登入MICHAELA'S POVFor 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 going as I continued down
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
COLE'S POV I glance over my shoulder to find Sandy seated by the side of the room. I could tell her gaze had been trained on me the entire time. She doesn’t say a word though. She’d already done enough of that before we arrived. She had made her position on my idea very clear. She didn’t like that I was meeting with my uncle. She didn’t like that I was so intent on finding a way around Mia doing the trials when Mia would probably see it as me undermining her ability to survive them. She didn’t like that I was trying to find a way to pull Mia out of the pack house and out of her deal when, again, Mia seemed to have accepted it. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mia couldn’t handle herself. It was just that I knew very well the kind of minds that populated the council. They weren’t above brutality when they believed their cause was righteous. And honestly, I didn’t care what Sandy did or didn’t like. Unfortunately, Sandy had never been one to stay quiet about her opinions. Especia
COLE'S POV The message should have been delivered three days ago. And it probably had. Yet I only received a reply this morning. The intent behind my uncle's delayed response was clear: he had the upper hand, and he wasn't above flaunting it. I would have preferred a more direct approach to his peacocking though. It might have saved us both some time. Unfortunately, my uncle had never been known for efficiency when intimidation was an option. So instead of having this meeting three days ago, I was standing in the middle of a poorly decorated office with even worse ventilation. Again. Though, to be fair, the temperature in the room wasn't entirely the ventilation's fault. My nerves were making a significant contribution to the sweat gathering at my brow. Was there any way to casually approach a reunion-slash-business meeting with the last known member of your family after years of being treated like you didn't exist? Probably not. I thought back to all the times we'd occupi
He doesn’t move immediately. Just watches me for a second too long. Then he pushes off the wall. “Your guard is terrible,” he says flatly. Like he’s not starting a conversation. Just stating a fact. His gaze doesn’t leave mine. “Five days,” he continues, quieter now. “And you still can
I don’t think I slept a wink last night. I got back to my room at about three o’clock in the morning, changed out of my day clothes, and plopped onto my bed. When I try to close my eyes and let my mind drift to the land of respite, I’m assaulted by sensations I’m trying to forget. What if I ha
Mason stops mid-sentence, mouth slightly open.Rhoda goes still.Then she stands, already moving toward Damon.“I’m fine,” he says as she approaches him.I don’t blame Rhoda for not taking his word for it.Damon is covered in blood, dirt and things I can’t even begin to name.He’s almost naked, his
His hand is still in mine.Warm. Heavy. Slightly unsteady.For a moment, nothing moves.Not him. Not me. Not even the night around us.Just silence stretching too tightly between heartbeats.I contemplate what to do next.Should I lead him back into the pack house and risk him losing control… doing







