LOGINKILLIAN’S POVClarke’s report was short and sharp, delivered while we walked toward the southern command post. Eyes on movement in the tree line—more than the usual brief lights this time. Possible scouts pushing closer to test how fast we responded and how many bodies we committed. I gave the orders to reinforce the nearest posts without overcommitting the reserve units and sent Clarke to coordinate with the section leaders. The whole exchange took less than ten minutes from start to finish. It felt longer.The entire time my mind kept dragging back to the path under the oak scrub. The way Lilliana had looked up at me when I closed the distance. The way she hadn’t stepped away or turned her face. The warmth of her breath in the small space between us and the way her pulse had jumped hard enough that I could sense it. I had been a fraction of a second from kissing her. Clarke’s voice had cut through the moment like cold water over hot metal.I should have been grateful for the interru
LILLIANA’S POVI barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back on the low wall with Killian’s voice saying he cared and the space between us feeling smaller than the stone should have allowed. By morning I was tired in a way the lab schedule alone didn’t explain. My eyes felt gritty. My thoughts kept circling the same few seconds of conversation.Grace noticed something was off when I came in. She didn’t comment on it directly. She just put me on the less delicate tasks for the first hour—logging, cleaning, verifying labels—and kept the conversation strictly to ratios and timers. Jordan worked quietly at his usual station. The carrier tests continued to hold through the overnight checks. Progress was real and measurable. It just felt distant compared to the weight of the night before.Killian didn’t come by the lab that morning. I told myself I was relieved to avoid another hallway conversation while my head was still full of the last one. The lie didn’t stick for long. Every
KILLIAN’S POVI left the lab wing and went straight to the map room. Clarke was already there with the latest scout reports spread across the table. Southern lights again. Same pattern as the night before—brief, deliberate, gone before anyone could close the distance or get a clear count. Someone was measuring our response times and how many bodies we were willing to shift south without weakening the other lines.We adjusted the rotations, marked the changes on the map, and drafted the orders for the post commanders. When Clarke left to pass them down the chain, I stayed at the table longer than the work required. The conversation in the hallway kept surfacing no matter how many times I pushed it aside. The way Lilliana had looked at me when I said the word “you.” Steady. A little defiant. Not backing down even when I pressed.My wolf had been restless since. He didn’t understand the restraint I was forcing. To him, the situation was simple—keep her close, keep her safe, stop pretendi
LILLIANA’S POVThe lab was quieter than usual that morning. Grace had sent the extra hands to double-check inventory in the side room, and Jordan was sorting labels at the far table. I was at the main station with the newest carrier mix when Killian walked in. He didn’t announce himself. He just stood near the door until Grace looked up and nodded once in acknowledgment.He came over to my table. Up close, he looked like he hadn’t slept much. The dark under his eyes was deeper than the day before, and there was a tightness around his mouth that usually meant the border reports had been worse than the public version.“Need a minute,” he said. Not a question.I set the pipette down carefully, logged the time in the notebook so nothing would be lost, and followed him out into the short hallway. The air was cooler there and smelled less of solvent. Fewer people passed through this stretch. He stopped near the narrow window that looked out toward the training fields and the distant tree li
LILLIANA’S POVGrace had the delivery tests started before I arrived. The lab smelled sharper than usual—a mix of the familiar cleaners and whatever new compounds they were using as potential carriers. Jordan was already at the side table with a tray of measured components and a stack of fresh labels. He looked up once when I came in, then went back to the work without needing direction.“Morning,” Grace said. She didn’t look up from the notes spread in front of her. “The ratio from yesterday is still stable through the overnight check. We’re trying three different carriers today. One of them is looking less hostile to the silver piece so far, but it’s early.”I washed my hands at the sink, gloved up, and took the station she’d left open for me. The work was finer than the previous days—smaller volumes, tighter timing between steps, more notes per action so that any failure could be traced. Time moved in the intervals between the timers instead of by the clock on the wall above the do
CLARISSA’S POVThe alliance meeting had gone the way Richard wanted it to go. Bianca brought the summary in the morning while the rest of the pack house was still loud with people moving between rooms and the courtyard. First real pressure on the southern line of Blood Fang territory. Coordinated enough to force them to commit bodies and attention there. Then the eastern packs would push while that attention was split. The timeline was short. Days, not weeks. Richard had pushed for sooner rather than later, and enough of the others had agreed to make it the working plan. I listened without interrupting while Bianca laid it out. She stood near the door with her arms crossed, voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry into the hall. When she finished, I asked the only question that mattered to my side of things.“How much freedom do we have in the inner grounds while they’re focused outward?”“More than last week. Adrian’s been pulled into the planning sessions full-time. His father wants
I was running through the woods. The sun was shining, everything felt warm and happy, then I heard footsteps next to me, “I'm gonna get you!” The person yelled after me. I turned around, not in fright but in joyous panic, it was Matt. He was running after me. It was at this moment that I realized
KILLIAN’S POVAnother day, another fucking country. I was beginning to get tired of all this travelling I was doing. I missed my pack, plus there was also the fact that I was starting to feel uneasy. Trouble was brewing back there and it disturbed me that I didn't know what it was and that I was no
LILLIANA'S POVMy mouth was open in shock. That was a lot to process. My eyes darted to Camille; she almost died, and I almost didn't meet her. Such a thought was insane to comprehend. OK, now that's just crazy.” I said, “Did no one do anything to her? Like at all?” “Well, Sarah did try to report
I could tell from the looks on their faces- disbelief on the twins’, anger on Adrian’s, that they were not expecting me to have finished cleaning up. They must have wanted to get me into trouble again.Everyone gathered at the dinner table, eating happily, did these people really never once conside







