LOGINI wake slowly.Not because I want to,but because someone is there.The first thing I feel is coolness against my skin. A soft cloth and gentle pressure.I frown and try to move, but my body feels heavy, like I’ve been pulled back from somewhere far away.“Easy,” a soft voice murmurs.I recognize it instantly.Aria.I open my eyes.The room swims for a second, then settles. I’m in Damon’s chamber. The scent hits me immediately of him. Strong. Familiar. It wraps around me like a second skin.Aria sits beside the bed, her brow creased with worry as she wipes my forehead with a damp towel.“You fainted,” she says quietly. “Again.”My throat feels dry. “How long?”“A few hours.”I swallow and turn my head to the left.Suddenly, I almost forget how to breathe.Damon stands there.Shirtless.Only a loose, black, baggy trouser hangs low on his hips. His arms are folded across his chest, muscles hard and defined, veins faintly visible under golden skin. The deep wounds I saw before are gone co
I feel it before I see it. The bond shifts.Not warm, not comforting. But alert and sharp I jolt awake, my heart slamming against my ribs. For a terrifying second, I think something is wrong,that Damon is slipping again,but then I feel it clearly.Awake.I lift my head slowly. Damon’s eyes are open.Golden. Clear. Focused.My breath catches painfully in my throat.“You’re awake,” I whisper, afraid that if I speak louder, he’ll disappear again.He doesn’t answer.He just looks at me.Not soft.Not confused but cold.My heart sinks.I push myself up on one elbow, ignoring the ache in my body, the heaviness in my limbs.“How do you feel?” I ask carefully. “The healer said….”“You ran.”The words are flat and accusing.They hit harder than a slap.“I…” I swallow. “Damon, please”“You ran,” he repeats, his jaw tightening as he shifts upright. The movement is stiff, controlled. He is stable now,too stable. Like a wall snapping back into place.“You left the pack,” he continues. “Left me. Whi
The Healing Chamber never truly sleeps.Even when the lanterns dim and the healers leave, the air remains restless thick with magic, fear, and the quiet struggle of a man refusing to die.Damon lies beside me, his breathing shallow but steady for now. His body is warm under my hands, too warm, like fire trapped beneath skin. I keep one arm around him, the other resting protectively over my stomach.Every time I drift close to sleep, I wake again, terrified his chest will stop moving.So I stay awake.Listening and waiting.That is when I hear the wings. A sharp flutter against stone.Once. Twice.I lift my head slowly, my heart stuttering. The sound doesn’t belong here. No birds ever come near the Healing Chamber,not this deep in the pack house.Damon shifts faintly, a low sound leaving his throat.“It’s okay,” I whisper automatically, stroking his hair. “I’m here.”The sound comes again. Closer.Footsteps echo in the corridor outside.Antonio.I recognize his scent before I see him.
They lock the Healing Chamber from the outside.Not because Damon is dangerous.But because they are afraid.The heavy stone doors close with a dull thud that echoes through my chest. The sound feels final, like a sentence passed. I flinch even though I know it is meant to protect him, to protect all of us.The chamber smells of herbs, warm stone, and blood.Damon lies at the center of it all.He is wrapped in layers of cloth soaked in healing salves, his body bare from the waist up, scars and wounds exposed under the soft glow of enchanted lanterns. His chest rises and falls unevenly. Sometimes his wolf flickers beneath his skin, muscles tightening, bones shifting slightly before settling again.He is still stuck.Not wolf. Not man.But Something in between.I sit beside him on the low bed, my back against the stone wall, my fingers wrapped tightly around his hand. His skin is burning hot again, feverish, but when I lean closer,when my thigh presses against his, when my shoulder brush
The night breaks apart in fire and blood.Antonio moves like death given form.I see him before I hear him,his blade flashing silver under moonlight, his eyes burning with a fury I have never seen before. The rogue leader lunges for him, but Antonio sidesteps, slashing deep across the man’s chest.The rogue howls. Everything turns violent at once.Red Moon warriors pour in from all sides, their howls shaking the mountains. The rogues scatter, but Antonio doesn’t let their leader retreat. He advances relentlessly, striking again and again, forcing the man back toward the cliff’s edge.I’m shoved aside, stumbling to my knees. My hands hit the cold stone as I crawl away, heart pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears.“Lena!” Antonio shouts without looking away from his opponent. “Run now!”But I can’t. Because I feel it.The bond screams.Pain,raw and consuming rips through my chest, stealing my breath. I gasp, clutching at myself as the connection pulls tight, frayed and burning.Damo
They don’t drag much me this time. That is the first thing I notice.After the battle,after Damon nearly tore himself apart and collapsed bleeding on the stone,the rogues move fast. Too fast. But instead of yanking me by the arms, the rogue leader himself grips my wrist and pulls me away from the chaos.“Leave her,” he snaps at the others. “I’ll handle this.”I stumble after him, legs shaking, heart still pounding from the sight of Damon lying broken on the ground. My chest feels hollow. Every step away from him feels wrong, like I’m tearing something vital out of my own body.“Damon…” I whisper.The bond is faint. Weak. But still there.Still alive.The rogue leader leads me through a narrow path between two stone walls, away from the noise of fighting, away from torches and screams. The air grows colder, quieter. The sounds of battle fade until there’s nothing left but the wind and my own uneven breathing.We stop in a small clearing tucked between jagged rocks. Moonlight spills dow







