LOGINDamon’s POVThe scent led me straight to the warehouse. It clung to the air long before I reached the entrance; faint, strained, but unmistakable.Aria.My steps didn’t slow, but everything else inside me sharpened. The world narrowed into a single point of focus, every instinct aligning toward one
Aria’s POVMy head throbbed before I even opened my eyes.It wasn’t a normal ache. It felt like my skull had been split open and stitched back together with dull wire, every pulse of blood dragging against it. My throat was dry, my tongue heavy, and when I tried to move my hand, nothing responded th
Damon’s POV“Lock down every exit,” I snapped, my voice cutting through the packhouse like a whip. “No one leaves. No one enters. I want patrols on every boundary line now.”Guards scattered instantly, fear in their posture even before obedience. Good. Fear meant speed.Behind me, Mira caught up, br
Aria’s POVThe archive smelled the same as always; old parchment, ink, and dust that never fully left the shelves no matter how often they were cleaned. It should have been boring. Safe, even but my mind wasn’t calm.Not after Alina. Not after the way the room had turned on me in seconds. Not after
“You’re acting like one.”A pause. Then she sighed, almost disappointed. “I just don’t want you blinded.”I stepped closer. “I see her clearly.”Something flickered across her face then—quick, but there. And then she smiled again. “I hope you’re right,” she said gently. “I really do.”She turned to
Damon’s POVThe office doors hadn’t even fully closed behind Thorne when I felt her presence before I saw her.Alina.She never announced herself like everyone else. No knock that waited for permission. No hesitation. Just certainty, as if the space already belonged to her before she stepped into it
We were being overrun.I turned, scanning the battlefield, searching for any opening, any advantage, but there was none.Only chaos, only blood, only loss.Blinding, searing pain ripped through my side as something suddenly slammed into me from behind. I barely registered the impact before claws tor
I shoved him again, desperate this time, my back scraping along the wall, heart hammering so loudly I was sure he could hear it. But his grip didn’t loosen and his presence didn’t falter.“Never,” he said simply, almost softly, yet there was a lethal edge to it. “You’ll come back. You always do.”My
I clenched my jaw and swallowed the words and I scowled instead. Kade didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, my irritation appeared to amuse him. He stepped closer and leaned down before I could react and then brushed his lips against my forehead.The contact made my entire body recoil
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







