LOGINA thought came to me. I hesitated but asked anyway. “Tell me about her.” I expected his expression to harden, expected him to withdraw like he did the last time. But he didn’t. Instead, he smiled, a small nostalgic smile. “My mother was the same as your father. Loud. Too loud. She drove my father insane, but he adored her for it. She’d make warriors dance in the courtyard on Sundays just to embarrass them.” I laughed, genuinely. “I can’t imagine that.” The thought was ridiculous. Warriors grumbling and dancing because their Luna asked them to. “She’d have made you join in,” he said, teasing. “Oh goddess, I would’ve died.” “I think you would’ve liked her too.” There was something tender in the way he said it. Like he wished the world had been gentler to both of us. I wished the same too. We talked. About small things. Stupid things. Childhood stories. Pack pranks. Things I’d never heard and things I’d never shared. I told him about my time with humans. It felt… ea
I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed for hours, listening to the wind against the windows, feeling the restless thrum of my heartbeat. Tomorrow was the fourth day. The day everything would change. I tried really hard to fall asleep, counting breaths, flipping the pillow, nothing worked. Eventually, the walls felt too tight, too suffocating. I slipped quietly out of bed, pulling on a sweater even though the house was warm. The halls were silent, the kind of silence that felt like it was holding its breath. I padded barefoot toward the garden, needing air more than sleep. Moonlight slicked over the flowers, turning their colours ghost-pale. The sky felt too big, too expectant. Like it knew. I thought I'd be alone, until I felt him. Not heard. Felt. That low thrumming in my chest, the subtle tug under my ribs... it could only be one person. Cassian. He stood among the hydrangeas, hands in his pockets, head tilted up to the sky. His shoulders were bare under a loose T-shirt, muscles s
I woke up tense. The atmosphere felt heavy with what was coming. The first thing I did was to check on Cassian, but he was out, so I decided to run other errands. To see my sister. I trusted Cassian, goddess knows I did. But trust didn't erase fear. He was powerful, but things slipped out of control every day. I had learned that the ugly way. And before anything else happened, I wanted to fix things with Tasha. If something went wrong... I wanted her to know I never meant to hurt her. I found her in the garden behind the pack house, curled on the stone bench with a book in hand. She looked... strangely bright. Happier than I'd seen her in well… since her strangeness began. When she spotted me, her lips stretched into a relieved, almost triumphant smile. "Talia." She shut the book and stood. "I've been looking for you." I approached cautiously.“You have?" "Mm-hmm." She came in for a quick hug. The hug was tight, lingering. "You did so well yesterday. I heard about the land dis
Nicole led us through the main hall, past warriors sparring in the courtyard. Every sound felt muted, like it was happening underwater. My thoughts were too loud, circling one truth: Cassian made that sacrifice for me. Letting another Alpha onto his land. Calling him brother. All to get me back. My heart hadn’t settled since. The closer we got to his office, the tighter my chest felt. When Nicole knocked, my pulse was a sprint. “Come in,” Cassian’s voice answered. The door opened, and heat crawled up my spine. His scent hit me first, sandalwood, dark and warm. Cassian stood behind his desk, shoulders squared, expression carved from stone. Grim. Hard. Focused. And beside him… Kira. Of course. Her eyes flicked to me, sharp and assessing. She didn’t smile. She never did, except in evil. My steps slowed. Instinct made me guard my expression. Cassian’s gaze found mine, and something flickered, warm and soft, before shutting away again. “Talia,” he said. Just my name.
I was halfway through a bowl of fruit when someone knocked. The sound was sharp, urgent.Mrs. Alanna answered before I could stand.Nicole stepped inside, crisp and calm as always, though an undercurrent of tension hummed beneath his expression.“Luna,” he said, giving a slight bow. “A matter needs your attention.”My fork froze mid-air. “So formal?” He smiled softly. “Just practising.” “Huh.” I went back to eating, not at all satisfied by his response but too tired to push it. My thoughts kept circling back to Cassian and his new carefree self. It made my heart flutter. I liked this version of him better. “What needs her attention?” Mrs. Alanna asked. “Land dispute,” he said. “Two Omega families, one claims the border between their farms was moved. The other says it wasn’t.” He hesitated. “Alpha Mason… is involved. He’s advocating on behalf of one of the families.”“And why isn’t the Alpha handling it?” “He’s occupied handling the traitor investigation.” He turned to me. “You’
Talia’s POV I’d never noticed how shiny and beautiful the sun was until today, mostly because I was lying flat on the ground, staring at it like an idiot with nothing else to look at. “You’ll get sunburned,” Mrs. Alanna warned somewhere to my left. I groaned but didn’t move, just threw an arm over my eyes as a pathetic shield from the scorching heat. Mrs. Alanna had introduced me to a young warrior for training. Kira couldn’t continue and honestly? Thank the moon. Except this new guy, Justin, was somehow worse. He trained like he wanted to beat a confession out of me. No breaks. No mercy. No water. Just pain. So here I was, sprawled out on the grass after a thorough beating, contemplating my life choices. Soft footsteps approached, but I refused to acknowledge them. Not until a shadow cast over me, blocking the sun. I only snapped my eyes open when I caught that familiar scent, sandalwood. Cassian. He was bent over me, hands on his knees, looking down with amusement







