ANMELDENCaden’s POV:My grip tightened the second the paper touched my hand. By the time my eyes dropped to the page, the edges were already crumpling beneath my fingers.“If you're seeing this, then I have already gone. What I am about to do… I might not come back alive. So I just want to use this opportunity to say some things I didn’t get to say.To my mother—you weren’t really much of a mother to me. Sometimes, I tried to convince myself there had to be some kind of explanation for why you abandoned me. I waited for one. I hoped for one. But every time you showed up, you only managed to disappoint me all over again.When I finally decided to give you a chance, you left for a 725-day honeymoon. What kind of honeymoon even lasts that long? At some point, I stopped making excuses for you. I came to terms with the truth, you simply don’t want to be around me.You were the first person who ever hurt me in this world. I need you to know that. And I need you to understand that I will never forgi
Tyler’s POV:By the time the first light of morning settled fully over the estate, I was already awake.The water ran steadily down my body, hot enough to sting slightly against my skin, but I welcomed it. It helped clear my head, or at least it usually did. This morning was different. No matter how long I stood under the stream, no matter how many times I dragged a hand through my damp hair, the uneasiness clung stubbornly to me.It didn’t make sense.Nothing had happened. There was no threat, no disturbance, no reason for my instincts to be on edge. And yet, something felt… off.My jaw tightened slightly as I reached for the soap, forcing myself to focus on the routine. I wasn’t someone who got unsettled without reason. I trusted my instincts too much for that. They had never failed me before.Still, this feeling lingered.After a while, I turned off the water and stepped out, grabbing a towel and drying myself off with practiced ease. The mirror reflected a composed version of me,
Stephanie’s POV:I turned my back on the mansion and slipped past the edge of its manicured grounds, where the world stopped being controlled and started being real again.The backyard bled into wilderness too quickly. One moment there were trimmed hedges and stone paths, the next there were tangled roots and towering trees that seemed to lean inward, like they were watching me leave or trying to stop me.It was 4 a.m.The kind of hour that didn’t belong to anyone. Not night, not morning. Just… empty.So, swallowing the fear clawing its way up my throat, I stepped into the woods.The change was immediate.The air turned sharper, colder, slipping beneath my clothes and brushing against my skin like something alive. The faint golden glow from the mansion disappeared within seconds, swallowed whole by the darkness behind me, as if it had never existed at all.I hesitated.Just for a second.Because once the light was gone, it was really gone.And there was no pretending anymore.My foots
Stephanie’s POV:The alarm shattered the quiet at exactly 4:00 a.m., its shrill ringing slicing clean through the last fragile threads of sleep. For a moment, I didn’t move. I lay there, eyes half-open, staring at the dim outline of the ceiling as the sound kept drilling into my ears, insistent, unforgiving. It felt too loud for the hour, too harsh for everything I was about to do.With a quiet exhale, I reached over and silenced it.The sudden stillness that followed felt heavier than the noise.I pushed myself up slowly, careful, as if the room itself might protest any sudden movement. The air was cool against my skin, and for a second, I just sat there on the edge of the bed, grounding myself. No second thoughts. No hesitation. If I let myself think too much, I knew I wouldn’t go through with it.So I stood.The floor was cold beneath my feet as I crossed the room, each step measured, deliberate. I didn’t turn on the lights. I didn’t need them. I knew this room too well—every corne
Stephanie’s POV:Our gazes lingered longer than they should have—too long, stretched thin with tension that neither of us seemed willing to break. It felt like standing in the eye of a storm, quiet but charged, like something ugly was waiting just beneath the surface. I was the first to move. I swatted her hand away and staggered back a step, putting space between us as if she had burned me.“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, my voice sharp, edged with disbelief.Her expression shifted, but not into anything apologetic. If anything, she looked wounded, offended, even.“What did I do so wrong,” she shot back, “that you can’t just help make my wedding day a memorable one by being at peace with me? Why are you fighting with me?”A dry laugh slipped out of me, humorless and brittle. It didn’t even sound like a laugh, more like something cracked loose under pressure.“I’m not fighting with you,” I said. “Can’t you just stay in your lane?”“I can’t,” she replied immediately, her tone
Stephanie’s POV:“Please,” she pleaded, widening her eyes in what I supposed she thought was a playful, disarming way. It only irritated me more. What grated on me even harder, though, was how her gaze kept flickering past me, toward Nicholas, Alex, Aiden, and Caden, as if silently begging them to step in and tip the scales in her favor.I let out a quiet scoff when I caught on. It wasn’t subtle, not to me. She was setting a stage, carefully arranging the scene so I’d look like the villain no matter what I chose. If I refused, I’d be the cold, inconsiderate one in front of them. If I accepted, she’d get exactly what she wanted while basking in the satisfaction of having cornered me into it. Either way, she walked away victorious.Two birds. One stone. Classic.Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t playing along.I didn’t care what they thought of me. That might’ve been my greatest flaw or my greatest strength, depending on who you asked. I could be a lot of things—difficult, blunt, even cru
Stephanie's POV:I couldn’t sleep. No matter how much I tossed and turned, my mind remained restless, tangled with the events of the day. Every little detail replayed in my head like a broken record. The strange energy in the house, the tension in the air, and the gnawing feeling that something w
Stephanie's POV:The school grounds were quiet now. Everyone had dispersed, their chatter and footsteps fading into the distance, leaving behind an almost eerie silence. The only sounds that remained were the soft chirping of crickets and the occasional rustling of leaves as the evening breeze pas
Stephanie's POV:I went straight to my room and locked the door behind me. The familiar scent of lavender and vanilla wrapped around me like a warm hug, and I couldn't help but sigh in relief. My bed, soft and inviting, seemed to call my name. Dropping onto it with a soft thud, I realized just how
Alex’s POV:“What should we do with him?” I asked, my voice cutting through the tension like a blade. It was cold, colder than I had imagined it could be. My wolf was seething with rage, clawing at the edges of my control, trying to take over. I could feel his anger coursing through me, an almost







