MasukALFIE The training yard was still empty by the time Alfie finished his last set of drills. Sweat soaked through his shirt, and his muscles ached with the peasant exhaustion of a hard morning’s work. He had pushed himself harder than usual, trying to outrun the tension that had settled into the packhouse like a second skin. The council’s deadline for Kira to reject the alpha, and Nick's trying to sandwich himself between the twins' fractured relationship. It all pressed down on him in a suffocating manner that made him suddenly have the urge to go for a swim or drown himself in a tub full of ice. He grabbed his water bottle from the bench and drank deeply, the cool liquid a relief against his parched throat. The sun was climbing higher now, burning off the last traces of the pre-dawn chill, and the training yard was quiet except for the distant sound of birds and the rustle of leaves. He was alone. Or so he thought. “You’re up early.” Alfie turned. Harper stood by the edge of th
Kira The darkness after the dream made me uncomfortable in a way that unsettled my body, and I kept tossing around in bed. Not like I could fight for what I want out of the hat and have people think I was crazy. The hard part of it all was wanting something for myself, which felt dangerous. Wanting something, even a tiny bit of affection, led me to Nick’s arms at the lake, and it was a messy move that I only realized the damage of after I saw him locking lips with Kayla. Who was I to even complain when I boldly made out with the alpha I claimed not to want and gave him up for my twin? I was slowly beginning to drift into a restless half-sleep when a sound echoed into my room. It was a thud, like something small and hard striking my window. I bolted upright, and once I heard the sound again, my heart just knew who it was. Another stone clashed against the glass windows, and I threw off my blankets and ran to the window, my bare feet warm on the rug. I pulled the curtain aside jus
Kira The darkness after the dream made me uncomfortable in a way that unsettled my body, and I kept tossing around in bed. Not like I could fight for what I want out of the hat and have people think I was crazy. The hard part of it all was wanting something for myself, which felt dangerous. Wanting something, even a tiny bit of affection, led me to Nick’s arms at the lake, and it was a messy move that I only realized the damage of after I saw him locking lips with Kayla. Who was I to even complain when I boldly made out with the alpha I claimed not to want and gave him up for my twin? I was slowly beginning to drift into a restless half-sleep when a sound echoed into my room. It was a thud, like something small and hard striking my window. I bolted upright, and once I heard the sound again, my heart just knew who it was. Another stone clashed against the glass windows, and I threw off my blankets and ran to the window, my bare feet warm on the rug. I pulled the curtain aside jus
NICKMatilda was silent for a long moment. He could feel her gaze on the side of his face, filled with disappointment. “You’re as stubborn as your father,” she murmured finally. “Fine. But don’t say I didn't warn you.” She turned and walked back toward the greenhouse entrance, pausing at the door. “Carrie will be joining us for breakfast tomorrow morning. Think about what I said, Nicholas. For your own sake.” Then she was gone, her footsteps fading down the corridor, leaving Nick alone among the flowers. He sat there for a while longer, the scent of camellias filling his lungs, and he plucked a petal. His mother’s words echoed in his head. Reject the twins and choose Carrie. He could not see himself rejecting Kira, whose sacrifice to leave gutted him. And not Kayla, whose desperation was too obvious to ignore. Curse or not, the bond he had with the twins was real. And yet, people like his mother had him constantly questioning everything. His mother wasn’t wrong, though. The ma
The street was a graveyard of silence.Nick stood beside his car, the driver's door still open, the cold night air biting at his face. He watched Kira walk back toward her parents' house, her steps measured and deliberate, her back straight as a blade. She did not look back. She never looked back. That was Kira—unyielding even when her heart was breaking.His chest ached with a pain that had no physical source. The bond between them pulsed weakly, like a wounded animal struggling to draw its last breath. He had felt it flicker the moment she announced she was leaving in two days. Two days. Then she would reject him, formally, before the council. The bond would begin to sever. A year of exile. A lifetime of wondering what if.The weight of it pressed down on his shoulders until he thought he might buckle.He became aware of movement beside him. Kayla was still there, standing a few feet away, still wrapped in his jacket. Her arms were crossed tight over her chest, her eyes fixed on him
KiraThe dream came without warning.One moment I was drifting in darkness, weightless and numb. The next, I was running.My bare feet slapped against cold, wet earth. The forest surrounded me—not the familiar woods of Dark Valley, but something older, darker. The trees were skeletal, their branches reaching toward a moon that hung too low in the sky, bloated and red. A blood moon.My heart hammered against my ribs. My lungs burned. I didn't know what I was running from, only that something was behind me. Something fast. Something hungry.I risked a glance over my shoulder.Red eyes. Pale skin. Fangs gleaming in the crimson light.A vampire.He moved with unnatural speed, his body a blur of shadows and malice. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, and his hands—long-fingered, clawed—reached for me. I could smell him, death and copper and something ancient that made my wolf cower.I ran faster. Branches clawed at my arms, leaving thin lines of fire. Roots caught at my feet, trying to t
The words landed like stones dropping into a pond, thrown from kilometers away. Hearing it said out loud, Kira desperately wished for the ground to open and swallow her whole, erasing her existence from the earth. The situation was bad. Very bad. And having all these people in the room made it ver
The whole house had been quiet since Mom dropped the news of the pack council meeting. It was uncomfortable, but it was a much-needed solace. A few days had passed, and Kayla hadn’t made a fuss about meeting Nick. The only difference was that she spent more time in her room now and did not mind.
KiraThe next morning arrived softer than the chaos of the days before. Pale sunlight streamed through the thin curtains of my bedroom, stretching in quiet lines across the wooden floor and climbing halfway up my unpacked suitcase. For a few seconds, I lay still in bed, listening to the distant chi
His glare was so intense I felt the heat penetrate through my skin. I did not think it would be wrong to fight back since he was so persistent. Although it made him visibly angry. “You can't leave,” he said. “Why?” I scoffed. “Because you're the Alpha? “Because you're mine.” My chest constricte







