“The Vanishing”(Rowan’s POV)“Fuck I dozed off”The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her.Lily.Her head was resting against my arm, her hair tangled in the evening wind, while her lips parted slightly as she slept. The lake behind her shimmered with the faint glow of moonlight, silver ripples danced across the surface like threads of shattered glass.For a moment, I didn’t move, I just laid there and watched her breathe.A single strand of hair had fallen across her face, I slowly reached out and brushed it away, my thumb grazing her soft cheek.. Her skin was so soft and warm. She stirred at my touch and her eyelids fluttered open as she blinked at me in confusion.“Rowan?” Her voice was sleepy, barely a whisper. “What time is it?”“Late,” I spoke as I glanced at the faint light on my watch. “Really late. If we stay here any longer, you’re going to be dinner for the mosquitoes.”She yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. “They wouldn’t dare,” she said, a lazy smile curling
Shadows of the Past Thorne’s POVHer heels echoed through the marble hall before I even saw her.Sharp, precise, and unhurried.. like a metronome ticking down the seconds to chaos.Tara.The moment she stepped into my office, every ounce of air seemed to vanish. Her scent hit first.. Daises and marshmallow’s.. the same scent that had clung to my hands the night the Nightborne villa burned to ashes. I had buried that memory under ten thousand others, but seeing her now, standing in the doorway with her hair braided and her eyes carrying years of silence, was like watching a ghost peel itself out of the past.Malik froze beside me. His face went pale, disbelief painting his every feature.“Tara,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “You.. you're here.. you’re alive?”She smiled, as if resurrection were a small inconvenience. “You sound disappointed.”I stayed quiet, while my fingers curled around the edge of my desk. Part of me wanted to speak, another part was still trapped all those y
The Pull Beneath the Skin.Kael’s POVThe door clicked shut behind me, and the silence of my room hit me ike a weight.Everything felt heavy.. the air, my thoughts, the way my heart wouldn’t stop racing every time I tried to make sense of Elara and now Seraphina and Veronica had decided to join the picture.I sat down at the edge of my bed, and stared blankly at the wall then at my bloody palm as the memory of Seraphina’s sudden outburst, burned in my mind like a fever dream. Something was wrong with both her and Veronica, and the more I thought about it, the less it made sense.I raked a hand through my hair and sighed.That’s when my door swung open without warning.“Kael..”Elara stood there, breathless, her hair a little tousled, eyes wide with a mix of alarm and determination. She looked like she’d run all the way here.“I really need to talk to you,” she said quickly, stepping in and closing the door behind her.I turned toward her, surprised. “You could’ve knocked, you know.”“
The Lake Between UsLily’s POVThe air hit my face as I stepped out of the building. The academy grounds were quiet to the point my footsteps echoed faintly across the cobblestones, the last rays of sunset casting long shadows between the trees.“Everyone is probably getting ready for the ball” I whispered to myself.A black car pulled up by the front gate, and for a fleeting second, I caught sight of a woman stepping out. She wore dark shades, her hair tied neatly back, her movements too poised, too deliberate..but I brushed it off. I had bigger things on my mind.I turned toward the dorms, as exhaustion and anger weighed on my shoulders. Every step felt heavier than the last. My thoughts.. Veronica, the notes, and the feeling of being watched blurred together into a mess I couldn’t untangle. I just wanted to reach my room, close the door, and sleep.But when I did, I froze.There was a small brown parcel sitting right by my door. My name was scrawled across it in red ink.Lily.
Ashes and Oaths, Part IIITara’s POV“ Get them” I heard someone scream as I continued running.Smoke filled up the night sky as the House of Nightborne burned behind me.Every breath I took seared inside my throat, and every heartbeat was like a drum of pain in my chest, but I didn’t stop. The child in my arms whimpered, she was soft, fragile, alive.. and that sound alone kept me running.“Stay with me, my little one,” I whispered, clutching her closer to my body, despite the fact my hands were stained with blood that wasn’t entirely mine. “Please, don’t cry… please not now.”The ground trembled with the roars of the rogues. Their howls sliced through the darkness as they tracked me by my scent. “Found her!” a voice snarled.I turned and kicked. My claws immediately tore through flesh, hot blood splashed across my arm. Another wolf from the left but I ducked, twisted, and ripped through his throat. The baby screamed, her tiny body trembled against my chest.“I know, I know,” I gas
The Shadow of Grazilo. Veronica’s POVI watched as Seraphina squirmed and held back her tears.. it must have been traumatic hurting her man.. well technically he wasn’t hers.“Did you know the realm had five houses, not three?”The words left my lips like smoke curling in the air, deliberate, sharp, and undeniable.Seraphina’s head jerked up, her eyes wide and glassy in the dim dorm room. She looked like a child caught sneaking into a graveyard, as her pale knuckles clutched her skirt.“F..five?” she whispered. “That’s not true. There are only three Bloodfang, Moonveil, Ashpaw..”“And Nightborne,” I cut in smoothly, leaning forward so the light painted half my face in shadow. “But then there’s also Silverfang, my little pup”Her throat bobbed. “That’s impossible Silverfang is… a myth. A bedtime story told to scare pups and nightborne no longer exists .”“No.” My voice was velvet over steel. “Silverfang was never a myth.. it was my blood, my birthright, my ruin. And they buried it ben