Mag-log inThe evening flowed in a rhythm of laughter and conversation. Alfie and Nick manned the grill while bantering. Dalia kept the drinks flowing, cracking jokes and encouraging everyone to play games. Harper sat away from the rest of us, her gaze occasionally flicking toward me. And Kayla? She constantly hovered. Every time I turned around, she was there. Brushing imaginary lint from my sleeve. She leaned close to whisper something in my ear, laughing a little too loudly at Nick’s jokes, even when they weren’t particularly funny. When Nick approached with a plate of food, she appeared beside him before he could reach me.“Come help me get some drinks, Nick,” she said, linking her arm through his and steering him away. A few minutes later, I caught Nick looking in my direction. Kayla followed his gaze and immediately leaned towards him, murmuring something into his ear. His expression tightened, and his jaw clenched. I looked away before I could convince myself to wonder what she’d sa
Kira Your best experiences happen in your twenties, they say.So far, my twenties have given me a lot of things I never asked for. An impossible mate bond, a family falling apart, a twin who no longer trusted me, and a decision that was going to break my heart no matter how carefully I made it.I was exhausted.Not the kind of exhaustion sleep could fix, either. My body was tired, but my mind refused to shut up. Every time I closed my eyes, another thought pushed its way in.Maybe being banished from the pack wasn't such a bad thing after all.Losing Nick was going to hurt. I knew that much. There would be days when the ache in my chest would probably be unbearable, days when I would regret the decision and wonder what would have happened if I had been selfish enough to stay.But losing Kayla completely? Ugh, that scared me shitless. I could survive a broken mate bond and leaving the pack. But looking at my twin one day and realizing there was nothing left between us? That would abs
KiraCooking has always been my escape. Whenever my head was muddled or my mood was low, I’d cook. There was something comforting about having something I could control. I could simply decide what went into the pot, how much seasoning was enough, when something needed more spice, and when it was necessary to taste it. My mind hardly got that kind of simplicity. There are always too many thoughts fighting for space in my tiny head. But cooking kept my hands busy. It gave me something to focus on besides the things I couldn’t fix. Even when cooking took longer than a few minutes to be ready, I never minded. I’d still choose it over any other chore, especially cleaning or laundry. That was more Kayla’s forte, anyway. It was one of the things that made sharing an apartment in the city so easy for us. It was strange how something as ordinary as cooking could make me feel like myself again. It was past midnight, and with everyone in their bedroom, I took over the kitchen to satisfy
I closed Kira’s door behind me, my heart beating hard, and leaned against the hallway wall to catch my breath. The conversation had drained me in ways I hadn't expected. I wasn’t being fully honest with her, and pretending everything was perfect was increasingly hard. Perhaps the hardest thing I’d ever done, but it certainly didn’t seem like it would be the last. I knew that for sure. Call me a hypocrite or whatnot; I was only looking out for myself. Seeing Kira’s empty room had stirred something in me. Guilt? Yes. But there was no remorse. I couldn’t afford it. Not now. Not when I was finally taking control of my own life.I pushed off the wall and walked to my room just opposite. I opened the door, the afternoon light filtering through the curtains, casting everything in warm shades of sunlight. My room was still clustered, unlike Kira’s, which was already looking like a room with no owner. I desperately needed to change out of my clothes. They smelt like the smoke from Hilda’s
Kira In everything that constantly derailed my mind, a dream that came without warning was the shove I never saw coming.One moment, I was drifting in darkness—soon after eating dinner in stiff silence after my parents fussed over Kayla. Next, I was running as if I were being chased.My bare feet slapped against cold, wet ground that rippled through my body. The forest surrounded me, not the familiar woods of Dark Valley I was used to, but something darker. The trees looked like human skeletons, their branches in the shape of hands reaching toward the blood moon that hung too low in the sky. The blood moon seemed out of place. My heart hammered against my ribs, and my lungs burned at the speed my legs were taking me. I didn’t know exactly what I was running from, only that something was behind me. Something faster to compete with my werewolf speed. I could smell its hunger. I risked a glance over my shoulder. The red eyes were the first I saw in the dark, then the pale skin, and
The walk back from the cafe was a blur of grey pavement and my swirling thoughts. I didn’t remember crossing the street, or even passing the park, or the row of shops, or the bridge that led out of town. My feet carried me forward on autopilot while my mind churned through everything Harper had told me. I had spent years believing that the gap in my memory was a blessing. A protective block my mind had built to shield me from something terrible. But now I realized that I hadn't just been protecting myself. I was avoiding the bigger issue that involved my twin sister, and I couldn't deal with it. And everyone had let me stick to that warped memory. My parents and even Kira. They had all looked at me, night after night, day after day, and let me believe that the blank space in my head was nothing. A side effect of the attack. A minor inconvenience for their fake story. They had let me fill in the gaps with their lies, and I had swallowed every one of them because I had put so much







