LOGINHi. Haven't written any notes in a while. Anyways it's the same old stuff. Would like some reviews and support in any way you can. Gems are greatly appreciated. They help put my book Infront of more readers. Also never hesitate to leave your thoughts on each an every sentence 😊 Would love to see all of 'em. Keep staying safe. ❤️ y'all
DAMON'S POV.“I’ll drive you?” I offer the moment she tells me what she intends to do.I try my best not to comment on her puffy eyes, tear streaked cheeks, the way she'd left the study earlier like the world was falling apart and she was at its center.Or the fact that she'd asked for some more tear drop suppressants when she got back.I knew Michaela enough to know that pushing wouldn't get me anywhere with her, it'll only make her push back seven times harder.She looks up at me for a second. Then another, contemplating.“Okay.” She says finally.I sighed, relieved. For a second there I thought she wasn't going to let me be there for her at a moment where she'd obviously need someone by her side.“I'm coming too,” Cole says, stepping into the study and coming to a stop behind her.My gaze shifts towards him as he enters.“Naturally,” I reply, not at all surprised.For a fraction of a second, something sharp flashes through me.It's not anger.Not surprise.Just the uncomfortable
MICHAELA'S POV "Cole. You're here."I immediately wipe at my face.As though that will somehow erase the evidence.Cole's eyes narrow.His expression changes instantly."Mia?""I'm fine."The lie leaves my mouth automatically.Cole doesn't even pretend to believe it.I watch his gaze move over my face.The tears.My red eyes.The fact that I look like I've just lost a fight with my own emotions.His jaw tightens."What happened?"I look away.Because suddenly I don't want to answer.Don't want to talk about it.Don't want to think about it."Nothing," I say quickly.Too quickly.He studies me closely."It's nothing, really," I add.He doesn't buy it.Not for a second.I take in a deep breath and let the rest out with a sigh. "The council picked a date."The words come out smaller than I intend."The first trial is in two days."Something flashes across his face.Not surprise.Something else.Slowly, I realize he already knows.That immediately catches my attention."You already knew
MICHAELA'S POV For Goddess' sake, why the fuck was I crying? This wasn't the time for an emotional breakdown. If anything, this was the time to get angry. To make a plan. To prepare myself. To do literally anything other than whatever the hell I was doing. Yet here I was. After Soorayah delivered the news about the trials with smugness written all over her face, I didn't even remember leaving the study. One moment, I was standing there. The next, I was twisting the door handle. Walking into the hallway. Putting distance between myself and that room. Between myself and the words that kept echoing inside my head. Two days. Two days. Two days. The number follows me down the corridor like a curse. It was happening. The trials were actually happening. And I wasn't entirely sure what I was feeling. Fear? Anger? Frustration? Determination? All of it tangled together into something too large to properly understand. Too large to process. I didn't even know where I was
COLE'S POVThere's a lot to be said about the current mood of the pack house.Unusual is the first word that comes to mind.The atmosphere feels different the moment I walk through the front doors. It isn't louder. Nor quieter.Just different.I'm not entirely sure why. It could simply be because I haven't been here in a while.As I continue through the hallways, I occasionally pass servants moving with purpose. Conversations lower whenever people pass one another, as though everyone is discussing something they shouldn't.I don't think much of it at first.My mind is already occupied with too much.Two days.Just two days until Mia's trials begin.That knowledge alone is enough to consume my thoughts.A week ago, I would have spent the entire drive here thinking of nothing else.Thinking of ways around them.Ways to delay them.Ways to stop them entirely.Now there are far too many new pieces at play.Too many variables I hadn't known existed.Now I know this path may be inevitable.
MICHAELA'S POVI've been on edge the entire day, but I can't pinpoint why exactly.I don't even bother changing out of the sweat-dampened clothes I wore during training. Instead, I head straight to the kitchen.I spend the next few hours chatting with Georgia and playing Scrabble with Coby before finally giving up on delaying the inevitable.I heas upstairs toward Damon's study with a thousand words already waiting at the tip of my tongue.When he sees me, he slowly sets his phone down on the desk and shifts his attention to me.Good.“Why are you avoiding me, Carylon?”Damon doesn't try to deny it.In fact, he doesn't say anything at all.Then—“Michaela.”“No,” I say, my annoyance already boiling over.One brow lifts.“No?”“No,” I repeat, pointing a finger at him. “You don't get to do that.”“Do what?”“That thing where you say my name like it's a complete answer.”For a moment, Damon looks as though he's about to respond.Then he thinks better of it.I fold my arms and glare at hi
DAMON'S POV It has been proving very difficult to accomplish, but I try not to let my thoughts dwell on anything else as I bury myself in work. There has been no shortage of it since news of the wolf plague was made public.Though calling it an outbreak feels increasingly inaccurate.After returning to the pack, I gained access to documents that had previously been kept under Father's authority. Only then did I begin to understand the true scale of the crisis.The plague had spread much further than most people realized.Far enough that "outbreak" no longer seemed like the right word.For reasons I still don't fully understand, Father had chosen to withhold much of that information during his reign.The result is that I am now responsible for building containment measures almost from the ground up while researchers continue searching for a cure.Hence the endless meetings with Alphas from neighboring packs.As if that wasn't enough, the human rebels have become more active with ever
I spend the next four days locked in this room, refusing to eat anything. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out. My body is weak now. My vision blurs at the edges. Sometimes the room tilts without warning. I can barely walk in a straight line. In my weaker moments, I wonder whether starving
Somehow I found the strength, despite my food-deprived body, to take a bath. I put on the clothes I’d taken off yesterday. Emory must have had them washed. They lie neatly folded in the armoire, the only item of clothing I’ve allowed myself to touch. When I’m done, I move to the window to stud
The door shuts behind me.The sound is soft.I don’t know how I stop myself from slamming it.I also don’t know how my feet found the strength to manage to carry me from the dining room to this glorified prison cell without collapsing.A few minutes after Damon left the dinning room, the red-haired
After drawing all these conclusions, I had already rehearsed his next words in my head. Prepared what I'd say even.That is why I never expected him to say what he said next.“You can’t be serious,” I say, incredulous. “You can’t possibly mean that.”“I do.”I laugh, dry and sharp. “Is this a joke?







