INICIAR SESIÓNThe ward dissolution attempt on Lyra happened three nights after Val's conversation with her.Ronan needed time to prepare the technique. None of us knew exactly what would happen when Ronan tried to break Cain's construct, and we couldn't afford to make a mistake.We met in the herb garden at midnight. Val, me, Ronan, and Lyra, who sat in the center of Ronan's prepared ward circle.The garden was quiet, with only the rustling leaves and the occasional distant howl breaking the silence. Ronan had cleared a space between the herbs and drawn the circle himself. Small stones marked its edges, each carrying a faint magical glow.Lyra looked nervous, but she hadn't changed her mind.Val knelt beside her, holding her hand. Ronan checked the markings one last time before turning to face us."Before we begin, I need everyone to understand something," he said. "This isn't a simple cleansing. I'm dissolving a construct that has been attached to Lyra's mind. We don't know how deeply Cain embedde
I asked Lyra to meet me in the herb garden.She came immediately.Lyra settled into the chair opposite me, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear."You sounded serious in your message," she said. "Is something wrong?"I had rehearsed this conversation several times, but none of those attempts had prepared me for sitting across from her and knowing I was about to change how she understood her own memories."Yes," I admitted. "But I need you to hear everything before you decide what to think."Her expression grew concerned. "Val, you're scaring me.""I know. I'm sorry."She reached across the small table and touched my hand. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."That almost made it harder.I told her. Not everything at once—I built it carefully.I started with Cain and the disappearances. The things Lyra didn't know about. The students who vanished and returned behaving differently. The evidence suggesting that Cain had been conducting experiments on people under the cover of legit
I watched Cassian walk through the Solas common room and noticed something I had not seen in the three years I'd known him.He looked like himself.Not the golden boy. Not the performance. Not the armor. Himself, underneath all of it, which turned out to be someone who stood differently when he wasn't carrying the weight of his own expectations.He wasn't checking who was watching him or adjusting his expression whenever someone approached. He simply walked through the room, acknowledged a few people, and continued toward the exit.It was subtle, but I noticed.Cassian had spent years trying to be the person everyone expected him to become. His father's approval, his rank, his reputation, and his future had always seemed to occupy space in his head. Even when he was relaxed, some part of him remained guarded.Recently, that guard had started to come down.I suspected I knew why.I fell into step with him on the way to the training yard."You look different this morning."He glanced at
I sat at my desk reviewing Cain's evidence photographs.Thinking about what came next. And whether what came next included the thing I had been thinking about since the greenhouse conversation when Cassian said “that's not the only reason you stayed.”The photographs showed student records, intake forms, and handwritten notes documenting Cain's experiments. We had enough evidence to raise serious questions, and Maren had finally opened an informal council inquiry. But Cain was still at the academy, and I had no idea how much he already suspected about me.My suppressant compound was also becoming less reliable. The bond kept interfering with it, and every attempt to control the situation seemed to create another problem.I had spent days thinking about possible solutions. None of them addressed the one thing I was increasingly afraid to admit: perhaps I didn't want to suppress the bond forever.The door opened.Cassian came back from a late Solas meeting."What did it cover?" I asked.
I woke at 3 AM from a dream I could not remember.Only the feeling of it. A sense of purpose that was not mine and a love that absolutely was.I sat up in the dark and tried to remember. The dream dissolved like smoke through fingers.I was left with the residue and no way to tell where one ended and the other began.For several minutes, I remained still, waiting for another piece of the dream to return. I remembered the warmth of someone's presence, the certainty that I needed to protect something precious, and the strange conviction that I had been given a task I couldn't afford to fail.But there was no face. No voice. No clear beginning or end.I pressed my fingers against my temples, frustrated by how easily my mind had emptied itself.It wasn't the first time I'd woken like this since my return. The dreams came irregularly, leaving behind emotions that felt too strong for something I couldn't remember. Sometimes I woke feeling guilty. Other times, I felt peaceful in a way I coul
Ascension Trial Stage Three—Strategic Dominance.The assessment required senior alpha candidates to demonstrate strategic leadership in a simulated multi-pack conflict scenario. It was the most complex of the three stages and the one I had been technically best prepared for my entire life.I stood at the assessment room's entrance.My father was waiting for results. Soren was watching. Maren was evaluating.Val was in the gallery.I had never cared less about the first three and more about the last one.The room beyond the entrance had been arranged to resemble a military command center. A wide table occupied the middle, its surface displaying a detailed map of the simulated territory. Small markers represented pack units, supply routes, enemy positions, and vulnerable settlements. Screens along the walls showed updates as the scenario progressed.Three evaluators sat behind a raised desk. The panel chair, an older alpha with decades of military experience, studied me as I entered."A
The silence that hung between us wasn’t peaceful. It was thick, stiff and heavy in the very corners of the room like dust no one dared to sweep.Val didn’t answer my question.Didn’t even flinch.Just climbed into bed and pulled the blanket up like I hadn’t asked a damn thing.And that pissed the h
Raven tasted like cherry lip balm and something feminine. She was soft in the way I liked as we locked lips.Her fingers tangled in my hair, her body warm against mine as she shifted on my lap, lips trailing down my jaw. I let my head fall back against the wall, exhaling through my nose as her han
The night swallowed me whole.The moment my feet hit the dense forest beyond my father’s estate, I forced myself not to look back. Every instinct screamed at me to run, to put as much distance between myself and my former life as possible. But I couldn’t afford reckless speed. Not yet.I kept my st
The grand hall was suffocating.Rows of wolves in formal attire stood along the edges of the large room, their whispers moving through the air like a curse I couldn't shake. My father, Alpha Rhen, stood tall at the head of the room, his sharp gaze scanning the gathered pack members before settling







