We pulled into a quiet neighborhood just off the Augusta Riverwalk. The streets were lined with old, towering oaks, and I could hear the distant sound of the river rushing nearby. We slowed down in front of a sprawling historical house. It stood like something out of a magazine, with its white columns and brick façade. It was the kind of place that had probably been here for over a century, with all the charm and details that came with that. The wraparound porch had hanging plants swaying gently in the breeze. It was gorgeous. Perfect, even.Cast pulled into the driveway, which led into a two-car garage. The door groaned shut behind us, trapping us in darkness. He turned off the engine but didn't move. Neither did I.I looked around the dimly lit space. "Where are we?"He let out a long breath before turning to me. "I bought it... for you and the baby."I couldn't speak. He bought this? For us? The house, the life I didn't know how to picture, was now right in front of me.Before I
I couldn't stop grinning as I flipped another pancake. Burned. Again. It didn't matter, though. Lila sat on the kitchen bar, her legs swinging, watching me with a smirk that told me she was enjoying this way too much. I wasn't about to give up. Even if I ruined every single one, I was having too much fun pretending I knew what I was doing."You missed a spot," she said, pointing at the mess of flour and egg splattered across the counter."I'm just adding character to the kitchen," I replied, tossing another glob of batter into the pan with exaggerated flair.She laughed and folded her legs up under her. The sleeves of my shirt were too long on her arms, making her look even smaller and more comfortable. Like she belonged here. In my space. In my life."You're enjoying this way too much," I said, flipping a pancake that barely stayed intact."I'm enjoying the show," she replied, resting her chin on her hand. "You're very… committed to this failure."I picked up a fork and stabbed
I stood there staring at him. "I have to reject you."I heard the words. I understood them. But I didn't feel them right away. I had hit a wall, trying to wrap around what he had just said. "What… what do you mean?" I asked.Cast started pacing, his face twisting in a way I hadn't seen before. Broken. That's how he looked. Like he didn't want to say any of this, but he had to.His eyes met mine, and I knew. He wasn't going to take it back."I don't have a choice," he said quietly. "Linc… he needs to mark you. You can't bear my Luna mark anymore."I couldn't breathe. The room spun like someone had ripped the ground from under me. He was serious. He was actually going to do it.Reject me.Tears appeared at the corners of my eyes, and I forced myself to look at him, searching his face for something, anything to hold on to. But all I saw was regret. Pain. He wasn't going to fight this.My hand instinctively went to my stomach. "Will it hurt them?" I blurted out in a panic. Our b
CAST"Tomorrow," I muttered, hating myself as the word left my mouth.Her whole body seemed to go still. Like she was holding back everything she wanted to throw at me. That I deserved to have thrown at me. She walked out of the kitchen, leaving me standing there staring at the floor. I followed her out to the living room. She was sitting on the couch with her knees tucked under her chin. "Why tomorrow?" she asked as I walked in.I swallowed hard. I didn't trust myself to speak. If I started, I wasn't sure I could stop the flood of everything I'd been holding back. "I need one more night with you." I was barely able to mumble the words out.She sighed, but she didn't argue. Instead, I sat down beside her. Despite sitting so close, she felt rigid and distant. I reached for her hand. She let me take it, but her grip was loose. She was already slipping away, and it hurt so damn bad. I was losing her already. My heart felt like it was being torn apart, piece by piece, and there wasn'
LINC Lila was finally divorced. It was official. She could be mine now. I'd waited for this moment for what felt like forever, but the excitement didn't hit how I thought it would. Instead, there was this hollow fear settling in my chest. It wasn't that I doubted what I wanted—what I needed—but because deep down, I knew. She wasn't in love with me yet. Maybe she never would be. And as long as Cast was still in the picture, I knew she couldn't be. How could I compete with him? They had a bond. A real one. The kind that ran deeper than I'd ever understand. She didn't choose it, but it was there. No matter how much I wanted to be the one to fill the space in her life, Cast was the one still holding her heart. I knew that. I'd always known it. But I couldn't stand still anymore, waiting in the background, watching them live a life together while I sat with nothing. Still, as much as I wanted to tear them apart for good, I couldn't help but think back to the stories. The o
CAST We had spent the entire night on the floor, wrapped around each other. Every time I closed my eyes, fear would claw at me. It whispered if I let go, I'd wake up alone. The bond between us pulsated, more present than ever. But it was fading, slipping away with every breath we took.She hadn't left me, not even for a second. She had stayed curled around mine, both of us on the cold floor, clinging to what we had left. She wrapped around me like I was something worth holding on to. Like I deserved her. I knew better. I wasn't worthy of this. Of her.I looked at her. She looked peaceful but sp worn outIt hit me.This was it. This was our last night like this. Tomorrow, we wouldn't be us anymore. After tomorrow, I wouldn't have her like this, so close, so unguarded. We wouldn't be able to just hold on to each other. It wouldn't be the same.I shifted, moving slowly to slide out from under her. She stirred a little but didn't wake as I gathered her in my arms. Carrying her back t
I stood in the kitchen, shaking as I scrambled the eggs, trying to keep my mind from spiraling. It was so normal, cooking breakfast like I always did. But nothing about today was normal. Not with what was coming hanging over us like a shadow I couldn't escape.Cast sat at the table, watching me in silence. I placed the plate in front of him, my hands trembling slightly as I did. He smiled weakly. He picked up the fork, but I could tell he wasn't hungry. Neither of us were. Still, he ate a few bites, like he was trying to hold on to this last shred of normalcy before everything shattered.I sat across from him, staring at my untouched plate. "It's time," he said mumbled.I froze, my fork halfway to my mouth, unable to move. I knew this was coming, but hearing it made my stomach twist painfully. I set the fork down."I don't… I don't know if I can do this," I whispered as I looked up at him. His eyes were filled with the same pain I felt. For a moment, I thought maybe, just maybe, we
I woke up first. We'd slept, clinging to one another the rest of the day and night. We clung to one another like we could physically hold the bond intact still. Like it wouldn't break if we didn't let go. Everything around me was the same. The same bedroom, the same bed, the same man lying beside me.But something wasn't right. The stillness felt strange. Everything felt strange. I lay there blinking at the ceiling, trying to figure out what exactly had changed. His arm was still around my waist, and the bed still smelled like him, but something between us was different. It just wasn't the same. The pull that always drew me closer to him, that electric spark, had dulled. It hadn't disappeared entirely. I still loved him, but the intensity was gone. Like a thread that had frayed at the edges.I glanced over at Cast still asleep beside me, his chest rising and falling steadily. He looked peaceful, but the bond between us... it felt broken. I could feel the gap, the hollow space wh
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
CAST - The morning of the full moon was chaotic. Lila was a mess, and it wasn't just her—it was everything. She was overwhelmed, emotional, and I could tell the energy from the twins was making everything worse. Her emotions bounced all over the place, and it was impossible to know what would set her off or calm her down. Linc and I spent most of the day in and out of the bedroom, trying to comfort her. She couldn't settle, and every time she reached a moment of peace, something seemed to bring the turmoil back.I knew why she was on edge, and so did Linc. The full moon brought too much baggage, especially after what happened with Jaed. Her need to protect Declan overrode everything else. She didn't want to leave him alone, not with the energy vibrating between all of us. Finally, when it was getting too late to keep waffling, she pulled me aside, her gaze distant as she looked toward Declan's room."I can't go. Wady is great, but I can't leave him." Her hand rested over her stomach.