LOGINMy gaze sweeps across the courtyard, taking in the faces, the laughter, and the sense of peace that still feels surreal.And then my eyes find her.Xena.I can’t bring myself to call her Lola, just as she can’t bring herself to call me Sadie. To everyone else, we are Lola and Sadie but to each other
“Sadie?” Alec murmurs gently beside me, voice low and coaxing. “You ready?”I turn, and he’s there, exactly where he’s always been. Tall, steady, eyes soft in a way I once thought I’d never be on the receiving end of. He’s holding our son in his arms, swaddled in a light silver blanket that shimmers
He already knows. He always does.“Ready?” I say quietly, though everyone hears me.“Definitely… Been waiting to make you officially mine for months,” he says, earning a chuckle from everyone.Slowly, he puts Aspen down, who is smiling from ear to ear.We told her the truth, that Alec is her dad, an
The night is quiet. Not the tense quiet that comes before war, not the brittle silence of grief but a living stillness, deep and steady, like the world has finally exhaled.It has been a month since the battle. A month since blood stained this land. A month since Kaden fell. A month since I learned
Kaden sees it too late. He lunges, but we are faster.I raise my hand and time stops and light pours from me in radiant waves. Lola steps forward, shadows trailing her like smoke. Light and shadow coil around us, not fighting, but circling, choosing. The air thickens, charged, every particle vibrat
The guilt is suffocating. It crawls up my throat like it wants to rip me apart from the inside.This isn’t how it was meant to be. This isn’t how it was meant to end. Kaden wasn’t supposed to win.I wipe away the tears. No! I refuse to let her die.I feel something crack open in my chest at my deter
I walk through the airport with my beta and gamma by my sides. Some of my warriors were accompanying us. It’s always wise to be careful. You may never know when trouble will arise. It took us almost two hours to get here, and we still had a long way to go. To say I’m irritable would be an understa
“We need to go back and start preparations,” I said, breaking the silence after we’d been there for some time.Thankfully, Knox doesn’t argue. He just stood up and started the trot back home. Despite everything, we felt more at ease. I know it’s only for a while before restlessness takes over, but i
"Come Again?” Raven’s eyes blink at me almost comically.“Micah helped me escape when I was in the dungeon,” I repeated.They both looked at me with shock plastered on their faces. I get their reaction, though. I would be surprised if the positions had been switched.King releases a breath of air. “
Sadie.“Mama, Mama, wake up.” Aspen’s sweet little voice pulls me from my sleep. That and the fact that she was using my bed as a bouncing castle.“Wake up, Mama!” she screamed again, making me groan.Aspen is always loud. She could scream your ear off if she wanted to. She is also an early riser. F







