LOGINDRAVEN I felt her pull away through the bond, and the sensation hit like claws raking across my chest, tearing through muscle and bone. "Buttercup, it's not what you think," I said quickly, stepping closer despite the pain radiating through our connection. My voice came out rough, scraped raw with desperation. "No one's giving you up. I was thinking about the journal...the sacrifice part. One of us has to surrender immortality to banish this thing."Every instinct screamed at me to protect her, yet here I stood, discussing which of us would die. Kai rubbed his face, exhaustively. "Yeah. Mara and I wrote extensive notes on it. But it might kill whoever does it, not just strip away immortality. We're talking about full death." His voice cracked on the last word, betraying the fear he tried to hide. Asher remained calm, though I caught the tension in his shoulders. "The research remains incomplete. We lack certainty. But the prophecy points to loss, to sacrifice. Someone must choose
BUTTERCUP "The Shadow Keeper is already here?" I gasped, then my fingers tightened around Lila's arm as the mansion's lights blinked overhead. Shadows stretched unnaturally long across the walls, defying the afternoon sunlight that should have kept them at bay. My pulse hammered in my throat. "Lila, your guardian mark...it's glowing. What do we do?" Lila gripped her blade tighter, the mark on her wrist pulsing with an unnatural light that cast dancing patterns. "We fight it," she said, trying to mask her fear with confidence. "The bond is pulling me toward the city center. It's starting with the other bonded wolves there." Draven paced with predatory speed, as his control wavered. The alpha power radiating from him filled the room with tension. "The pack borders are reporting strange occurrences, about people losing their minds, and attacking loved ones. We need to move now." Kai checked his gun, though I noticed how scared he was. "The corruption is spreading through the pack li
LILA "The Shadow Keeper is hours away?" I burst into the sacred chamber, my wrist burning where the new mark had appeared, the pain sharp and insistent on my skin. "You three just finished sealing the trinity, and now this thing is practically at our gates?" Buttercup turned toward me first, her eyes widening with concern. "Lila, your wrist. That mark...what is it?" I held up my arm, revealing the glowing circle that was marked into my skin, its light pulsing in rhythm with my heartbeat. "It's the Guardian bond. It activated the moment you guys completed the trinity. I'm connected to you now Buttercup. And through you, to them." The words felt strange on my tongue, as if speaking them aloud made the reality more foreign. Draven stepped closer, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Guardian? Like some kind of protector standing on the sidelines? We don't need bystanders right now. We need everyone to be fully committed to this fight." "Easy Draven. Lila has been fighting alongside u
BUTTERCUP "Asher, are you really ready?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper as we gathered in the sacred chamber In the mansion. The candles blinked against the stone walls. Draven and Kai stood close on either side of me, their warmth spread through the bond, moving me to this moment. Asher met my gaze with those gray eyes, calm as a still lake before dawn. "I am ready, Buttercup. The cleansing is enough. We'll complete the trinity tonight. Together." Draven moved his feet, his eyes had those intense stares. "We do this and then we hunt. We won't wait for the Shadow Keeper to strike first." The warrior in him was already planning our next move. Kai nodded, his eyes warm with affection. "We're with you, beautiful. I want you to feel us. This is your choice." He reached out to my face, his fingers brushing my cheek with tenderness. I took a deep breath, my heart raced against my ribs. "I want this. All of you. Show me what the full bond feels like." My hands shoke from a
DRAVEN "Show me the journal, Kai. Now." I closed the door to the records room shut behind, my voice hoarse from the pack meeting that still rang in my ears. The sound of their doubts, their whispers...all of it clung to me like smoke. Buttercup positioned herself in-between, her hand resting on my forearm as though she feared I might break something. Asher observed from the corner, maintaining his silence.Kai surrendered the worn leather book without resistance. The binding cracked softly as he extended it toward me. "Mara wrote most of it," he said, and I caught the tremor in his voice when he spoke her name. "My lost love. She figured out the Shadow Keeper before it took her." He gulped hard. "Draven, you need to read the parts about your father."I flipped through the pages rapidly, my eyes scanning the elegant handwriting that belonged to a woman I'd never met. The words blurred for a moment before snapping into sharp focus. "This says my father was forming a triple bond too.
KAI "The Shadow Keeper is coming for me in three days?" Buttercup's voice shook as she read the witch's message again. She looked at me with those eyes full of fear. "Kai, what the hell is this thing? Asher's vision, the messenger... it's all pointing at me." I pulled her away from the main hall, away from Draven's barking orders at the warriors and Asher standing quietly like always. My side still ached from the earlier fight, but I ignored it. "Come with me. There's something that I've never told anyone. Not even Draven. You need to hear it now." Buttercup followed me to a quiet side room in the mansion, her hands were tight in mine. "You're scaring me, Kai. You've always been the easy one. The one who jokes. So, what could you be hiding?" I closed the door and leaned against it, running a hand through my brown hair. "I went rogue from this pack years ago. Not because I hated rules. Because Draven refused to listen to something hunting us. And it was all about the Shadow Keep
BUTTERCUP I watched the door close behind Draven as he went to see Seraphina, and I felt my emotions finally snapping inside me. “Enough of this shit,” I muttered to myself, sliding off his bed. My legs still felt weak but I forced myself to move. I grabbed my dress from the floor and pulled i
BUTTERCUP I sat there on that damn couch, my legs still trembling and his words ringing in my ears. “I’m sorry, little one.” The door had barely closed behind Draven before I jumped up. My dress was wrinkled, my thighs sticky, and my chest felt like someone had punched a hole right through it.
BUTTERCUP What the hell was I supposed to do now?I turned away from the cheering crowd, my legs were shaking as I did. Then a strong hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me hard. “Come with me, now.” Draven’s voice was low and rough in my ear. I didn’t fight with him, I couldn’t even if I wanted
BUTTERCUP “Harder Draven, don’t you dare hold back tonight,” I said.I gasped the words against his neck as he pinned me to the wall in the side room, my legs wrapped tight around his waist. His large arms gripped my thighs and his fingers were digging in just right. The full moon was already pull







