LOGINWinter in Eldridge Hollow was unforgiving.The snow was waist-deep in the drifts, a blinding white blanket that smothered sound and froze breath in the lungs. The trees were black skeletons against the grey sky, their branches groaning under the weight of the ice.But the hot springs never froze.I sat on the edge of the grotto, my feet dangling in the steaming water. The heat seeped into my bones, easing the ache in my lower back.I was heavy.My belly was a swollen mound, stretching the fabric of the oversized tunic I wore. It moved occasionally, a sharp kick or a rolling elbow that made me wince and smile at the same time." kicking again?"Jax waded through the water toward me. He was in human form, naked, the steam swirling around his muscular frame. His hair was longer now, tied back with a leather cord, and there were new scars on his chest—trophies from a border skirmish with a rogue pack last spring.He moved between my legs, resting his hands on my stomach."He's restless,"
" I said, turning to face him, grabbing the lapels of his shirt, "ten more come. Then the state police. Then the helicopters. You can't fight the human world, Jax. It doesn't bleed like a wolf. It swarms."Jax stared at me, his amber eyes slit-thin. The beast in him was close to the surface, fueled by the lingering hormones of our mating. He wanted to protect his pregnant mate. He wanted to tear the throat out of anything that threatened his legacy."They are on my land," he snarled."They are looking for a missing girl," I countered, keeping my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands. "They found my backpack in the alley. The blood. They think I'm dead, or hurt. If they don't find me, they won't stop looking.""So what?" Elara stepped forward, a bone knife in her hand. "Let them look. The forest is deep.""They have dogs, Elara," I snapped. "They have drones with thermal cameras. They will find the vents. They will find the den." I looked around the circle of faces—my pack. "I
The descent into the den was a blur of stone and shadow, a spiraling journey into the belly of the earth that mirrored the spiraling chaos in my own mind.I was burning.It wasn't the clean, external heat of the hot springs, nor the adrenaline-fueled fire of battle. This was internal. It felt as if my blood had been replaced with liquid mercury—heavy, toxic, and boiling. It moved sluggishly through my veins, scalding everything it touched. My skin felt too tight for my body, sensitive to the point of agony. The rough fabric of the blanket Jax had wrapped around me felt like sandpaper; the cool air of the tunnels felt like ice shards."Stay with me, Lila," Jax’s voice was a rumble against my ear, vibrating through his chest and into my own.He was moving fast, his bare feet slapping against the stone floor with a rhythmic urgency. I could hear the pack behind us—or maybe I just felt them. A hundred hearts beating in the dark, a hundred pairs of lungs inhaling the sudden, cloying scent
The silence of the forest after a slaughter is heavy. It doesn't feel peaceful; it feels like the world is holding its breath, waiting for the earth to swallow the violence we fed it.I stepped out of the grotto, the water sluicing off my skin in rivets that turned cold the moment they hit the night air. The steam rising from the hot spring clung to the weeping willows like a phantom mist, a soft, ethereal curtain that separated the intimacy of the last hour from the brutality waiting for us in the ravine.My body felt strange—a patchwork of contradictions.My skin was raw, scrubbed clean of the mud and gore by Jax’s rough hands and the moss, yet beneath the surface, a deep, bone-deep ache was blooming. The adrenaline that had fueled my leap onto Thorne’s back and the subsequent, frantic coupling in the water was receding like a tide, leaving the wreckage exposed. My ribs throbbed in a jagged rhythm where Thorne’s skull had collided with my chest. My side burned where the beta’s claws
The world had not changed, but I had.I sat perched on a moss-covered outcropping of granite overlooking the valley, the wind ruffling the fine hairs on my arms. In my human skin, the breeze was cool, carrying the promise of autumn. But to the wolf beneath the skin, the wind was a newspaper, a chaotic stream of information screaming to be read.I closed my eyes and inhaled.The scents unraveled like threads in a tapestry. I could smell the damp rot of a fallen log three miles east. I could smell the sharp, ammonia tang of a fox marking its territory near the river. And closer, much closer, I could smell the distinct, earthy musk of the pack—sweat, leather, and the lingering smoke of the den fires.But underneath it all was him. Jax.His scent was the anchor. It was heavy dark chocolate and ozone, a storm contained in skin. It wrapped around my senses even when he wasn't touching me, a constant reminder of the bond that now hummed in my blood like a high-voltage wire."You're listening
The taste of dirt was the first thing I learned in the pack. It was gritty, bitter, and tasted faintly of iron—likely because my lip was split again.I hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from my lungs in a wheezing gasp. Above me, the canopy of the forest spun in a dizzying kaleidoscope of green and gold, sunlight filtering through the leaves to mock my defeat."Dead," Elara stated, her voice devoid of sympathy.She stood over me, blotting out the sun. Her chest heaved slightly, a sheen of sweat glistening on her pale skin, but she looked like she’d barely exerted herself. I, on the other hand, felt like I’d been put through a meat grinder.I groaned, rolling onto my side and spitting a glob of bloody saliva into the moss. "I tripped.""You hesitated," Elara corrected, extending a hand. Her grip was iron-hard as she hauled me to my feet. "Thorne’s wolves won’t wait for you to find your footing. They’ll rip your throat out while you’re thinking about which foot to move."







