LOGINReese’s POVSleep did not not come early. It seemed weird. One minute I was sitting against cold wall that seemed to freeze my spine, staring at flames that would not blink, listening to my heart beat too loudly inside my skull....and then, I was no longer there.The air seemed to thicken, becoming hot. It tasted wrong like burned metal and blood.I opened my eyes and the cave was gone.The world around me was made of fire and shadow. Not flames the way candles burned, but storms of heat twisting through the air. The ground beneath my feet wasn’t stone, it was cracked obsidian glowing faintly from beneath.And I knew before I even saw her that I wasn’t alone.“Don’t.” I whispered before I realized it had escaped me.The air shifted she seemed to appear before me.The same woman that had met me when I had called upon the second candle. But this one seemed a bit different. This one did not appear calm in anyway. I felt her power, the true power of the golden wolf and it was burning. My
Kara’s POVI felt it from sleep. The feeling of someone or something staring at me. I felt the intensity in the stare.I shot upright in my sleeping roll with a sharp breath lodged in my throat, my fists swinging before my eyes opened, hard and fast and accompanied with claw.But it wasn't a stranger or creature that had come to take me. It was Blaze. Crouched inches from my face, eyes glowing faintly in the dark.He caught my wrist.Easily. Didn’t even blink.I yanked backward with a curse. “You were this close to getting clawed out.”He didn’t react, just let go of my wrist like I was nothing more than a loose thread.“Come with me.” he said quietly.I glared at him. “It’s past midnight, Blaze.”“I know.”“I’ve been walking through death for days,” I muttered. “You’re going to tell me this is urgent.”His gaze didn’t waver.“It is.”I searched his eyes in the dark and something in them had shifted.I sighed through my nose and grabbed my boots. “If I die because of you tonight, I’m
Kara’s POV"Just for the record,” Caleb said suddenly, his voice flat with exhaustion, “I hate to be Sheila right now but can we settle down already?”I rolled my eyes at that. He was always looking for a reason to taunt Sheila.The one in question shot him a look sharp enough to cut through bone.“What a beautiful tired princess you are." she snapped.Caleb huffed. “I nearly died helping you yesterday, in case you’ve forgotten.”“Oh, terribly sorry,” she muttered. “Let me build you a shrine.”I exhaled slowly.“Enough.” I said, tired.The desert didn’t change.It didn’t matter how many hours passed or how much ground we covered, everything looked exactly the same. Endless dunes and more sand. I had been forcing myself not to think it.That maybe we’d already missed her.That maybe we were just walking in circles like idiots while Reese was—No.I shut that down hard.I wasn’t done looking.Not yet.There was no scent, no tracks, no sign that another being had passed through this was
Jaxon’s POVI licked my chapped lips to keep them moisturized. It wasn't too hot but I felt chocked and suffocated.I tried not to make my tremor show as I headed straight to my office, happy no one was waiting them for me. “Send someone to....to bring the boy to me.”Solomon glanced at me as he shut the door behind him. “Alone?”“Yes.”He hesitated. “Are you sure?”I lifted my eyes to his. “Do you think he needs an audience?”Solomon nodded once and left without another word.When the door shut again, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling."Did you send me this task? This little problem to keep my mind off Reese?" I sighed, rubbing my face as I questioned whichever divinity was listening. "Well, it's working."He was barely old enough to survive his own grief, let alone someone else’s ambition. He was still a child.Tristan’s face rose behind my eyes.The last time I’d seen him, he’d been laughing.Not politely. Not out of obligation.Really laughing.He’d been drinking
Jaxon’s POVThe guard had brought the guests to the mesh hall. It was the largest hall we had in the pack. It was the only place that could take everyone. There wasn’t anyone that wasn’t curious as to knowing why another pack had come in force.Solomon walked beside me as we headed to where they were waiting, his face stoic and serious.“They’re here.” he said softly, almost more to himself than to me.I nodded, though my hands itched to shift, to reach for something, anything. My mind had already begun ticking through scenarios. I could feel it in my chest.This technically wasn’t my fight. I had mine to face.The man waited in the center of the hall. Not alone. A few of his loyal wolves, lean, dangerous, with eyes like sharpened daggers that stood behind him. The man himself was tall, composed, every inch the image of someone who had stepped out of shadows and claimed his own throne. But there was no respect in his gaze for me yet. No recognition, no bowing to the Alpha of this pac
Jaxon’s POVI groaned in exasperation as the first report came in.It felt like i was being restrained. A part of me, almost a large part, really wanted to be out there, finding Reese. While the other part knew I had to be here to protect my pack. I had made my choice but that didn’t mean I was okay with the decision. My whole mind and body was tired and it wasn’t like I had done anything strenuous or that active.And now, I was being given the first report of the day.Rogues.Always rogues.I was standing behind my desk, palms braced against the wood, staring down at a map of the bordering territories when Solomon stepped into my office.“They’re getting reckless,” he said without preamble. “Two of them were caught trying to sneak in by the eastern ridge. Right by the old water vents.”I exhaled slowly through my nose.“How old?”“Not more than twenty. Probably starving. Didn’t look organized. Just desperate.”I closed my eyes.The longer this war dragged itself through my pack, the







