I convinced myself it wouldn't happen, even though the signs were already there. Lila is making us lie down together, and I am not fighting her. She should've tipped me off. When I woke up and felt like my body had been through hell, there was no denying it anymore. Days blurred together after that.I was still angry with her for kissing Cast. I'd been trying not to dwell on it, but it stayed in the back of my mind. It felt like she was touching him, but I figured it was just cuddling.Turns out, they were making out in the bathroom.I wanted to be reasonable. I wanted to allow them this, to understand it how I was starting to understand things since Phoebe came into my life. But getting sick stripped that thin layer of control I had. When I found out, I shoved him. I wanted to kill him, and I didn't bother trying to hide it. Lila must've noticed I was spiraling more than usual. She stepped in, dragging me away before it could go any fu
LINC - The dreams were the worst part. Phoebe's face was always there. It wasn't just her. It was everything about her. The way she felt like she'd been carved out of some impossible, perfect mold. She was my match in ways I didn't want to admit, and even though I'd rejected her, she wouldn't let me go. Or maybe it was me who couldn't let go.Kat came to mind too often when I thought of Phoebe. Another human, tangled in the werewolf world, but completely different. Kat didn't shrink back or pretend to ignore the way things worked. She faced it head-on, caring for the people around her, even when it didn't seem like her place. Like me. The idea that humans could stand strong in our world felt strange, but Kat managed it easily. Maybe that was why I couldn't stop connecting her to Phoebe, no matter how different they really were.Lila stayed with me when she could, curling up at my back or pulling me into her. Sometimes, when she wasn't there, I'd sense Cast lying nearby in the bed.
LINC - I didn't remember him doing it. Cast didn't remember either. Even Lila, shaking and pale, said she had no recollection of the bite. Yet, as we sat there on the bed in the pool house, trying to piece it all together, his mark stood out darker than mine. It wasn't subtle. It wasn't something we could brush off. We all sat there, unable to articulate the emotions bouncing heavily between us. Between the three of us. She was caught in the middle, her entire body shaking. One hand was pressed to the mark on her neck, the other resting over her stomach. I sat on one side of her, Cast on the other, and we both touched her in the same way. A hand on her knee, the other on her back, trying to steady her, or maybe ourselves. She shifted between us restlessly, leaning against me for a moment, then to him. Her breathing was uneven, and I couldn't stop running my fingers lightly over her skin, trying to calm her. Cast and I didn't look at each other. We couldn't. We didn't need to.
CAST -I wasn't sure why it happened. Why Linc let it happen. Why any of us did. It was like the moment had taken on a life of its own, and we were just caught in its current. She had crumbled onto the floor, overwhelmed by how we were acting. I couldn't leave her there. I bent down and scooped her up, her body slack against me, and something in the way she folded into my arms shattered the last of my restraint.Her lips were right there, and I didn't think before kissing her. It wasn't soft or cautious. It was the kind of kiss that demanded more. Her lips pressed back against mine, but then she broke away, looking toward Linc. He was already behind her, his hands resting on her sides, his fingers dragging in slow, deliberate patterns on her growing belly. She looked caught between us, her breaths uneven as her eyes darted back to me. She was about to panic."You need us both, don't you? Just… just let it happen." My lips brushed hers again, desperate to pull her back to me.Her att
Declan’s breathing finally evened out, his tiny body curling against me in complete trust. I placed him back in his crib, smoothing the blanket over him as gently as I could. The nursery quieted again, leaving just the soft hum of the baby monitor in the corner.I turned to CeCe, still sitting on the floor near the crib. Her hands rested in her lap, and her focus stayed on Declan. “He’s fine now. You should go back to your room and get some sleep.”She hesitated, biting her lip. “Helena’s in there… busy.”I raised a brow. “Busy?”She shifted awkwardly. “With her boyfriend. I don’t really want to walk in on that.”I crossed my arms, leaning back against the edge of the crib. “Are they being safe?”“As best they can,” she admitted, looking at her hands. “The healers won’t exactly help with that kind of thing. It’s… hard to get what we need.”“That’s just the old traditions still lingering,” I explained. “The healers were scared of the old alpha and stuck to whatever rules kept them out
LINC - Her skin was soft and smooth beneath my hands as I traced the curves of her body. I felt the goosebumps rise on her skin as I kissed her neck. The way she responded to my touch left no doubt. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. We fit together perfectly. My fingers slid over her back, savoring the warmth radiating from her. She leaned into me, her breath feathering against my neck as I pulled her closer. Her hands roamed, exploring me in ways that made everything else dissolve into nothingness. The sound of her heartbeat thrummed against my chest, grounding me in the moment, in her. My mouth moved over her skin, tasting every inch. She arched under me, her body soft and eager. I pulled back just enough to look at her, but the shadows covered her face. "I need you," I murmured, letting my lips find hers again. The kiss built into something that made us feel endless. Like our bodies could melt together and become one. My body moved against hers as I growled against her
