MasukCaspian PovI couldn’t keep pretending anymore that I wasn’t suffocating under the unbearable, magnetic pull of the bond between us.It was already so damn hard to keep resisting it, but seeing that ring in Edna’s room—the ring I thought I would never lay my eyes on again—was the final blow. It completely broke me.It felt like decades ago when we were young, reckless, and free, believing we had forever to love each other. But it was only five years. Five excruciating years of agony living without my first love.I didn’t know what came over me, but as I stood in his room, I realized one thing with absolute clarity: I wasn’t leaving Bluerig without settling the score with Dion.I slammed him back against the wooden door, pinning his body beneath mine, and kissed him like it was our very first kiss—and like I would die if I didn't taste him right now. One of my hands fisted tightly in his torn shirt, while the other planted beside his head on the doorframe, terrified that if I let go fo
Dion PovI looked down at what Devon was holding, realizing instantly that it was a torn piece of parchment. Someone had clearly tried to destroy it in a hurry. “We found it in Edna’s room,” Devon said, smoothing out the crushed paper as he handed it to me. “It seems she planned for eyes never to read it, but she didn’t count on dying today.”I snatched it from his hand, carefully smoothing over the crumpled edges to make sense of the hurried scrawl. My gaze ran swiftly across the ink, my vision blurring with a sudden, violent surge of rage at the single sentence written there:“Stop waiting and kill Thalia before the group leaves Bluerig.”“What does it say?” Caspian asked, stepping forward and leaning over my shoulder to read it. Without a word or a glance in his direction, I thrust the paper into his chest, my eyes fixing squarely on the locked door of the room where Thalia was still in.“Fuck!” I heard Adonis curse from behind me, the sound of his fist slamming against the stone
Thalia PovThe door slammed shut, and the lock clicked almost immediately, leaving me alone in the room. What the hell was happening to me? This wasn't like my normal heat period; I was literally burning inside, like my skin was on fire, making every part of me ache. “Dion! Caspian! Adonis!” My voice cracked as I shamelessly screamed their names, scrambling off the bed on shaky legs and stumbling to the door, pounding my fists against the wood until my hands stung.“Come back here! Please… I need you!”But there was no answer. Only silence on the other side.“Please,” I said, louder this time, tears of frustration burning my eyes. “I can’t… it hurts. Please come back.”Still nothing.I rested my forehead against the door and closed my eyes, breathing hard, as my thighs pressed together on their own; every small movement sent a sharp pulse of need between my legs. I tried to ignore it. I tried so much to breathe through it, but it was of no use.My hand slid down my stomach without p
Adonis PovThe heavy scent hit my nose before I could process what it was.A thick, overwhelming wave of female pheromones flooded the corridor, instantly making my blood run hot.“Can you smell that, Caspian?” I stood up instantly from the bench, my head snapping up as I sniffed the air. Caspian stiffened beside me, his gaze moving sharply to the infirmary door. Before he could get a word out, I shoved past him and threw the door wide open. My heart completely stopped.Thalia was lying on the bed, her face flushed and her eyes glazed over. A blanket was wrapped loosely around her body, her bare shoulders exposed, and her discarded clothes were strewn across the bed like they had been ripped off in a hurry. Standing over her was Dion—his shirt hanging off his shoulders, his chest bare, and fresh, angry red marks showing on the side of his neck.My vision went red instantly. Every ounce of logic, every bit of guilt, and every warning Caspian had given me vanished into thin air.I lun
Dion PovIt wasn’t a dream. It was as real as day.Thalia was actually sitting on my lap, completely naked. What the actual fuck?For a second my brain turned to mush. Her bare thighs straddled mine, the heat of her skin searing straight through the fabric of my pants. Her scent hit me like a fist to the ribs—sweet, mouthwatering, and wildly intense. It wasn't the clean smell I had been starving for. This was heavier. It poured off her in waves, flooding the air until my mouth watered and my canines ached.Heat.She was in heat.Her pheromones drifted in the air, and every muscle in my body locked tight.“Thalia—” My voice came out rough, cracked. I caught her wrists as her hands slid lower, trying to pull open my belt. “Stop. You’re hurt. You’re—”She didn’t stop. She leaned in and dragged her tongue up the side of my throat, using her teeth to nip hard enough to sting. A broken sound left her, half-whine, half-growl, and she rolled her hips again, grinding the slick heat between he
Dion PovSitting beside Thalia’s bed and staring down at her pale face was absolute torment. It was more than I could bear. She looked so fragile, so small on the white sheets. Her dark hair fanned out across the pillow, too still for a woman who usually carried so much fire. Fuck. I had the sudden, violent urge to walk out of this room, find Edna’s corpse, and strangle it. Not just strangle it. That was too clean, too quick, and too merciful for the snake who had drawn her blood. I wanted to dig my claws into the soft meat of her throat, peel it open like wet paper, and feel the cold, already-stiff flesh give way under my fingers. I wanted to drag her body out into the woods, hang it from a low branch by the hair, and open her from sternum to pelvis so the freezing night air could fill her emptied chest. I wanted to tear the tongue from her lying mouth, force it down her own throat, and break every single finger that had ever dared to touch Thalia—snap them one by one until the bo







