LOGINKalani POVMy arms and my legs begin to break and reshape.“Dove, you’re shifting,” Alex says, voice low just as Tati, Jaxon, Enzo, Adonis, and Jordan run into the room.“What’s going on?” Adonis asks.“She’s shifting,” Alex says.“Alex, it hurts,” I cry out. Another sharp wave tears through me before I can catch my breath, and my fingers claw at the floor. I knew my first shift would hurt. Everybody said it would. Knowing that and actually feeling my bones snap apart are two completely different things.He drops next to me and brushes my hair out of my face. “I know it does, but you have to give Astra control,” he says gently.“I can’t, it hurts too much,” I cry out just as my spine breaks then reshapes. A scream rips out of me, and for a second I can't hear anything over the blood pounding in my ears.Alex moves in front of me and takes off his shirt and holds me in his arms as my limbs continue to break and reshape. I bury my face against his bare chest, gripping him so tightly my
Kalani POV When I step out of the shower, Alex is sitting in my room on the bed. I stop in the bathroom doorway the second I see him. He looks a mess, his hair sticking up in different directions like he ran his fingers through it a few times. His eyes are bloodshot like he’s been crying.“Alexander,” I say softly, and when he turns to face me, my heart drops. His face is wet with fresh and old tears. His eyes are swollen. Whatever anger I still have about everything that happened this morning disappears the second I see his face. I’ve seen Alex angry. I’ve seen him lose control. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this.“Hey, talk to me,” I say, crossing the room and kneeling in front of him. He looks at me for a few seconds without saying anything, his eyes moving over my face like he’s trying to memorize it all over again.“I lost you because of them,” he says low. His voice cracks, and he looks away from me. “You could have still been mines.”My throat tightens, but I don’t
Kalani POV I change into some workout clothes and meet Tati downstairs. When I get down there, Jordan and Enzo are sitting in the kitchen eating.“Hey, KK, where you off to?” Jordan asks.I open my mouth to answer, but the second I look at him, another thought hits me. Jordan and Adonis tell each other damn near everything. If Adonis knew what really happened all these years...Did he know too?“For a run with Tati.” I stop near the doorway instead of walking farther into the kitchen. “Did you know?”He pauses for a moment, his spoon hovering over his plate.“Know what?” he asks.“About what Adonis did?”He doesn’t answer.Not even a denial.“That tells me everything I need to know.” I stare at him for another second, waiting for him to say something that might make this better, but he doesn't. “Both of you disappoint me.”I turn to walk out of the kitchen, but I hear his chair scrape against the floor before his footsteps follow behind me.“Wait, Lani. It’s not like that,” he says l
Kalani POV I sit there with my phone still in my hand before Tati finally speaks up.“You okay, Lani?” she asks.I blink a few times before looking over at her. “Hannah has been looking into the twins' curse and the Seer for a while. She said she found something.”Tati's brows knit together.“Looking into the curse? Why?”“She said over the generations the curse started changing and reacting differently, and she thinks it has something to do with the Seer,” I say. Even saying it out loud makes my mind start racing again. Hannah has spent weeks buried in books trying to make sense of something everyone else accepted as fact. If she was finally calling me with answers... then maybe we were asking the right questions all along.Before Tati can respond, someone knocks on the door.“Yeah?” I call.Adonis peeks his head inside.“Hey, Lani. Can I borrow you for a minute?” he asks.“Sure,” I say, pushing myself to my feet. His expression is unreadable, but there's something different about h
Kalani POV When we get up to my room, Tati freezes in the doorway.“Why does it feel like I just stepped into a time machine?” she asks, her steps coming to a halt as her eyes slowly sweep across the room. She turns in a slow circle, taking in every detail. “Jordan said they rebuilt the pack house, but this looks exactly the same,” she says quietly.“He had them preserve it. Among other things,” I say as I walk over and lower myself onto the floor in front of the bed, resting my back against the mattress.“Meaning?”I let my gaze wander around the room. Coming back here already felt strange. Sitting in the middle of my old room talking about Alex somehow made it feel even stranger, like pieces of my past and present were starting to blur together.“He remembers everything,” I say quietly. “He redid the kitchen for me, Tati.”Her eyebrows shoot up.“Seriously?” she asks, letting out a disbelieving laugh. “He built your dream kitchen? Damn... he's a bit obsessive.”I smile to myself, s
Kalani POVI thread my fingers through Virgo's, and he stills for a second before smiling down at our joined hands. His thumb brushes over the back of mine before his fingers tighten around them, like he's silently reminding himself that I'm really here.When we step back into the main hall, warriors are standing between all the guys. I roll my eyes.“I can't leave you guys alone for a second,” I say.Alexander's eyes immediately land on Virgo and me holding hands. The softness that had settled over his features disappears almost instantly, replaced by something far more guarded. His fists clench at his sides, his jaw tightening as he watches us.“Did you two settle everything?” he asks softly, his calm tone at complete odds with the tension rolling off him.“Yeah, we're good. More than good,” I say.“What about me?” Vegas asks.I turn to face him, still refusing to let go of Virgo's hand.“What about you?” I ask.“You owe me a conversation too. He's not the only one you left,” he say
Kalani POV The drive to The Shadow Pack was long and annoying. Clearly they don’t realize how suffocating they are to be around or they just don’t care either way. I was able to get all my assignments done, I was also able to work something out with my professors about moving my classes online and
Kalani POV “Again” I call out again across the field as I run drills. I’ve been running training since I was 15. Even though my brother is the heir of the pack I’m my father’s prodigy. I may not have shifted but I’m still the best warrior my pack has ever seen. People stopped waiting for me to shi
Virgo POVI learned way before Thea that if you’re not in control that’s when people die. Not maybe. Not sometimes. Every single time. This curse is all about losing control and I learned to never give Echo too much control. Conditioning him to know I’m in control saved me from a lot of shit after
Virgo POVThe smell of blood burns my nose, the scent so thick I can taste the metallic bitterness on my tongue every time I breathe. It clings to the back of my throat, heavy and suffocating, like the air itself is coated in it.“Virgo please it’s not too late to stop,” she cries weakly beneath m







