Romane von Janeee

CHAPTER 105CASSIAN'S POV"Brother."No one has said another word for nearly five minutes.The memory room, once filled with arguments and desperate theories, has fallen into a silence so complete that even breathing sounds intrusive. It lingers in every corner of the room, refusing to fade.Killina has walked in while the whole thing is happening, and his lips are pressed into a grim line. Jason is the first to speak, though even his voice lacks its usual certainty. "Children say strange things." He sighs. "I know how that sounded."Killian stands with his back to the room, staring out the narrow window toward the forest. His shoulders are rigid, his hands clasped behind him so tightly that his knuckles have turned white."I wasn't her brother," he says quietly. His voice is almost certain, but nobody has accused him. "I didn't even meet Nova until after..." He stops himself, swallowing the rest of the sentence. "It wasn't me."There is something about the way he stands. It is wron

CHAPTER 104NOVA'S POV“Cassian?” I call out, but there isn't a single person that is listening to me. All ears are definitely silent, and trying to listen to the noise that comes from the floorboards. “I don't think there's anyone here,” Cassian says calmly. Cassian says, but even his voice seems to falter at the end. “Msybe we should go out to check.” I whisper, as all the light fully comes back on. "No." Cassian's voice cuts through the room before I can say another word. "We're not risking it."The medical wing has become the safest room in the entire safehouse. Or at least, that is what everyone wants to believe. I look around, noticing that Killian isn't there. He has to be fine. Right? The realization that we have been watched this whole time from so close settles over the house like a storm cloud that refuses to move on. Beatrice stands beside the examination table, her hands wrapped tightly around a worn leather medical bag.She looks exhausted, hi I know that if isn't f

CHAPTER 103KILLIAN'S POVI blink my eyes on the darkness, with my hands stretched out in front of me as I try to figure out where the fuck I am even headed. Nothing makes sense at that point. I am already calling out for everyone, when the generator suddenly coughs back to life. I can't ignore the relief that floods my veins. It is hard enough for my knees to buckle. Lights flicker once, before finally steadying itself. The safehouse is covered in warm yellow light again, as though nothing has happened.There are no shattered windows or doors. To be honest, that is the one thing that I am looking for, the second I sit down. "Cassian," Jason calls from the hallway, "The generator room is clear.""I've checked the eastern entrance," another guard shouts. "No signs of anyone.""The roof's secure!" Another person calls out, making my hands ball into fists at my side. I frown.It doesn't make sense. Power failures happen. But with the way our life has been going, I am not willing to be

CHAPTER 102CASSIAN'S POV"Seal every entrance." The order leaves my mouth before the echo of the gunshot has faded from the hills.Guards that came with us scatter in every direction."The western trail!""Already covered!""Double the watch on the tree line!"I am halfway into the forest before anyone can argue with me. The sniper can't have gotten far. The shot has come from less than two hundred meters away. Close enough to be precise. Close enough to escape if they know the terrain.Branches whip against my shoulders as I follow the direction of the shot. Killian and Jason are only a few steps behind, while a dozen wolves fan out through the trees, searching for anything that doesn't belong."Tracks!" someone shouts. We rush toward the voice. There are bare footprints that are deep enough to suggest someone has been lying prone for a long time.The trail runs downhill before disappearing onto a stretch of exposed stone. There is no blood or discarded evidence. Not even the shell

CHAPTER 101NOVA'S POVThe video ends, and not even one person dares to take the phone from my hand. I am sure that if one person even does that, then I would have bit their hands off. The screen fades to black, reflecting five stunned faces back at us. It should be over. But my thumb finds the replay button before I even realize I am moving.The footage starts playing again, and Children's laughter carries through old speakers, warped by time but somehow untouched by sorrow.There I am, barefoot and grinning. It looks nothing less than me trying to gain all the attention. Lyra barrels into me from the side, sending us tumbling into the grass while someone behind the camera laughs so hard the image shakes.Then...the third child steps into frame.Too far away, and too blurred. The camera follows them for barely two seconds before they turn.The recording cuts to blank. I play it again and again. By the fifth replay, I am not watching the video anymore. I am listening.“There,” I say

CHAPTER 100CASSIAN'S POV"Tell me I'm seeing things." No one answers Jason. At that point, a part of me knows that I would appreciate it if he just shuts up for a while. I want time to fucking think. The photograph lies in the center of the war room table, held flat beneath two heavy maps to stop the curled edges from folding back over themselves.Every person in the room has studied it one by one. We all want to know The result never changes. It isn't like the faces on the picture are going to change if we blink a little too hard. There are still three children there. Nova, Lyra, and the last person that has their face scratched out. Whoever had scratched away the third child's face hadn't wanted to hide an identity. They had wanted to erase the possibility that the child had ever existed.Nova stands near the fireplace with her arms folded tightly across her chest, staring at the picture like she is going to suddenly remember something if she thinks hard enough. "It doesn't ma

