LINC - When I woke up that morning, I felt it in my bones. Something had shifted. The pack was mine. It wasn't official yet, but I knew once Astin was no longer an issue, no one would challenge me for the title. I could feel the power settling into place. Finally, I could take care of things the way they should've been handled all along.Cast wasn't in the bed when I woke up. He must have slipped out early, probably attempting to avoid the awkwardness. I was grateful for that. I wasn't sure what I would've done if I'd woken up to see him still there, lying next to Lila. My Luna. It had been easier to ignore before when I wasn't fully alpha yet. But now, I didn't know how I'd react if he touched her in front of me. There was a primal part of me that wouldn't tolerate it anymore.I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her. She looked so peaceful, curled up under the blankets, and I knew the day ahead would be anything but peaceful. She needed this rest. She'd been through enough, a
LILA - When Linc asked me to marry him, it felt like my world tilted. He was offering me everything. His pack, his future, his love...but I wasn't sure I could give him what he wanted. Not yet. Not with everything else, especially with the full moon coming. So I told him I would, but after the shift, there was no way I could handle both him and Cast transforming and then thinking about a marriage on top of it all.Linc seemed to understand, even if he didn't say anything immediately. I could tell he was a little disappointed, but I just couldn't bring myself to think about anything else right now. He told Cast to come shift on Oxford land, promising him safety. Still, I begged them both not to run free. They needed to be secured. I didn't care how confident they were that they could control themselves, that everything would be fine. I wasn't willing to take that risk. They'd tear each other apart if one wrong look passed between them in wolf form, and I couldn't survive losing eithe
Cast pushed me softly toward the back of the cell, his wolf form looming over me. I braced, pressing my hands against the cold metal wall behind me. His growl rumbled in my chest as he came closer, his muzzle inches from my face.I didn't move. His growls weren't meant to scare or intimidate me, not this time. His eyes locked on mine, and I could feel something in him pulling back. He was trying to communicate, trying to make me understand something.Then, his rough tongue swept over my cheek, a strange, almost gentle motion for something so primal. The tension in my body eased ever so slightly. He wasn't angry with me. This wasn't about control or domination. This was something else. His wolf was trying to say something, but I wasn't sure what.He whipped around, his body low to the ground, focusing entirely on Selena's wolf outside the cell. He snarled louder this time. He paced toward the front of the cell, standing in front of me like a barrier. His stance was all dominance now,
The sound of metal bending filled the air, and it was all I could hear. Linc was breaking through the bars of his cell, his wolf slamming into the metal with relentless force. Each hit was like a drumbeat in my chest, growing louder and more frantic. I couldn't stop shaking. I was scrambling for a way to fix this before it was too late. But Linc was out of control, and there was no stopping him once he broke free.Selena didn't seem to care. Her wolf paced outside the cell, her eyes locked on me and Cast. The growls coming from her were low and constant, almost like she wasn't even aware of what Linc was doing. She was so focused on us like something rabid had taken hold of her. The wildness in her eyes made me shiver, and the longer she stared, the more I realized she was waiting for something. Cast stood at the front of the cell, holding the door shut with his entire body. His muscles tensed with every crash of metal from Linc's cell, but he didn't move. He couldn't let Selena or
LILA - The way he looked at me, it was like he'd already resigned himself to hearing a decision that would break him. But I couldn't handle the demand right now, not after everything that had just happened. Both of them were slumped on the ground, naked and spent, barely able to keep themselves upright after shifting back."Don't do this," I snapped. "Don't make me pick right now. You won't like the answer."Neither of them replied. They looked just as torn apart as I felt. Linc seemed to be having trouble breathing, his eyes fixed on the floor like he was already losing a fight he hadn't even started yet. His shoulder was a solid bruise from where he'd repeatedly hit the bars. Cast leaned against the cell door, his skin bruised and streaked with dried blood. They were too worn out to argue further, but the strain between them was like an open wound."I'm getting help," I said as I made Cast shift so I could open the door. "Stay here, and don't do anything stupid. I'm not kidding."
CAST - Linc crawled across the bed, or at least tried to. The word fiancée burned in my ears, and before I could think, I shoved him back, sending him sprawling to the floor. I stayed where I was, barely managing to stay upright myself. We were both too weak to fight for real, but the adrenaline from hearing him call Lila his fiancée flooded me like fire. Fiancée? That meant they were already planning on getting married. Holy shit. The reality hit me hard. It would be so much harder to win her back if she became his wife. I had been clinging to the idea that there was still time, that I could somehow pull us back together. But if they were already talking about a wedding...Linc let out a low, pained breath as he struggled to sit up on the floor, glaring up at me. “You think you can just claim her because she’s carrying your baby? You threw away your chance when you cheated on her. Or have you forgotten that part?”“Don’t pretend like you’re the answer to her problems,” I snapped ba
CAST - I woke up with Linc sprawled on the floor beside the bed. He was completely out cold. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the fog from the night before. Lila hadn't stayed long after forcing us to share the bed. The instant we started bickering again, she'd left, leaving Linc and me to deal with our mess.Or ignore each other, which we'd both chosen.I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood. I couldn't sit around anymore. I headed for the cells. The pack's underground cells were damp and smelled strongly of blood. I found Selena sitting inside one of them, looking rough. She was awake, but her eyes were glassy, and she glared at me through the bars. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was covered in bruises and blood."Look at you," she sneered, shifting up on the bench. "Here to gloat? Or did she send you to punish me?""Selena, you tried to hurt the mother of my child," I spat. "What did you expect?" I gripped the bars, staring at her.She shrugged. "I don't c
LILA -I swung the door open to find Mrs. Roman standing there, her presence as imposing as ever. Her hair was black again, shedding the unnatural gray she'd been sporting.A calculated change to reclaim her intimidating aura. Without so much as a greeting, she brushed past me into Indy's apartment like she owned the place."You little parasite," she spat, turning to face me in the middle of the living room. "Think you can worm your way back into his life just because you're carrying his child? Like that suddenly makes you worthy?"I closed the door behind her, steadying myself before I turned to face her. I wasn't going to allow her to do this. Not here, not now. Not anymore.Indy appeared at the edge of the hallway. She stepped forward, ready to intervene, but I held up a hand to stop her. This was my fight."You don't get to talk to me like that," I said without flinching. "Not anymore. I'm not afraid of you."She scoffed. "Not afraid? You should be. You've already ruined his lif
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