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
Linc had been here for a while now. Cast had been quiet, standing across the room just watching us. I knew what he was thinking, what this all looked like. But I also knew that he was trying to stay out of it.Trying to give me space.It didn't help.I didn't want space. I didn't want decisions or reality creeping in. But they were here with every breath I took, every thought I tried to avoid.Linc stood up. He walked over to the sink, washed the plate and fork, and put them away. "I should probably get going," he said as he turned back to me.I didn't want him to leave. I didn't understand why, but the thought of him walking out made me feel sick.Cast must have noticed. "I can leave if you two need more time."Cast offered to leave, like I was choosing someone else. Someone who wasn't him in our house. Then it hit me. This wasn't Cast's house. It was mine. He'd made that clear multiple times, but I wasn't listening. Not until now. I had the choice. I had the power here, not him.I
We walked along the trail behind Linc's house, spiraling deeper into the woods. I had no idea how long we'd been walking. I kept my eyes on the ground, focused on the steady rhythm of our footsteps. It was easier than thinking about everything else.Linc stayed close but didn't crowd me. After a while, he reached out and took my hand. I let him. I didn't pull away or flinch like I kept doing with Cast now. We kept walking hand in hand."Do you regret it?" he asked. "What happened in the office?"My heart started beating faster as the memories began flooding back. His focus had been entirely on me. Nothing like sex had always been before. Where it felt like something to endure, something I had to do because it was expected. But real. He hadn't let me retreat into myself. He had made sure I experienced everything.Over and over.I shook my head. "No, I don't regret it."I felt him exhale, but he still looked uncertain. "I thought maybe it made things worse for you. I wasn't thinking c
LINC - I couldn't believe I said it. "Let me mark you." It came out before I could stop it. I'd lost all sense of control. My heart was still racing, my arms still around her, and I knew I'd crossed a line. She was so fragile, still reeling from everything with Cast. This wasn't the time to push her. I knew that, but I did it anyway. I couldn't hold it back. It had slipped out, and now everything inside me needed her to say yes. What the hell was I thinking? I wasn't used to this. Losing control, saying things without thinking them through first. I always knew what to say and what to do. I prided myself on that. But with her, I couldn't seem to keep it together. She brought out something in me I didn't understand. Something reckless, something almost desperate. I wasn't used to being off-balance. And now, I had thrown the question at her. I waited, my heart pounding in my ears, too fast, too loud. She didn't say no. She didn't push me away, and that made the panic worse.
“We’ll need to go to my pack’s land,” Linc said, his hand resting on mine. “The moon isn’t full, so we’ll need to be there for it to work.” He hesitated for a moment. “Plus, I want to take you somewhere special.”“Special?”He nodded. “It’s a place I used to go when I needed to calm down. It’s a bit of a mess now, but it meant a lot to me growing up.” I agreed, and we left the pond behind, heading deeper into the woods. The further we walked, the quieter everything became. The trees were thicker here. Everything was overgrown and untouched. It was subtle, but I could feel the shift in the air as we neared the border of his pack’s land. After a while, we entered a clearing. In the center stood the remains of an old house, or at least what was left. The roof had caved in, and thick vines tangled through the crumbling stone walls. Arches that once framed the structure now leaned to the side. The stone was weathered and broken. Despite its decay, the place had a kind of beauty.Like nat
DECLAN -I couldn't stop staring at the bruises. They darkened her arms, deep purple patches against her skin. More bruises ran along her ribs, circling her sides, marking every place I fought her, every spot I had thrashed to get free. Each mark told me exactly how much I'd lost control.Suki didn't move away despite everything. She lay still against me, her breathing steady, calm. She hadn't flinched once through it all. She hadn't complained or tried to escape. She'd just held me down for an hour, refusing to let me lose myself completely. And why?Because I panicked.Because I convinced myself something was broken when the truth was obvious. The moment we were marked, I would hear her, and she would hear me. It wasn't complicated. It wasn't something to fear. But panic had overtaken me anyway, and she'd paid the price.The ache spread through my knuckles. The truth hit me again and again. I'd hurt her because I couldn't keep my fears in check. Those bruises weren't just from the
SUKI - Declan's wolf moved like nothing I had ever seen. I had spent countless moments wondering what he might look like. Would he carry his father's stark, shadowy appearance, or would the softer colors of his mother break through? He was a spitting image of Cast, so I was expecting him to be dark, tall, and strong. And a bit chaotic. The reality surprised me. His coat held the deep hue of Cast's fur, intense and powerful, but lighter shades wove through like lighter veins hidden beneath the darkness. He shimmered slightly as the faint light caught the streaks, giving him an otherworldly presence. He wasn't just a wolf. He was an embodiment of raw strength, each muscle carved for dominance, a predator poised at the peak of power. I was in awe.His eyes held me captive immediately. Those icy, striking blue eyes were the only thing truly familiar. They belonged to Declan. They had always belonged to him. Seeing him this way felt oddly comforting. He was beautiful, a creature perfe
