LOGINKAELIf I was being honest, we should have been there by now.By there, I mean wherever River was being held, because it was sure as fuck not Drayven’s pack.But we weren't. We had been moving for hours now, being fast and relentless with no breaks. We had to find River, and we had to do it fast. And yet, we were getting nowhere.I slowed down abruptly, my boots grinding against the rough stone as I came to a stop. The forest had long since thinned into something a bit harsher, the earth now uneven beneath our feet.Storm nearly walked into my back.“What—” she started, then cut herself off as she looked around.Brent exhaled sharply behind us. “Don’t tell me,” he muttered. “We’ve been here before.”Yeah, we had.I could see the same crooked tree that had twisted unnaturally against the rocks. There was a crop close to it that was shaped like a broken tooth. Even a shallow dip in the ground that seemed to collect rain water.Ughhh."We're just going round a circle," Brent offered his
KAEL“Don’t do this.”Brent’s voice cut through the quiet of the den like a blade. I didn't bother looking at him. Currently, I stood by the large wooden table at the center of the room, my hands braced against its surface, while I kept my head slightly bowed as I tried my hardest to study the scattered maps beneath me.But I wasn't seeing any of them. My mind was somewhere else entirely. Far, far away."I have to," I said finally.Brent let out a sharp breath, pacing once before stopping directly across from me.“No,” he said firmly. “You don’t have to do anything. You’re choosing to do this.”I curled my fingers slightly against the wood. "I stayed back when I should have gone after him the first time he left. I don't have a choice in this one this time."“That’s where you’re wrong.”I lifted my head then, locking my eyes with Brent. "If I don't go, Drayven will definitely kill him."Those words settled heavily between us, and it didn't take me more than a few seconds to see how t
RIVERFucking hell.I sat on a thick as fuck crimson pillow like some sort of prized pet, my wrists still locked in that cold, magic-deadening cuffs.Every single time I shifted, the metal clinked softly, a constant reminder of how far I had fallen in the space of a few hours.Genuinely, I was disgusted.Not just angry... disgusted down to end of my toes.The underground room had been transformed while I was being prepared. Torches now burned lower, casting this sort of warm, golden haze that made the half-naked bodies around us look almost dreamlike. There were cushions and low tables scattered everywhere.Men and women in translucent silks or nothing at all lounged, laughed, and touched themselves, while the air smelled of wine, sweat and fucking sex.Yeah, the people were actively fucking in front of us.There was a muscular man with dark skin and intricate tattoos who knelt on all fours while one of the women... a slim redhead... rode him from behind with slow, rolling thrusts of
RIVER"Where are you taking me?"I had been asking that same question for the last fifteen minutes, and this time, the words came out strained, mostly because the position I was currently in was incredibly uncomfortable. Three of Drayven’s shadow creatures carried me like I weighed literally nothing. There was one holding onto my shoulders, another my legs, and the third hovered close enough that I was certain it would intervene if I tried anything clever.Not that I even could.My wrists and ankles were bound with some sort of metal restraint that refused to yield no matter how much I twisted or pulled. The cuffs were smooth and dark, way colder than iron and far heavier than they looked. Ughhh. That wasn't even the worst part.The worst part was that silence inside me whenever I tried reaching for my magic, and it started the moment the creatures placed that thing on me.It was like reaching for a limb that had suddenly been removed, taking me back to those early days when I had
KAELI could not believe this was happening.Not now.Not after everything that had already gone wrong.Hearing the name Drayven was like a curse. The last time I had seen that damned man had nearly ended in blood.After inviting us to a party in his pack, that man had turned around and almost used a disagreement or was it a fight? I couldn't remember. All I knew was that he had almost used that to keep River in his pack.Chained the guy and what not. I could still remember the way his eyes always lingered on River just a little too long.He had always wanted the man.And I remembered how much effort it had taken not to rip that man’s throat out right there.Fuck me.He had taken River once more, and he was in danger. I had a feeling that the Storm girl was not lying in any way. "Come through," I said abruptly. Storm blinked, like she couldn't understand the command."The ward," I added. "You have the permission to pass through."The invisible barrier shimmered faintly as I spoke th
KAELI crouched beside the ward stone, brushing dirt from the ancient markings carved onto its surface.The stone itself was older than the pack territory... older than the alpha den, older than all the trees that surrounded it. Symbols spiralled across the surface in a pattern only first ever werewolves who had made it would truly understand. To me, it mostly looked like scratches in rock, but I had learned long ago from my father that those scratches were the difference between safety and slaughter.I was yet to see the rock in any real action.Brent stood a few paces away, his arms crossed as he examined the faint shimmer of the ward line stretching through the trees.“We should reinforce the eastern boundary twice,” Brent said. “If someone wanted to test the pack’s defences, this is the easiest entry point.”I nodded slowly. “I know.”My voice came out quieter than usual.The past days had been... strange and uneasy, with all the tightening of the borders, increasing patrols, and
KAELLovely!The chandeliers of the main hall glistened now like they were frozen drops of starlight, their golden glow spilling over the polished marble floors and tables that were dressed in ivory linens.Music drifted from the corner, a slow, elegant melody being played by the pack’s current mus
KAELI didn't like being here.Not because the temporary den was small or badly kept... it wasn't. Not because it was on the outer ring of the pack town, away from my house where I could actually control things better.It was because HE was here.River.Yet, it was way better to be here than to be
RIVERFor the records, I hadn't expected it to feel like that.I've had crushes before, on both males and females, but not like this. The air between us had shifted... hot, magnetic, and so unbearable... and Kael’s damn face was so close I could taste the unspoken desire hovering the space between
RIVERThe mornings here in the Blackthorn pack were crisp, the kind that bit faintly at the skin and carried the scent of pine sap through the streets.There I was, standing outside the pack’s small education hall, warming myself further by wrapping my arms around a steaming mug of tea and pretendi







