เข้าสู่ระบบPOV: ACEThe silence in my bedroom was suffocating, and it tasted like ash in my mouth.I was splayed out flat across my mattress, staring at the ceiling. My mind was a jagged, broken wreck of memories that kept cutting into me every time I tried to think.My back still burned like crazy from the whips I'd received awhile back, the skin tight and raw under my shirt. But the real physical pain in my back was nothing compared to the pain sitting right in the middle of my chest.It was a dull, constant ache that just wouldn't leave me alone. It had basically become my new shadow, following me every single second of the day.Leo was pacing back and forth in my room, his sneakers making a soft squeaking sound against the wood every time he turned around.Dax was slumped down deep in my leather armchair, looking completely exhausted. He had finally surfaced from whatever hole he’d been hiding in for the past months while dealing with his family’s business affairs.He was tossing a black hoc
POV: VINEI frowned, feeling a cold drop in my stomach."Why?" I asked."To stabilize the bond, or whatever," Clyde said, her voice dripping with pure bitterness. "That is what she called it."She went completely silent after that, her whole body feeling incredibly heavy against mine."I know I’m the one who let it go," Clyde whispered so softly I could barely hear her. "I know I chose this path myself."A single tear fell from her eye, wetting my shirt."But it hurts, Vine," she said. "It hurts so much that I feel like I’m completely hollowed out on the inside."I didn't know what to say to fix that kind of pain, so I just kept my arm tight around her."I need a distraction," she muttered, her fingers gripping my shirt again. "I need to be absolutely anywhere else but inside my own head right now."She let out a small, miserable gasp."Seeing Jaxon every single day at school is going to be impossible," she said. "Seeing them together in the halls... it’s going to be the death of me."
POV: VINEThe morning light didn’t wake me up immediately. It was the heavy silence of the room that finally made my eyes click open.I shifted my weight slightly on the floor, feeling the stiff carpet pressing hard against my cheek. My back was so sore from sleeping on the hard ground all night.I could feel the warm, rhythmic breathing of Clyde curled up tight against my side. She was draped over me like a literal lifeline, like she was holding onto the last safe thing left in the world.Her head was tucked securely right under my chin, and her breath was hot against my neck. Her hand was gripping the front of my shirt so tightly that her knuckles looked a little white.It felt like she was terrified I might just dissolve into the ground if she let go of me for even a second. I could feel her heart beating against my ribs, slow and heavy.I just lay there on the floor, staring at the little dust motes dancing in the sliver of sunlight that had managed to pierce through the heavy cur
POV: VINE"I’m done looking at you," I said over my shoulder.I walked out of the room, my heartbeat slowing for the first time in months. With every step toward the exit, I felt the mansion—the weight of his expectations, the phantom touch of his hands, the fake charm of his voice—peeling away from my skin.By the time I reached the front gate, the air felt different. It was cold, but it was my air. I was walking out of the crypt.The sound of tires screeching against gravel cut through the evening. A sleek, high-end coupe pulled to a violent stop, blocking the pedestrian gate. The window rolled down.Rose Cartella.She was smoking a cigarette, her hair pulled back into a sharp ponytail. She leaned out, a grin spreading across her face that didn't reach her eyes."So," she said, tapping ash onto the driveway. "The rat finally ran away? Perfect."I stopped, my hands curling into fists at my sides. "Get out of my way, Rose."She laughed, a sharp sound. "Oh, I’ll get out of your way. I
POV: VINEThe coffee shop on the edge of Stone Hill Valley was an ironic choice. It was where I used to go to hide from the Vipers, and now, it felt like the only place where I could breathe without the gross, suffocating scent of wolf musk filling my lungs.I watched Drew walk through the entrance, and I felt nothing. No fear. No lingering trauma. He wasn't the monster I remembered; he was just a guy in a hoodie, looking as tired as I felt. After I had sent that email to the dean’s office—demanding they pull me from the disciplinary review so I wouldn't have to look at him or speak his name—I had assumed he’d been scrubbed from my life.Apparently, he had been busy.He didn't bother with small talk. He didn't ask how I was or offer an apology. He simply slid a thick, manila envelope across the table. It was heavy, the edges worn from use."You should look at this, Vine," he said, his voice flat. "Not because I’m trying to win you back or play games. But because I know what it’s like
POV: ACEFucking hell.I sat in the back of the car, my hands clenched so tightly around the leather upholstery that I could hear the stitching snapping under the pressure. Every nerve ending in my body felt like it was being flayed alive. I had done it—I had played the part of the obedient, heartless Callahan heir—but the cost was a gaping, festering wound in my chest that no amount of wealth or bloodline power could ever heal.I felt absolutely terrible. Nauseous.But I had no choice. I had watched Rose stumble, watched her fake that pathetic little tear, and I knew exactly what my father would have done if I had shown even a flicker of empathy toward Vine in that dining room. The wrath he would have rained down on her wouldn't have been a simple verbal lash; it would have been permanent. I had to step up. I had to perform.And yet, seeing the way Vine’s expression had crumpled—that brief, devastating second where the light in her eyes had completely extinguished—felt worse than a
POV: ACEThe second she hit the floor, my heart stopped for what seemed to be like a whole solid minute. I’ve seen girls faint before. Usually, it’s for attention or because they skipped lunch to fit into a dress, but this was different.Vine had literally just crumpled like a puppet with its stri
VineThe eyes of every student in the class were on us. I hated the attention, but Ace just had to be persistent. It wasn't like I expected him to just leave me be, but still...."I am not going to ask again, Vine," Ace said.His voice was a low hum that made the hair on my arms stand up. I kept my
VineI followed him out of the studio like a homeless puppy, my legs still struggling to find balance. I was beginning to get grossed out by how sticky I felt. Walking in front of me, he didn't bother looking back at me. He just kept walking in silence, his hands tucked in his pockets, acting like
VineI didn't even flinch when he got in my face. I was past the point of being scared. Something inside me had just turned into hot, bubbling acid. I stood up from that stool, not even caring that I was half-dressed and vulnerable. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I snapped. My voice was loud