LILA - The knock startled me. My body stiffened as I clung to the remnants of composure, the ache in my chest almost unbearable. Cast turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel. I watched him wrap it around himself and head for the door. He seemed far too calm for this. "I've got it," he said, glancing back briefly.I didn't respond. The nausea still twisted in my stomach, and the bond with Linc burned at the edges of my mind, an unwelcome intrusion that wouldn't stop.Cast opened the door, sticking his head out just enough to block whoever it was from seeing inside. "I just finished showering, and Lila's getting cleaned up now. She threw up all over both of us," he explained, his voice casual like it wasn't a blatant lie. "I'll be out in a minute."I froze, heat flushing through me. Not from embarrassment but from pure fury.Before I could think twice, I grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower, forcing down the bile rising in my throat. The lie was too much, and
CAST -The night stretched endlessly, each tick of the clock reminding me I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. Tessa had adjusted my meds earlier in the week, upping the dosage just enough to screw with me. It wasn't the first night I'd spent like this, wide awake while the rest of the pack slept. It was starting to wear me thin.Kat, on the other hand, was out cold. Her body rested against mine, curled into my chest like she couldn't get close enough. The warmth of her breath skimmed my skin, steady and soft, the kind of rhythm that should've been calming. I trailed my hand over her back, tracing idle patterns out of habit more than intent.The room we were in wasn't really ours. It belonged to Lila, and she had Declan here, then briefly to me when I didn't have anywhere else to go. Now it was just "the extra," a placeholder no one had claimed outright. Yet, it was starting to feel like ours. Our stuff was scattered across the dresser and floor, the bed smelled like her shampoo, an
LINC - The road stretched ahead, cutting through familiar territory and leading us toward the human city. My eyes darted to the rearview mirror more often than I wanted to admit. Cast and Kat sat in the backseat, wrapped up in their own little bubble.Cast had her pulled against him, whispering something that made her shoulders shake with quiet laughter. Their heads tilted together, foreheads brushing occasionally, like they couldn't bear the thought of any distance.I told myself to be happy for them. They deserved it, after everything. But no matter how hard I tried, the sight made something twist inside me.Lila sat beside me, her hand resting lightly in mine, but it might as well have been someone else's hand for all the connection I felt. Her grip barely registered, her fingers slack against mine. She wasn't even pretending to care about the passing scenery. Her eyes stayed fixed on the window, distant and unfocused.I could feel the anxiety radiating from her, though she tried
LILA - Linc returned hours later without anything other than more exhaustion and cuts and bruises all over his body. He'd tracked over the entire property inch by inch and could not find Pheobe's scent anywhere else but in the nursery. It was unnerving, to say the least. The house felt different tonight. I moved down the hallway, trying to settle my breathing, trying to put the pieces together. Phoebe's scent, that unmistakable presence, was still here, still staining everything with questions. And I had to get to the bottom of it before it shattered the fragile ground Linc and I were walking on.The girl who smelled like Phoebe had been with Declan earlier, changing his diaper. Feeding him, burping him, and her hands all over him all day. She'd been in that nursery all afternoon. She'd never left, according to multiple people. I walked into the room where we'd confined her. I wouldn't allow them to keep her in the cold basement. She looked up, startled, and I could see her anxiet
LINC - Phoebe's scent hit me hard, sharper, and more potent than ever before. It nearly dropped me where I stood, my wolf surging to the surface in chaotic waves. It rooted itself in my instincts and refused to let go. My entire body reacted violently, muscles tensing as my wolf clawed for control. I wanted to fight it, to reject every maddening urge it awakened, but the instincts were overwhelming. All I could think about was the need to hunt, to claim, to dominate. I hated all of it.The basement air carried the acrid tang of lingering shifts. The full moon always left its mark, draining energy from our bodies and our minds. I didn't want Lila away from me during the shift, but the plan had been the safest for everyone. She'd stayed upstairs with Declan while Cast and I had been confined below, locked in the reinforced cells to ensure no one else bore the brunt of our transformations.As my limbs ached from the shift, the exhaustion was intense. Knowing Declan was safe upstairs h