LOGINCaspian:One Year LaterThe breeze was warmer today.Softer.Gentler in a way I hadn’t felt in years.More peaceful and more contenting, More calm and even happier.I stood at the edge of the gardens, the same gardens where so much had been taken from us, and so much had been given back, watching Ad
Valerie:The sun was rising over the horizon, golden streaks splitting the sky wide open, like a promise finally fulfilled.I stood at the highest point of the estate grounds, the wind tugging at my hair, the scent of fresh earth and morning dew wrapping around me like a cloak.It was over.Giovanni
“Impressive,” Giovanni called, his voice carrying easily across the clearing. His smile was cold, razor sharp. “I knew there was more to you, Valerie. I knew it from the second I laid eyes on you. I did say that I had more respect to you than I had for others, but it seems to me that I did not expec
Valerie:The boy's cries ripped through me like claws.My heart raced with each passing moment and I did my best not to harm that child. I did my best not to dirty my hands with his blood, to save him out of this, to get him out of this before the man played the game that I was not willing to handle
Caspian:The air was too still.It was the kind of stillness that came after the fight, when the blood had dried and the bodies were cleared, but before the real danger revealed itself.I didn’t like it. Not one damn bit.Because I knew that stillness was one that only told me that more danger was
Valerie:The earth still smelled of blood.I smelled of blood. People's blood the blood of our enemies the people who had dared invade our territory.The ground beneath our feet was turned upside down. We were going to need to fix that later, but I knew that the vines that worked their way from the
Caspian:I could tell something was off the moment Valerie walked through the door.It wasn’t in her steps, they were light, measured as always. It wasn’t in her expression, she kept it blank, unreadable, the way she did when she wanted no one to ask questions.But I knew her too well to miss it.Sh
Valerie:The late morning sun warmed my skin, the breeze brushing soft tendrils of hair across my cheek. I sat on the edge of the garden steps, arms wrapped around my knees, watching my son laugh as he chased a butterfly through the tall grass.It was almost peaceful, almost normal. It reminded me o
Caspian:The scent of lavender and warm vanilla filled the villa, her scent, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, it wasn’t just lingering in my memory. It was alive. It was here. She was here. She was by my side and rather than this villa feeling like a place that I was living in, i
Valerie:I told myself I wouldn’t break.I told myself I’d hold it together, for Adrian, for the pack, for everyone who still believed in me.I told myself that I needed to stand strong, that I should not afford allowing myself to fall.But it was getting harder.With each passing moment, I found it







