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 stood in the hallway, staring at the bathroom door she had slammed shut behind her. Everything was falling apart faster than I could keep up with.Less than a day had passed since I'd rejected her, and it already felt like something inside me had been ripped away. I could feel this constant pain in my chest, the void left by the bond that used to be there. Now, it was gone.And it was my fault.All my damn fault.She had pulled away from me like I was poison. I couldn't blame her. Hell, I wanted to pull away from myself. The way she'd flinched when I tried to kiss her, like I was about to burn her. It felt like the final confirmation of everything I feared. She didn't want me anymore, not in the way she used to. Not in the way that mattered.And why should she? I'd ripped her apart. I'd rejected her.I couldn't shake the image of her face, the way she whispered, "I'm sorry," and rested her head on mine. Like that could fix anything. I barely looked at her when I muttered,
I didn't mean for it to happen. One second, I was cooking, trying to hold myself together, and the next, Cast was in front of me, his hands on my waist, his lips on mine. It felt different, but I kissed him back because I needed to feel something. Anything. My heart was torn between the man I loved and the mess we'd made, and I wasn't sure where to turn.Then the doorbell rang.Cast pulled back. I glanced toward the door, my hands shaking as I untangled myself from him. Cast sighed, his shoulders slumping like he knew what was coming. I didn't want to open the door, didn't want to see who was waiting on the other side, but I had to.When I opened it, Linc was standing there. He didn't wait for an invitation, just walked in like he belonged. Without thinking, I hugged him. I hugged him before I could stop myself.And he held me back. Tight.I froze, realizing what I was doing, but part of me didn't want to let go. Linc had this way of making everything seem like it would be okay. Lik
DECLAN - We took the long way back to the packhouse. It took far longer than the ten minutes I'd agreed to. Suki was going to give me hell for that. She’d probably time it down to the second and bring it up at dinner, then again at breakfast. I was already prepared to ignore the first three times before I gave in to whatever atonement she had planned. Honestly, I was looking forward to the punishment. Gaia and I fell into old habits. She challenged me to spot tree knots shaped like animals. I told her she was making them up when she did. She called me arbitrary and pronounced it correctly. I lobbed a pinecone at her head. She caught it, grinned, and tucked it into my hood when I wasn't looking. It was familiar. Just two people who used to know every inch of each other, finding the quiet rhythm again without forcing it. When the porch came into view, I slowed. "You and Dorian should stay," I paused. "The east wing at the Roman packhouse is yours if you want it. No strings. Just.
DECLAN - "I'm sorry." I looked over. She kept her eyes forward. Hands shoved into the front pocket of her hoodie. Shoulders stiff. We walked side by side. The trees closed in around us while the porch lights faded behind. Neither of us said anything for a long time. Our feet crunched through the undergrowth. The breeze rolled between us. I didn't try to close the space. Neither did she. But neither of us veered away either. The remains of the old house peeked through the trees. Blackened beams and collapsed stone still scattered across the clearing. A skeleton. A memory. "For how I rejected you. And for not telling you why." I didn't answer until we reached the house. "You didn't just reject me. You vanished." She flinched. "I know." "So why?" She took a deep breath and stopped walking. Her eyes stayed on what was left of the front steps. "I'd gotten the call. The implant was finally approved, and they found a werewolf doctor who could do it. It was scheduled. It was final
DECLAN - That was her fated mate.It was written in the way he tracked her every move, in how he hovered just close enough to guard but not crowd. His posture said protector. His eyes, sharp and constantly scanning, said no one would get within reach unless she wanted them to. He moved like he'd been made for that role. Like every instinct in his body had clicked into place the moment he met her.He moved like he already belonged next to her.Judson finally spoke. "This going to be a thing now? Fated mates falling out of the sky onto your porch?" Then he squinted. "Wait. No way. Dorian?"The other man stepped forward, arms crossed. "Judson."Judson huffed. "Damn, talk about the sky falling. Of course it's you."Gaia looked between them. "Wait. How do you know him?"Judson tilted his head toward Dorian but didn't look away. "Med school. He was top of the class. Never let anyone forget it. Ever."Dorian crossed his arms. "And you were always one sarcastic comment away from getting kic
