FAZER LOGINLILA’S POVI couldn’t unfeel it.Even after the vision faded.Even after Ryker’s presence slipped from my mind like smoke.The connection remained.Stronger.Deeper.And worseWider.“They’re multiplying.”The words left my mouth before I could stop them.The clearing fell into a heavy silence again.Marcus swore under his breath.“That’s not possible,” Callum said immediately, but there was no certainty in his voice this time.“It is,” Davian replied quietly.Of course he believed it.Because he always saw the pattern before the rest of us caught up.Nathan didn’t speak.But I felt his hand tighten around mine.Grounding.Steady.Like he was holding me together while everything inside me threatened to split apart.“How?” Ethan asked, his voice sharp. “How are there more?”I shook my head slowly.“I don’t think he’s just controlling them anymore.”Thea stepped closer.“Then what is he doing?”I swallowed.Because the answerIt felt wrong even forming it.“He’s… creating them.”Silence
LILA’S POVThey didn’t attack.That was the worst part.If they had rushed us if claws had torn through the air, if blood had been spilled at least it would have been simple.Fight.Survive.Win or lose.But this?This silence they left behind?It lingered like poison.“They were testing us.”Marcus’s voice cut through the stillness, low and dangerous.“No,” Davian said quietly.All of us turned to him.“They were showing us something.”A chill crawled down my spine.Because I knew exactly what that “something” was.Control.Perfect, terrifying control.“They moved like one mind,” Callum added, his brows drawn tight. “That level of synchronization… it shouldn’t be possible.”“It is,” I whispered.Because I felt it.Every step they took.Every shift in energy.Like threads pulled tight in a web.And RykerHe was at the center of it.Nathan stepped closer to me, his presence grounding, but even he couldn’t fully steady what was rising inside me.Because something was wrong.Not outside.
LILA’S POVThe silence didn’t last.It never does.Even after the connection stabilized, after the screams faded and the corrupted minds quieted, something still lingered.A pressure.Low.Heavy.Like the air before a storm.I stood at the edge of the clearing long after everyone else had started moving again, my gaze fixed on the trees.Because I could still feel it.Not Ryker himself.But what he left behind.A warning.“You’re still connected, aren’t you?”Nathan’s voice was quiet as he stepped beside me.I didn’t look at him.“Yes,” I said.He exhaled slowly.“But different.”That made me turn.“How?”I searched for the words.“It’s… clearer,” I said. “Before, it was chaos. Pain. Noise.”I pressed a hand lightly against my chest.“Now it feels… organized.”Nathan’s expression darkened.“That’s not good.”“No,” I whispered.Because chaos is unpredictable.But organization?That means intent.Purpose.Control.“He’s preparing something,” I said.Nathan didn’t argue.Because he felt
LILA’S POVPain.It wasn’t just mine.It was theirs.Dozens of voices screaming through me at once, their fear clawing into my chest, their agony tearing through my mind like something alive.And I couldn’t shut it off.“Lila, let go!”Nathan’s voice sounded distant, like it was coming from the other side of water.I shook my head violently.“I can’t”Because if I didThey would fall.I felt them slipping already.The corrupted ones.Their resistance weakening.Their minds fracturing.And Ryker He was still there.Still watching.Still smiling.“You’re stronger than this,” he murmured inside the connection. “But not strong enough.”My vision blurred.I dropped to my knees, fingers digging into the earth as if I could anchor myself to something real.“Lila!”Nathan’s arms wrapped around me, steady, warm, grounding.But even thatEven himFelt like it was slipping away.“Focus on me,” he said urgently. “Not them. Not him. Me.”I tried.God, I tried.But every time I pulled backThe scr
LILA’S POVIt didn’t feel like fear.Not the kind that makes you run.This was worse.It felt like being seen.Not just watched.Not just tracked.Known.I stood frozen in the center of the clearing, my chest rising and falling too fast, my fingers trembling as the connection inside me pulsed again.But this timeIt wasn’t just the rejected mates I felt.There was something else.Something darker.Colder.And it was aware of me.“He knows.”The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.Nathan stepped closer instantly.“Lila… what do you mean?”I shook my head, trying to steady my breathing.“I don’t just feel the others anymore,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I feel… something watching through them.”Silence fell.Heavy.“Ryker,” Ethan said, his tone hardening.I nodded slowly.“He’s not just hunting us,” I said. “He’s connected to this somehow.”Marcus’s jaw tightened.“That’s impossible,” he muttered. “He’s not a Revenant.”“No,” Davian said quietly.We all
LILA’S POVIt didn’t fade.That was the first thing I realized.Whatever had changed inside me…It didn’t settle.It spread.I stood in the clearing, my breath uneven, my heart still struggling to catch up with everything that had just happened. The bond between me and the quadruplets pulsed strong, whole, alive in a way it had never been before.But beneath thatSomething else pulsed too.Not separate.Not foreign.Connected.“Lila…” Nathan’s voice was soft, cautious. “Talk to me.”I swallowed, pressing a hand to my chest.“I can feel them.”Silence.“Who?” Marcus asked.My throat tightened.“All of them.”The wind shifted, carrying whispers that weren’t really there but I could hear them.Feel them.Fear.Pain.Hope.Dozens of emotions flooding through me at once.“The rejected mates,” I whispered.Nathan stiffened beside me.“That’s not possible,” Callum said immediately, though his voice lacked certainty.“It is,” Davian murmured.All eyes turned to him.His gaze was fixed on me,
LILA’S POVThe first explosion hit before we even reached the center of camp.Fire tore through the air in a violent burst, heat slamming into my skin as screams followed raw, terrified, real. My heart dropped into my stomach as I surged forward, golden wings slicing through the air, power flaring
LILA’S POVThe forest was still, almost eerily so, but I could feel it ,the pull of her presence, a crimson thread weaving through my consciousness. My wings twitched instinctively, golden feathers shimmering faintly in the half-light, responding to the invisible storm I knew was coming. My twin. Th
LILA’S POVThe forest outside the council’s compound was a blur. Every step I took shattered the air with power, wings of golden light flaring behind me, energy blazing through my veins. My body ached from the breakout, every muscle screaming, but there was no room for weakness not now.The alarms
LILA’S POVThe world went silent.Not quiet.Not calm.Empty.The golden light around me flickered once… twice… then disappeared completely.And suddenlyI wasn’t in the cell anymore.I was standing in the forest.But not the one I knew.This one was… wrong.The trees were twisted, their branches cl







