LOGIN“If anything,” I added, my fingers curling slightly at my sides, “it would be a risk. If my wolf dies because of something like this…” My voice faltered for a split second before I forced it steady again. “Then I will never forgive her.”The words came out colder than I intended, but I meant every s
Aria’s POV“The man said you were friends.”My voice came out quieter than I expected, but it still cut through the heavy silence in the room. The words seemed to settle over all three of us at once, pulling us into the same unsettling thought.Damon didn’t respond immediately. His jaw tightened, hi
Aria’s POVLyra’s hand came at me fast… too fast for someone wearing heels.But I had spent the last few months running, hiding, shrinking myself to survive in a world that kept trying to swallow me whole. I wasn’t that girl anymore.I moved and her palm barely grazed my cheek before I caught her wr
Aria’s POV“What do you mean by ‘finally?’” Lyra’s voice cracked, sharp and disbelieving as she stared at Damon like he had just insulted her very existence. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her fingers curling into fists at her sides. “I’m right here. I’ve been here for a long time!”A laugh slippe
Aria’s POVMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking.I was still gripping the steering wheel, my knuckles white, my breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts that burned my lungs. The engine hummed beneath me, but everything else felt distant, muted, like the world had been shoved underwater.I stared ahead at hi
Aria’s POVThe world still rang from the explosion of glass.My ears hadn’t fully recovered, the sharp echo of that unnatural sound lingering like a ghost inside my skull, but the silence that followed felt worse. Too heavy. Too aware.And then he stepped out of the trees.I froze.He didn’t look li
Damon’s POV“What?”The word left my mouth before I could stop it, sharp and disbelieving, like my mind refused to process what I had just heard. I stared at Lyra, searching her face for any sign that she didn’t mean it, that this was just another one of her empty threats thrown in the heat of the m
Mira turned to Kade, her lips pressing into a thin line. “If you’re not going to help her, then stop pretending you care.”Kade scoffed, but there was something off about it, something forced. “I said I’d help,” he muttered. “Just not like that.”I let out a slow breath, then made my decision. “Fine
Damon’s POV“What do you mean no?”The words came out low and controlled, but there was nothing calm about the way my wolf slammed against my ribs, clawing for release. I stared at Kade, my eyes narrowing as I waited for him to correct himself, to take it back, to do the one thing that should have c
Thorne nodded immediately. “It’ll be done.”Silence fell again, heavier this time.“You should be out there,” he added carefully. “We need to assess the damage, figure out how this happened.”“I know.”But I didn’t move because every time I looked at Aria, every time I saw how still she was, how fra







