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
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I don’t say anything. It was obvious I was alive, so there was no need to confirm what he could already see.“How? How is it possible?”“Elder Martin, it’s good to see you,” Alec’s voice interrupts from behind. “Let’s leave, we’ll explain everything once we get to
“What?” Alec asks, almost stammering the words.“I’m sure you don’t have a hearing problem, Alec,” I drawl, rolling my eyes at him.They all looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Like I was an alien from out of space. Honestly, they are the ones who’ve lost their minds. Did they think I would easily a
I was pissed off by this new development. In fact, I was way past pissed off. I was downright furious.“Did you know this?” I turn to Alec with a glare. “Did you know that they had no idea about how to break the curse?”The thought of staying in this pack for more than a week was making my skin craw
What he says tells me nothing. Absolutely nothing.It could be a witch. That was the most logical answer. Witches were vindictive creatures. Mess with them, and you'll be paying the price for your stupidity in years to come.It could be that Alec’s grandfather messed with one, but something deep dow







