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
“Hey,” he says, his voice a bit too loud.Micah and Jason follow close behind, each taking a seat around the table. Micah’s gaze flicks between Alec and me, his brows pulling together as if he’s piecing something together.“So,” Brian says, leaning back and propping his elbows on the back of his cha
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, his breath warm against my temple.We move through the trees, the moon casting long shadows over the ground. Alec keeps his hand on my lower back, a steadying presence, so much so that I find myself leaning into it more and more. Nothing registers as we walk except for th
The room feels too small, the air too thick. Alec is only a few feet away, and even from here, his scent is a dark, potent cloud that wraps around me, sinking deep into my lungs, into my blood, until I feel like I’m drowning in it.I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block him out, trying to will my b
“So...” Jason clears his throat. “Can you still... you know, have kids?”Brian’s face darkens. “We don’t know that either. After all we are a mix, so we are not sure if we can a sire kids with either of the two species. Being hybrid has probably messed our bodies, so we are not sure if that’s still







