LOGINKIRA After Nick left, I stayed on the floor for a long time. I just sat there, my back against the bed frame, and the darkness of my childhood room closing around me like a held breath. His words echoed in my skull. “I will not stop looking for another way. And if I find it, I will come for you.” I wanted to believe him. That was the worst part of all of it. Some treacherous part of my heart had held onto those words like a lifeline, replaying them over and over, turning them into something that felt like hope. A stupid kind of hope that I couldn't afford. I set the wolf figurine carefully into my suitcase and pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes. The pressure of it pushed colors behind my eyelids. The memory of my first shift filled my head, exposing the fire I had always ignored… preventing it from consuming me whole. At fourteen, my first shift was brutal compared to Kayla’s. It was the kind of painful transformation that left me howling in pain, and for weeks, I str
Kira My boxes on the floor had multiplied overnight. I sat on my bedroom floor, legs wide open, surrounded by the mess of a life I had built in this pack. Clothes I would never wear again. Books I had read too many times… the cover page was no more. A ceramic wolf figurine painted a wrong shade of gray that Kayla had made for me after our first shift. It sat on the floor between my knees, and I could not bring myself to put it in the box of my old items. My childhood room looked smaller than my New York apartment, but it felt like home. Like my mother’s favorite lavender scents she used for every bedsheet and diffuser in the house. I was supposed to be sorting out my things, the ones I wouldn't need anymore, and packing what I'll be taking back to the city. Knowing I might never return to the pack had me stalling. I had been sitting there for about two hours, starring at the storage boxes like they held answers to my problem. The sun had set a while back, and the alarm clock on m
NickThe council room had barely emptied before it filled again with a different kind of chaos no one saw coming. Nick had not moved from his seat. He could not bring himself to sit just yet. His hands were flat on the table, his knuckles white, his gaze fixed on the empty chairs where the Jefferson family had sat only moments before. The silence his wolf had craved after Esme left lasted for less than a minute. Sadly, he couldn’t use his authority to forcefully empty the room. Then the voices became louder. Cole Jefferson’s voice carried from the corridor, sharp and rising like he could tear the packhouse apart. “I will not stand by while my daughters are forced to kill each other for the sake of pack politics. There has to be another way.” Lena’s voice followed, softer but no less fierce than her husband's. “They are our children, Marta. Both of them. I won’t lose any to exile or blood.” Marta, the instigator of the fresh argument, was calm with a sadistic smile on her face. “
Nick The low hum of the packhouse had always been a sound Nick connected with normalcy. Not that it lasted for long with the sound of footsteps in the corridors, pack members hanging around, and the distant clatter from the kitchen. Today, he needed the packhouse as quiet as possible, so he mindlinked Alfie to evacuate the packhouse. He stood at the head of the council room, his palms flat against the round, polished oak of the table. Eight chairs lined the round table, the occupants already seated in rigid anticipation. Elder Esme sat beside him, her silver hair tied in a bun, her eyes sharp as an eagle.The other five council members… two senior warriors, the former beta, the former delta, a weathered she-wolf, Marta, who had seen as many alphas come and go like Esme… All wore the same irking expression. A careful one masking deep unease.Nick had not sat down. He wanted to wait till the twins arrived. He stood in front of the chair at the head of the table. Today, the chair felt
NickThe low hum of the packhouse had always been a sound Nick associated with order. The rhythm of boots in the corridors, the murmur of warriors debriefing, the distant clatter from the kitchens—it was the heartbeat of his territory, steady and controlled. Today, that heartbeat felt like a drumroll leading to an execution.He stood at the head of the council room, his palms flat against the polished oak of the table. The wood was cool, unyielding. Six chairs lined the sides, their occupants already seated in rigid anticipation. Elder Esme sat nearest him, her silver hair coiled in a severe bun, her eyes sharp as flint. The other five council members—warriors, former Betas, a weathered she-wolf named Marta who had seen three Alphas come and go—all wore the same expression: careful neutrality masking deep unease.Nick had not sat down. He could not. The chair at the head of the table was his by blood and birthright, but today it felt less like a seat of power and more like a throne of
KiraFor the first time in forever, I stood outside Kayla’s door, hesitating to knock. With a tiny dose of courage, I raised my hand and knocked softer than I should have. My knuckles barely brushed the door, as if some part of me was hoping she wouldn’t hear. As if I could stand there in the dim hallway of our childhood home, my hand hovering in the air, and pretend that I hadn't come to say the things I had been avoiding for days. But Kayla knew me too well. She was always one step ahead of me. I stood there, my heart beating in uneven rhythms, a quiet storm brewing under the false courage I had spent the last hour prepping. The house was silent… Our parents were still in their bedroom on the ground floor, and the walls seemed closer than they had when I was a child. Everything in the house felt like it was holding its breath.I could hear movement inside her room. The sheets of her bed were shifting, and the soft pad of bare feet across the floor. Kayla was awake. Of course sh
He didn't sleep. An odd thing, considering he was usually out like a light the minute his head hit the pillows. Yet, Nick hadn’t slept. Over an hour in bed and he still chased the sleep, tossing around in bed and punching his pillow to make it comfier more times than he could count.The ceiling abo
The kitchen had never felt this small before. Big enough to fit 20 people, yet the air felt barely enough for a capacity of 3. Mom had been pacing for so long that the white tiles beneath her slippers scratched in protest. She moved back and forth, as if she stopped moving for one second, she migh
Nick ran like the forest had the answers he deperately needed. His thoughts were muffled, covered by the stumping of wolves behind him and racing his heart. Branches snapped beaneath his paws as he tore through the undergrowth, the sound of dozens of wolves following close behind got louder, echoi
What if Kayla misread everything? Judging by her manner of speaking and wistful gaze in her eyes as she spoke about Nick. Any stranger would think she'd had this amazing breakthrough with her mate, but in reality, we were trying to decipher what this really meant for her.And for me. Would he cla