DECLAN - "You're not gonna pout if I drink the last one, are you?"Judson didn't even glance over. "Only if you waste it."I reached for the bottle closest to him, smirking when he didn't try to stop me.Crickets chirped loudly in the trees. The house behind us had finally gone still. It was peaceful.A lazy row of empty beer bottles lined the railing like some halfhearted scoreboard. Judson leaned back again, one ankle hooked over the other, shoulders loose. That rare kind of settled that only happened when nothing needed to be said.We were both quiet. Not the kind of silence that needed filling, just the kind that held space. The kind that made it really easy to notice how much I liked having him here. Judson wasn't soft, but he didn't crowd either. There was something about the way he held space, like he understood exactly how not to mess it up. I hadn't realized how rare that was until I felt it.Until headlights swept across the tree line.Judson didn't move, but I straightened
DECLAN - I squinted. "So... you left your pack?"Judson shook his head. "Not really. My sister's mate stepped in. Human guy, believe it or not. Doctor. Weirdly chill. He helps now with the medical side, which freed me up to go to college and train properly. They all said it made sense. I guess... I just haven't thought much about what I was gonna do after."He paused, then shrugged. "Now I get it. I wasn't supposed to leave the South yet. I was supposed to be here. Meeting her. If I'd been back in North Carolina, this wouldn't have happened. Or it would've taken years."He looked out toward the trees. "So no. I didn't leave them. I just followed where I was needed next."I blinked. "You live on the Riverwalk."He grinned. "I know. Kind of perfect, right? It's loud on the weekends and peaceful at sunrise. Plus, amazing food within walking distance."I stared at him.He raised his bottle. "Look, I didn't plan to meet my mate while helping chart bloodwork samples in a borrowed lab, but
DECLAN -When we pulled into the driveway, Dad and Linc were already waiting.They didn't speak, but I felt something in the way they stood there. At the time, I'd figured they were just sizing up Judson, doing the protective dad routine. But now, after everything Judson had said, it clicked in a way that made my chest feel too tight.They already knew.Not just about Judson. About what he might be. About how important he was going to be. Just like they'd known about Mom. Just like they'd kept it all quiet. For me.I'd spent so long thinking I was figuring all of this out on my own. That the timing was random, or fate, or whatever the hell else. But maybe it wasn't. Maybe Cassy hadn't just guided me.Maybe my whole damn family had. Perhaps they'd been walking beside me the entire time, keeping quiet so I could come to it on my own.Judson wasn't the surprise.I was.They stood at the edge of the porch, arms crossed, matching unreadable expressions locked in place. The second we still,
I stepped forward and stifled the growl as best I could. "Hey. Get up. Now!"The guy startled awake. "What?"Tory shot up in the bed, wide-eyed. "Declan, no! No, wait! This is... this is Judson."She looked panicked. But not afraid. Not at all."He's... he's my..."I stopped. Everything shifted. I looked at her. Looked at him. Looked back."You're mate."She nodded.I took a breath. Held it. Then stepped forward and stuck out my hand. Judson stood, still looking like he expected me to deck him. He shook my hand. I shook his harder.Tory glanced between us, then spoke up. "He's a nurse practitioner here. Was walking past the ICU when I first came in. Caught my scent in the hallway and almost dropped his coffee."Judson rubbed his hand where I'd gripped it "I tried to play it cool. Avoided eye contact, walked the long way around, you know, the usual 'don't poke the angry fathers and big brother' protocol. I thought I was being slick about it too. Barely even looked at her. Just nodded a
We didn’t leave the woods.Not that day. Not that night. I didn’t want to, and neither did she.We ran until our legs trembled. We played, circling and snapping at each other’s heels, tackling and wrestling in the mossy patches of clearing. We swam again, slower this time, more tangled up in each other than anything else. We lay in the grass and the sun, curled together, drowsy and content.And then we shifted.Over and over.Human, wolf, back again. Each shift smoother than the last. No moon. No pain. Not really. Not like the pain I had braced for my entire life. Just choice. Pure choice and ability. The power that came with it was almost addictive. I always wondered what they meant when saying the power overtook the pain. It was raw. It was strong. I loved it.And I loved her.We didn’t talk much, not out loud. But we didn’t need to. We were in each other's heads and had no plans to leave. When we shifted back to skin, we couldn’t stop touching. Couldn’t stop reaching. It was like
It hit all at once.One second I was halfway to my knees, still trying to breathe through the pull of her shift. The next, my ribs cracked outward and my body folded. I didn't fall. I collapsed.The pain was nothing like the moon-forced change I'd endured before. This wasn't guided or timed. This was raw. A hundred fractures all at once, my limbs pulling and twisting, muscles screaming as they rearranged.I couldn't stop the sound that tore out of my throat."Cassy!"I didn't even know what I was asking. Just that I was begging. My mind reached for her. I was desperate and frantic.Her voice came, faint and steady."You're never selfish, so you would've never asked."Bones popped in my jaw. My fingers stretched, then broke, shifting in crooked bursts. I slammed my hand into the dirt and gritted my teeth against the next snap. My skin burned. My eyes blurred.Oh shit.Did she make me...Cassy... Did you do this?Another bone cracked somewhere deep in my back, cutting the thought in hal