Se connecterMy 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
For the first time, I didn’t follow her.Didn’t chase.Didn’t apologize.But I didn’t forget, either.And some part of me always carried that moment—like a shard of glass pressed into the soft part of my palm.***I found Cassandra in the solarium, stretched out on the chaise in a pale silk robe tha
DEREKI was still wiping the blood off my arm when Elena grabbed her father by the sleeve.“What’s going on?” she demanded.“There’s been a rogue attack,” he said, low and calm.I stiffened beside her. “I’ll go help.”But the Moonstone Alpha held up a hand without looking at me. “I appreciate your w
Still nothing.“A good friend of mine was hurt. She saved my life a long time ago, and I thought she needed me.”I paused.“But even if that’s true… I didn’t handle it right. And I want you to know—I get it. I let you down.”Aiden was quiet for a long time.Then, softly: “I think the meatballs weren
DEREKI remember the exact moment my father died.Not when I found out—when it happened. I didn’t know then, of course, but looking back, there was a sudden weight that settled in the air that day, like the wind itself knew something had shifted.Something in the bond between us snapped.We were out