CHAPTER 5: What He IsGREY’S POVKarl sat on the edge of the bed and I sat in the chair by the window and the woman whose name I figured was the Irina, the woman he was being forced to mate.She sat on the floor with her back against the wall and we all waited for morning like it was something coming to collect us.Karl tried to explain twice. Both times I held up my hand and said not yet because I needed to think and I couldn’t think and talk at the same time and there was too much to think about. The woods. The shift. The witch shits. Viktor’s voice on the phone saying you felt something tonight didn’t you like he already knew the answer.The sun came up slowly. Then I heard the elevator down the hall.Karl heard it before I did. His head came up and something moved through the bond that alerted me, and I sat up straighter in the chair without meaning to.Two sets of footsteps was coming from different directions. Then the door opened without anyone knocking.Viktor came in first.

CHAPTER 4: What’s ComingGREY’S POVI don’t know how it happened, but it was like coach priest disappeared. And the two other ladies that claimed to be witches flew. I also didn’t read meaning to them saying I was a witch.Well I don’t know how this thing works, so I can’t explain it well. But in summary, they ran away because Karl was about to kill them. And I think I now believe werewolves exists.Karl shifted back slowly and I stood there and watched it happen and didn’t say anything because I didn’t have words yet.By the time he was fully himself again he was on his knees in the dirt breathing hard. I stayed close but didn’t touch him. I didn’t know if touching was the right thing right now.Then he stood up, fix his torn clothes on himself. We started walking back.“Was that your wolf form?” I asked.“Yes.” He said.“That was actually your wolf form?” I repeated, as I star Keely at his side face.“Grey.” He shunned.“I’m just.” I exhaled. “Okay. That was your wolf form.”He almo

CHAPTER 3: The WoodsGREY’S POVI didn’t think anything of it when Priest asked us to follow him.He was our coach. We followed him to practice, to film sessions, to meetings we didn’t want to sit through. So when he turned and walked out of Karl’s doorway without fully explaining why, I grabbed my jacket and went.Karl was confused and restless beside me the whole walk. I could feel that through whatever the bite had done to me. I had been feeling his emotions since I woke up next to him and I still hadn’t fully decided what to do with that.Priest took us outside through the back exit and across the training field. I thought he was heading to the facility. He wasn’t. He kept walking past it, past the equipment shed, past the boundary lights, into the tree line.I slowed down a pace a but. “Where are we going coach?” I asked, behind him.“Not far.” Priest said without turning around.Karl’s hand found my arm briefly. I looked at him. His jaw was set and his eyes were doing the thi

CHAPTER 2: What You DidKARL’S POVI woke up and Grey was wrapped around me so tight I thought something was wrong.I jolted up. He also sat up quickly with me like he had been waiting for it.“You’re awake.” He said it quietly. And something in his voice was not okay.“Why are you in my bed.” I looked at him. “How did you get in here.”He looked at me for a second and then looked away. “You kissed me and walked out.” He said. “I couldn’t just…” He stopped. Then started again. “I couldn’t just stop thinking about it, so I went looking for you. But you weren’t anywhere. I decided on your dorm. But when I came here, I found you on the floor.” He finally breathed in and out.Without waiting for me to say something, he continued. “So I moved you to the bed and there was this mark on your neck and it was glowing and I—l…” He pressed his hand to his mouth. “I bit it. I frankly don’t know why I bit it. I just…did.”I touched my neck. The mark was there. And it was warm under my fingertips, n

CHAPTER 1: Red MoonKARL’S POVThe red moon was doing something to my blood. I started feeling it the moment the sun went down. This kind of pull in my chest meant that my wolf was pushing against my skin, like it had somewhere to be and I was the only thing standing in the way. I gripped the edge of the bathroom sink and breathed through my nose as I told myself I had done this before. I had managed and controlled it. The red moon came three times a year and three times a year I found a way through it without destroying anything.I just needed to get outside. Run it off in the woods behind the training facility before anyone noticed I was gone.I grabbed my jacket off the hook and was halfway to the door when it opened from the other side, and Grey walked in.“There you are.” He dropped his bag on the nearest chair and pulled out his tablet without looking at me. “I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes. We need to talk about Saturday.”I stayed where I was near the door and