Novelas de Annie

Adrian’s PovI watched her go alone into the woods and instantly regretted. She was supposed to go with Asher, I knew that. And I also knew he took her somewhere else. I knew they spent time together, closely. I could smell their scents off each other when I approached them earlier but that wasn't what I was worried about.It's the lingering feeling at the back of my mind that I can't shake off, that something is wrong and if it is right, I would never forgive myself for letting it happen.Then suddenly, I felt it snap.Not pain.Not fear.A distortion…like a line pulled too firmly.I stopped mid-step in the corridor, my breath catching as the air shifted around me. The bond made a buzzing sound, low.I should’ve gone with her.The thought hit me like a blade between my ribs the moment the wind shifted…sharp, wrong, carrying a scent that didn’t belong.Fear.Not the quick, startled kind. Not nerves.This was dragged-out, clawed-from-the-throat fear. Mixed with blood. Mixed with iron a

Aria’s PovThe forest felt different at night.Not hostile.Just… watchful.The moon hung low, its light seeping through the trees as I walked the eastern patrol route alone. My boots crunched softly against the fallen leaves, every sound heightened in the quiet. I kept my posture steady, shoulders back, my chin high…like Asher had taught me.But inside, something twisted.Grace’s words replayed in my mind, sharp and final.“You’ll patrol alone tonight, Aria. You’re becoming dependent.”I swallowed and pushed the thought away.I wasn’t weak.I wasn’t a liability.Still… none of the others had ever been sent out alone this deep. Not this far from the borders. Not after sunset.My hand brushed the hilt at my side out of instinct.“You’re fine,” I told myself.“You’re safe.”The bond pulsed faintly in my chest…warm, distant. I could feel them, all of them, Too far to hear clearly. Too far to reach.A branch snapped somewhere to my left.I froze.Heart pounding, I scanned the trees, sense

Aria’s POV(II)I should have known peace never lasted long here.The moment Grace’s eyes locked onto me, the warmth I’d been floating in evaporated. The air felt tighter. Sharper. Like the territory itself had gone on edge.“She was on duty!” Grace snapped, her voice slicing through the courtyard. “You had no right to disrupt that.”Asher didn’t move. Didn’t bow his head. Didn’t loosen his grip on my hand.“She’s not your soldier,” he said calmly. Dangerously so. “She’s my mate.”The word hit harder this time.Mate.Grace’s lips trembled…not with weakness, but fury. Her gaze slid to me, cold and calculating, like she was measuring how deep she could cut without drawing blood.“Go inside,” she ordered me sharply.I stiffened.Asher didn’t let go.“She’s not going anywhere alone with you,” he replied.Grace smiled.And that was when I knew something was wrong.“Oh, Asher,” she said softly. Too softly. “I’m not asking.”She stepped closer, lowering her voice so it felt meant only for me.

Aria’s povI was still floating somewhere above the clouds when we returned to the house.Everything felt too bright. Too close. My skin buzzed with awareness, my thoughts twisted and soft all at once. I couldn’t even bring myself to look directly at Asher…every time I did, my cheeks burned hotter, like my body was betraying every secret I hadn’t yet figured out how to name.He noticed. Of course he did.Asher slowed his steps until we were slightly close, then gently took my hand in his. I looked down at where our fingers intertwined, warmth spreading through my chest in a way that made my smile grow before I could stop it.“I never knew my little mate had the ability to turn this red,” he said lightly, eyes narrowing with amusement as he studied my face. “Tell me, Ari baby… is that your hidden talent?”I let out a breathy laugh before I could stop myself.“Ari baby?” I echoed.He tilted his head. “Do you like it? I wanted something sweeter than the other name I use.”“The other one?

Grace’s PovThe wooden box shattered at my feet, splinters flying as my scream ripped through the trees. Birds scattered. Even the rogues…creatures who lived on blood and chaos took an instinctive step back.“No!”My voice echoed, raw and sharp, cutting through the fog. My hands were shaking, claws half-extended, fury crawling under my skin like something alive.“It was supposed to work out,” I snarled. “She was supposed to be dead by now.”No one answered at first. They never did when I was like this.I turned slowly, letting my gaze rake over them… all suddenly very aware that they were standing between me and my disappointment.“You’re telling me,” I continued, voice dangerously calm now, “that she never came here?”The tall one…their leader, shifted his weight. He had the audacity to meet my eyes.“If she was brought to this clearing,” he said carefully, “her body would be laying lifeless right now.”My jaw clenched so hard it ached.“Then why isn’t it?” I shrieked, spinning on hi

Aria’s POVThe moment my undergarments hit the floor, reality crashed into me.I felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with nudity. When he guided me into the second room…his real workspace…the white backdrop, the lights, the stool.. It all felt deliberate. Intentional“You ready, darling?”“Y-yes.”My voice barely worked.He kissed my forehead…soft, grounding. “This painting is for us. No one else.”That should’ve terrified me.Instead, it made my chest ache.When he wrapped the silk robe around me, it felt like a promise instead of a shield. I sat as instructed, my hands trembling slightly as he adjusted the lighting.At some point, he removed his shirt.I noticed. God, did I notice.The lines of him…strong, sure, unapologetic..made heat pool low in my belly. When he caught me looking and smirked, I didn’t even deny it.“I do,” I said, surprised by my own boldness.When the robe slipped from my shoulders, the air felt colder but his gaze was warm. Consuming. Not hungry, more

