LOGINAlanza’s POV
"Where is it?" I rasped, my voice cracking before the words even left my throat.
I scanned the sterile room with a frantic, twitching gaze, half-expecting my jewelry to be sitting on the bedside table as if it were just a pair of glasses. It wasn't there. Panic began to claw at my chest, a cold, sharp sensation that rivaled the ache in my limbs.
I looked down at myself and felt a surge of claustrophobia. I was pinned to the mattress by a web of plastic
Alanza’s POV"Don't stop," I whispered, my voice breaking as I pulled him closer.Luciano was being too cautious. He moved with a careful, deliberate slowness that made my skin itch with impatience. He wanted to be gentle, to treat me like something that might break, but that wasn't what I needed. I wrapped my legs around his waist and arched my back, forcing him to bridge the gap between us. When he finally sank into me, the fullness was a physical relief that silenced the noise in my head. I felt a sense of completion that only he could provide, a grounding weight that anchored me to the present.The last of his restraint snapped. I saw it in the way his eyes darkened and felt it in the sudden, hard grip of his fingers against my skin. He stopped trying to be careful. His movements became a wild, heavy rhythm that drove the air from my lungs. I was pinned to the mattress, my body sliding upward with every forceful thrust until I was barely on the bed at
Alanza’s POV"Remember what you actually need, Alanza," Sombra warns, her voice sounding like a fading echo in the back of my mind.I try to hang onto her words, but focus is impossible with Luciano kissing me. He holds me like I am the only fixed point in his universe. His palms slide under the hem of my shirt, his rough skin sparking fire against my ribs. I arch my back, a small sound of surrender catching in my throat."Luciano," I say, my breath hitching. "We have to stop this."He pulls back just an inch. His eyes glow with a gold light that looks like molten suns. "I know. I am sorry. I lose all my discipline when I am near you."Even as he says it, his hands don't move away. They keep exploring. He hooks his fingers into the lace of my bra and tugs it down, his thumb grazing my nipple. I shiver, my head spinning as I try to find my footing."I need some room, Luciano. I need time to think. I cannot do this right now," I tell him
Alanza’s POV"You aren't going to win this, Luciano, so you might as well stop pacing before you wear a hole in the floor," Lucia said.She stood with her arms locked over her chest. Her chin was tilted up in that stubborn way I knew so well. She did not look like she was standing in front of the most powerful man in the region. She looked like she was scolding a toddler. Lucia did not care about ranks or titles. If there was a human version of an alpha, she was it. I was not shocked her parents let her come here. Lucia did not ask for things. She just did them and let everyone else deal with the fallout.Luciano stopped moving. The rubber soles of his heavy boots made a sharp squeak against the hospital tile. He let out a long breath. It was a heavy sound that made his shoulders drop. When he finally looked at me, the golden heat in his eyes had faded. He looked tired. He looked like he was ready to give up."You are right, Alanza," he said. His vo
Alanza’s POV"I need you to listen to me for once," Luciano says, his voice dropping into that low, command-heavy register that usually makes people jump to obey.He is standing by the foot of my hospital bed, looking like he hasn't slept in a week. I want to lean into him. I want to believe his promises that the world won't fall apart, but my own skin feels like a cage that's suddenly too small. Something is shifting under my muscles, a restless energy I can't name, and it terrifies me.Change is coming, Alanza, Sombra whispers. Her mental voice is a cool breeze against the heat of my panic. It is a transition, not a tragedy.I know she is trying to ground me, but the dread in my stomach has deep roots. I am certain Sombra knows exactly why I was out cold for days, but I can't grill her while Luciano is hovering over me like a sentry.Lucia reaches out and gives my hand a firm, grounding squeeze. "We have your back, Alanza. No matter what co
Alanza’s POV"Alanza, you have to wake up."The voice was a thin thread in a sea of ink. I tried to grab it, but the darkness was heavy, like cold water filling my lungs. Everything felt distant. There was a rhythmic, mechanical clicking somewhere to my left. A dull heat pulsed in my palms."I know you can hear me," the voice persisted. It was clearer now, vibrating with a strange familiarity. "Because I can finally hear you."Hear me? I didn't think I was making a sound. My throat felt like it had been lined with crushed glass. My entire existence felt buried under a mountain of wet earth. I remembered fire. I remembered the sensation of the air being sucked out of the world until there was nothing left to breathe."You're alive," the voice insisted, firmer this time. "You’re in the hospital. You're safe. Just open your eyes."No. I didn't want to. Waking meant the return of the weight. It meant acknowledging the ache in my bone
Lucia’s POV"Twenty-one days of staring at the same four walls is enough to make anyone lose their mind," I muttered, glaring at the calendar on the kitchen wall.Every red "X" I’d marked felt like a tiny stab wound. Three weeks since everything went sideways. Three weeks since my best friend stopped opening her eyes. I reached for my coffee mug, but my hands were shaking so bad I nearly knocked it over.Sombra let out a sharp yelp. I’d stepped right on her paw."Dammit, Sombra, I’m sorry," I said, reaching down to scrub behind her ears. "My head isn't on straight. Just give me five minutes to wake up and we’ll go see her. I promise."I felt gross. My skin was tacky with sweat and my muscles throbbed from the morning workout. Even though Alanza was stuck in a hospital bed, the rest of the world hadn't stopped spinning. If anything, it was spinning faster. London hadn't given me a single day off. He didn't seem to care







