MasukI'll update more chapters soon. I'm sorry for the little updates, I've just been really busy.
AVELINE'S POVFor several seconds, Nereth said nothing.He shook his head again, but I kept my palm against his cheek, unwilling to let him look away from me.“Nereth...” I tried again when he didn't say anything.“I know,” he cut me off before I could say more.“You know what?”“I know you are willing to listen.”His voice was barely audible.“That is what makes this so much harder,” he said as he gently took my wrist and lowered my hand.I couldn't help the overwhelming wave of pain that coursed through me at the gesture, and I had to blink several times to stop my eyes from making the situation even more embarrassing than it already was.It was such a small thing.His hand around my wrist.The quiet removal of my palm from his cheek.The deliberate distance he created between us.Yet somehow, it hurt more than if he'd simply shouted at me.“I can't do this to you, Aveline.”For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.The silence around us seemed to grow heavier. Stephen remained quiet
AVELINE'S POVFor years, I'd look back on the events that followed Nereth's words and think...Could it have gone any differently?And I had concluded, after much deliberation, that it couldn't have.For you see, somewhere between the moment I'd left him at the ruins and the moment he'd found me with Stephen, Nereth had already decided that a life with me was too tragic an existence to subject me to.I, on the other hand, was absolutely certain I was in love with this man and couldn't fathom, for the life of me, why he was stepping back. Why he was pushing me away.I concluded it couldn't possibly be for my protection because it was quite obvious by then that Nereth had some sort of power over these creatures, and that was why my safety over the last two months had been guaranteed.It couldn't be because he didn't love me either, because I was also convinced that he was in love with me just as I was with him. I couldn't see any plausible reason for his behaviour that I hadn't already
AVELINE'S POV I didn't find Stephen. Not at first. Guilt, fear, and grief gnawed relentlessly at my insides as I searched the forest. When I returned to the ruins where I'd left Nereth earlier, I found nothing but moonlight spilling across broken stone. The place was empty, the crumbling pillars standing like silent sentinels around the abandoned chamber. I turned slowly in a full circle. “Nereth?” Only silence answered. A strange ache settled in my chest. I hadn't truly expected him to still be there after everything that had happened. Still... Part of me had hoped. Nereth had a whole lot of explaining to do. There were so many things I needed answers to, and he seemed to be the only person who could provide them. I was beyond confused, surprisingly lost, and quite frankly afraid. I drew in a slow breath and forced myself to think. Finding Nereth would make finding Stephen easier. I was almost certain of that now. He had known my sister had entered the Wilds before eith
AVELINE'S POV It took me several long seconds before I finally found the ability to make my feet move. Each step felt heavier than the last. Sirus spotted me first. For one suspended heartbeat, our eyes met across the clearing. Relief flashed across his face. Just for a second. Then his gaze swept over me. My clothes. My hair. My trembling hands. Not a single scratch. His eyes drifted to Jenna lying unconscious on the ground. Relief vanished. Something inside him hardened. "Where have you been?" he demanded, his voice low enough to make it far more frightening than if he'd shouted. I couldn't answer. My gaze was on Jenna. "Jenna..." My voice cracked. I was afraid to ask. But I had to. "What... what happened to her?" Ezra looked up at me, grief clouding her features. "Those things," she whispered. "They bit her." My heart stopped. "They attacked all of us. She was still standing afterward. She even kept fighting for a while..." Ezra swallowed hard. "Then she sudd
AVELINE'S POV“What do you mean, Nereth?” I asked, ice sliding down my spine. “What wild ones?”He didn't answer.Instead, he pressed both palms against the sides of his head, squeezing his eyes shut as though he were trying to keep something inside. Every muscle in his body tensed.“Nereth?”The certainty I'd come to associate with him fractured before my eyes.The composure I'd rarely seen him lose slipped away with alarming speed. His breathing turned shallow. His jaw locked so tightly I could see the muscles flex beneath his skin. His silver eyes darted beneath closed lids as though following movements I couldn't see.When they finally opened, they had changed.His gaze had sharpened into something almost feral. He looked like someone listening to a nightmare only he could hear.My pulse lurched.My stomach dropped.Every instinct inside me screamed that something was terribly, terribly wrong.Then...just the silence.The forest swallowed the sound of his anguish and became unnat
AVELINE'S POV I woke with a start. Warmth lingered where I'd been sleeping, and for one blissful, disorienting moment, I couldn't remember where I was. Then I looked down. Nereth was still fast asleep beside me, one arm folded beneath his head, the other stretched out besides him, serving as the makeshift pillow I'd stolen sometime during the night. His breathing was slow and even, his face softened by sleep in a way I'd never seen while he was awake. And suddenly... Everything came rushing back. Every stolen glance. Every laugh. Every whispered confession. Heat flooded my cheeks as I remembered we hadn't even bothered getting dressed afterward. We'd simply wrapped ourselves in the blanket I'd brought with me that morning. Earlier, it had cushioned the grass beneath us while we lay talking beneath the afternoon sun. Now it shielded us from the night's chill. I would have loved to linger. To study every feature of Nereth's face in the darkness until I had committed every inc
The Festival of the Blue Moon is fast approaching, and suddenly everyone is a merchant, selling trinkets, beverages, treats, and practically anything that has a price tag. Mom and Dad set up a stall every year. However, they are usually too busy to manage it, being the Beta pair and all. Talia and
I open the window, sliding one foot over, then another. My feet land lightly on the carpet, and I smile at the sheer perfection of the action. The lights flick on. I gulp. Talia stands by the switch, arms crossed, her face set in that “I caught you and you’re in trouble” look. Despite the
I startle at the sound of leaves crunching under boots. “Who’s there?” “Mia? Is that you?” I turn to find Cole picking his way toward me. “Cole,” I breathe. “How did you—” “I had a feeling they were going to come for you after what you did.” He finally reaches where I’m leaning against a t
My screams does not deter him. Oh no. “Don’t—” I start. He lunges again. Below me, the group spreads out in a perfect semicircle. Waiting. “Catch her,” I recall Damon’s words. He plans to force me out if this tree, I realize. Panic claws at my lungs as I adjust myself on the branches so I c