Althea’s Pov I didn’t know where we were going. I only knew that Valerio’s hand was tight around mine and that the world behind us was burning…sirens, shouting, the echo of gunfire still ringing in my bones. My lungs burned as much from fear as from running, but he didn’t slow. Not once. Not until the road disappeared and the night swallowed us whole. When we finally stopped, it was because there was nowhere else to run. A narrow stretch of land opened before us…stone underfoot, salt in the air, the sound of water breathing somewhere below. The place felt forgotten. Untouched. Like it had been waiting for us. Valerio let go of my hand only to lock the door behind us. The small house…no, cabin…looked abandoned from the outside, but inside it was warm. Simple. Clean. A single lamp cast a soft glow across worn wood and white walls. Safe. I leaned against the door as soon as it closed, my legs finally giving in. He turned immediately. “Althea…” “I know,” I said quickly, pressing m

Valerio’s PovThe moment my lips crashed against hers, the world went silent.No guns.No shadows.No blood or fire or lies.Just her.Her hands fisted in my shirt like she was afraid I’d vanish if she let go. Like I was the only solid thing left in a world that had torn her apart brick by brick. I kissed her harder…not to silence her, but because I needed her to feel it. Needed her to know that whatever sins I carried, whatever monsters I’d helped create, this was real.When I finally pulled back, our foreheads rested together, breath tangled, uneven.“I thought I lost you,” I said hoarsely. “I watched them drag you away. I watched you scream my name and I…” My voice broke. I didn’t try to fix it. “I don’t survive that twice, Althea.”Her eyes shone, fierce and wet. Alive. God, she was alive.“You should have let me go,” she whispered, even as her fingers tightened again. “You should’ve walked away.”I gave a bitter laugh. “I was never capable of that. Not with you.”The wind howled

Althea’s PovThe wind nearly threw me off my feet.I didn’t stop running until the ground fell away in front of me…until the world ended in stone and open air and the sea roared far below like it was waiting to swallow everything I was. I moved to a halt at the cliff’s edge, chest heaving, lungs burning, fingers numb from cold and panic.“Stop!” Valerio’s voice tore through the wind behind me. “Althea…please.”I turned so fast my vision swam.“Don’t come any closer,” I shouted, tears stinging my eyes. “Just…just leave me alone.”He slowed, hands raised slightly, like I was a frightened animal who might bolt again. His clothes were torn, darkened with soot and blood. His breathing was rough. Uneven.“I won’t touch you,” he said hoarsely. “I swear. I just…don’t run. Not like this.”“You should’ve let me go back there,” I snapped. “You should’ve left me with them.”“No,” he said immediately. Too fast. Too sure. “Never.”I laughed, a broken sound that tore out of my chest. “You don’t get

Althea’s PovThe first thing I felt was air.Cold. Sharp. Real.It rushed into my lungs like I had been drowning and only just broken the surface. My eyes fluttered open, vision swimming, lights blurring into fractured halos. Everything hurt…my temples, my wrists, my chest. My body felt foreign, heavy, like it had been pulled apart and poorly stitched back together.Chains clinked when I moved.Memory slammed into me in pieces.White rooms.Needles.Screaming.My own voice begging Valerio over and over until it stopped sounding like a name and became a prayer.And then…Fire.Shouting. Gunshots. Italian curses barked with fury and desperation.My heart lurched painfully.Valerio.I turned my head weakly and saw him.Blood streaked down his arm, soaking into the sleeve of his jacket, but he was standing…no, raging…like a force that couldn’t be contained. Men lay unmoving on the floor around him. Machines sparked and smoked. The smell of burning metal and flesh clogged the air.For one

Valerio’s PovThe room smelled like smoke and blood.I hadn’t moved from the window in hours. The mansion glowed below me, cruel in its beauty, indifferent to the fact that the woman I loved had been taken apart somewhere in the dark like a broken thing.Marco burst in without knocking.I turned before he spoke. I felt it in my bones.“We found her,” he said, breathless. “Venice. An offshore facility. Old glassworks repurposed. Heavy security.”The world snapped back into focus.“Get the men,” I said, already reaching for my coat.“Don…” Marco stepped forward. “If we do this, there’s no going back. You’ve already burned bridges by leaking the Shadow files. This…this will be war.”I turned on him, fury raw and unfiltered.“They took her,” I roared. “They strapped her down like an animal. They put needles in her veins. They erased her life and dared to call it a project.”Marco swallowed.“Find the fastest route,” I continued, voice low now, lethal. “Anyone who stands between me and Alt

Althea’s PovI woke up screaming.The sound tore out of my chest before I even understood where I was, my throat raw as if I’d been crying for hours. My body jerked violently, but shackles snapped tight around my wrists and ankles, biting into my skin.Metal.Cold.The first thing I smelled was antiseptic…sharp, sterile, wrong. The second thing I noticed was the light. White. Blinding. It buzzed faintly above me, drilling straight into my skull.“No…no, no, no,” I whispered, my breath coming too fast.I tried to sit up. The shackles held.That’s when memory slammed into me.Gunshots.Glass shattering.People screaming.Valerio.My chest tightened painfully.He had been bleeding. I remembered the red spreading over his sleeve, the way his teeth had clenched as he fought to stay standing. I remembered him shouting my name like it was the only thing tethering him to the world.And Damien…My stomach twisted violently.Damien falling. The sound of his body hitting the floor. The look on h