DECLAN - Fire tore down my spine. It twisted through every limb. My bones cracked. They shifted under the surface. They broke apart and reformed in ways that weren't natural. A scream wrenched from my throat. It came out raw and ragged. My legs gave out. I fell forward. Suki caught me, arms wrapping around me, pulling me tight against her."Stay with me," she whispered.I wanted to. I wanted to hold onto her and never let go, but I couldn't. The pain grew worse. It tore through every inch of me. It turned me inside out. My hands clenched around her waist. My forehead pressed hard into her shoulder. Everything inside me screamed to stay close. To hold on. To let her keep me together. But the shift had other plans.Another wave of fire ripped through my body. It was stronger than before. My back arched. My fingers spasmed. A growl, deep, guttural, completely inhuman, tore from my throat."Suki..."She held on tighter. "I know. I know."I wanted to believe she did, but she couldn't. No
DECLAN - I tried to push past her, but she held her hands up. "You can't go inside. Not right now."I froze. "What do you mean we can't go in?""Something happened," she said. "No one's allowed inside."My stomach dropped. "What the hell happened?"She shook her head. "Linc, Lila, and Cast went to Linc's old apartment in the city to shift. If you want to go there, you can."Suki and I exchanged a look. That was too close to the city. Too close to people. I didn't know what this shift would be like, and I wasn't about to risk tearing through concrete walls because I lost control.I exhaled sharply, turning back to Selena. "No. That's not a good idea."She hesitated before speaking. "Go to the burned-down house."Every muscle in my body locked up. "You can't be serious."She didn't waver. "You need a place to shift. That's your option."My heart hammered against my ribs. "What happened here? Why can't I shift at the pack house?"She stayed silent.I stepped forward. "Selena—""Don't wo
DECLAN - I startled awake, breath catching hard. My body tensed, expecting the usual flood of images, the heavy, sinking feeling that came every time I crawled out of sleep. But there was nothing. No nightmares. No flashes of Gaia. Just quiet.Suki was still curled up beside me, the blanket barely covering her. She had gotten too hot in the middle of the night and tossed her shirt somewhere across the room. I stared for a long moment, wondering if she did it to torture me. Maybe it was on purpose, a test of how much self-control I had left. I had spent two weeks fighting every urge, pulling back when I wanted to push forward. That was ending tonight.The second I recovered from the shift, I was taking care of this. I was done waiting. She was mine, and I was going to make sure she knew it. In every way I could. I was relieved she was still asleep. Still so peaceful. I probably talked in my sleep the entire week. I did that a lot as a kid. I still did when I was stressed. Dad used t
DECLAN - I swore she was about to lean in and mark me. My whole body jerked, already reacting to what I thought was coming. Then she didn't. The absence of it hit just as hard. Something close to desperation cracked through my chest. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. Every breath felt heavier than the last. Every second dragged. I was losing it. Literally losing it.Suki straddled my lap, pushing me against the mattress. Pressure kept me there, but it wasn't enough to settle the fire running through me. My fingers tightened on her thighs, trying to maintain some level of control here. Nothing worked. The burn spread. Every nerve turned razor-sharp.Her hands moved down my arms like she could pull me back. "Breathe."I tried, but the air seemed to be stuck in my throat. "I can't."She dug her fingers in my skin. "Yes, you can."My teeth clenched. "Suki..."She kissed me, dragging me under before I could stop her. My body jerked into hers, chasing the only thing I could think of.S
SUKI - The night before the full moon arrived, and the energy in the air felt thick enough to choke on. His body didn't fully understand what was coming yet, even if he did. Every instinct in him was preparing for something it had never gone through before. Luckily, I was here to help.My shifts were different. The moon didn't force them on me. I chose when to let my wolf out, when to embrace what was inside me. On the full moon, I wanted to shift. It felt incredible, like everything inside me clicked into place. But I didn't have to. He did. And it hurt. Really bad the first time.I had never understood why werewolves got the short end of the deal. Why their shift had to be something brutal, something to survive rather than something to embrace. If I could take that part away for him, I would. But I wasn't the one in the family with connections to the moon goddess. Declan paced through the Riverwalk house like he was trying to outrun something. He stretched, rolled his shoulders, a
SUKI - We ignored Gaia's birthday entirely. Neither of us spoke about it. Didn't acknowledge the date when it came and went. I'd say I hoped she had a good birthday, but that would be a lie. Instead, we swam in the river.The water was cool and clear, wrapping around us like something separate from the real world. Declan came alive in it, shedding the weight he had been carrying for weeks, moving through the currents like his body was remembering what it felt like to be free.He caught me from behind, dunking me before I could react. I sputtered to the surface, wiping water from my face just as he dove again, disappearing beneath me. A second later, hands gripped my waist, dragging me under. I fought, twisting against him, but he was stronger. Faster.I let him win.He pulled me close, his mouth brushing against mine just as we broke through the surface again. His lips hovered, teasing, waiting. My breath tangled in my throat, but I didn't make him wait long. I pressed into him, wat
SUKI POV - The first few days at the Riverwalk house had been quiet. Not silent, Declan didn't do silent, but calmer. Softer. Far less dramatic. I had expected the grief to eat at him, to turn him sharp, reckless, and impossible to handle. And while the anger still lingered, and he did seem ready to snap at any second, he let me help him. Let me take care of him. Let me put him back together piece by piece.He let me shove him toward the hammock when he was too exhausted to argue. Let me force water into his hand when he was too stubborn to take care of himself. Let me sit beside him and force-feed him, watching to make sure he ate every bite. I cleaned the cuts on his knuckles when he got too lost in his head and hit something he shouldn't have. I massaged the tension from his shoulders when he just couldn't relax. I patched up every wound, physical and otherwise, without him having to ask.He just let me take care of him. Let me curl into him at night when I knew the nightmares wer