INICIAR SESIÓNMy pace slowed.I was close.The grove opened ahead of me, circular and impossibly quiet. The ground was covered in dead moss. Stones lined the perimeter, carved with symbols so ancient they seemed to hum.And in the center, she stood.The dark priestess.Tall. Shrouded in a veil of black. Skin like
CASSANDRADerek knows.The thought pounded in my head like a war drum, louder than the creaking floorboards beneath my feet as I stumbled back inside my cottage. I couldn’t breathe. My skin was ice. I gripped the edge of the counter like the world might slide out from under me if I let go.He knows.
"As a matter of fact," I said slowly, "it was."She nodded. "That was from one of my favorite shirts. My mother was furious when she saw that I’d torn a piece from it."The air went out of my lungs.Her favorite shirt.I blinked, trying to picture that day clearly. Cassandra had been there—that much
DEREKI didn’t move.Didn’t nod. Didn’t speak.I just stood there, letting her see it in my face. Because yeah—it was me.Every call, every closed-door meeting, every favor I cashed in to fast-track the permits they needed before anyone could find a reason to stall or block it. I’d done all of it. Q
DEREKThe crowd had already begun to gather when I arrived.The courtyard in front of the new Rogue Foundation was cordoned off with velvet rope and lined with silver-and-navy banners. The city's emblem flew alongside Moonstone’s and Red Ridge’s on tall flagpoles, and a heavy length of ribbon stretc
DEREKThe growl of the four-wheeler under me did nothing to quiet the growl inside my chest.I’d been patrolling for hours.The wind whipped against my jacket, tugging at the collar as I tore down another ridgeline, the sun low and angry behind me. Dust kicked up behind the tires in plumes. My hands
So I stepped forward.“I know how it looks,” I began, keeping my voice calm. “But it’s not what you think.”My father stared at me like I was an insect he wasn’t sure he wanted to squash or interrogate. “Oh? Do enlighten me.”I took a slow breath. “Do you remember Erin and Carly? And Maggie? The wom
ELENAI hadn’t expected it to hit me like that.Watching Derek teach Aiden to ride his bike… I don’t know. It gutted me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Not because it hurt, but because it was right. The way Aiden beamed up at him.The way Derek knelt beside him, patient and calm, catching him every
ELENAI sat cross-legged on the edge of Aiden’s bed, carefully peeling the corner of a sticker he’d just plastered onto my jeans. He’d decided I looked “too serious” and was now decorating me with sparkly stars and cartoon wolves.“I think you need one right here,” he said, grinning as he stuck a br
My mother’s expression softened. Just a little.And I felt my stomach sink.Because I knew that look.My mother was starting to thaw.Great. Just what I needed—another person quietly voting Team Derek.She caught me staring and arched a brow. “He’s good with him,” she murmured quietly.I pressed my







