“Lucas?”The voice sounded distant, muffled, like it was coming from underwater. His body felt heavy, his limbs unresponsive. A dull, throbbing pain pulsed through his skull, each beat sending sharp jolts down his spine.“Lucas, can you hear me?”He forced his eyes open, blinking against the harsh light. The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—plain white, no cracks, no familiar marks. His mind scrambled for clarity, but everything was tangled in a thick haze.A shadow moved beside him.“Fidel?” His voice came out hoarse, strained.“Yeah, I’m here.” Fidel leaned closer, his expression tense. “Don’t try to move too fast. You took a pretty bad hit.”Lucas groaned, attempting to lift his head. A wave of dizziness crashed over him, and he collapsed back onto the bed. His stomach churned.“What… happened?” he managed, his throat dry as sandpaper.Fidel hesitated. “You don’t remember?”Lucas shut his eyes, reaching inward for his wolf’s presence—only to be met with silence.Panic flickered thr
Lucas’s head spun with the weight of the news.“Three days... Three days I’ve been unconscious and no one thought to wake me?” Lucas’s voice was a mix of frustration and disbelief.Jack stood there, his arms crossed, looking more tired than Lucas had ever seen him.“You were in bad shape, Lucas,” Jack said softly. “We couldn’t risk moving you.”But Lucas wasn’t listening anymore. His mind was racing, trying to piece together the aftermath of the explosion.“Where is she, Jack? Where is Lila?” His voice hardened, the pain he’d felt from being kept in the dark now erupting into raw desperation.Jack’s gaze shifted briefly to the ground, his eyes clouded with something Lucas couldn’t quite read.“She’s in another room.” Jack hesitated, his voice lowering. “She was closest to the explosion, Lucas.”Lucas’s heart slammed in his chest.“Who was the second closest?” he demanded, already fearing the answer.Jack hesitated a moment longer, his eyes narrowing. “You.”Lucas felt as though the fl
Mates weren’t meant to be shared. At least, that’s what he had always believed.But as the words sank in, a strange realization settled over him—he didn’t feel the jealousy he had expected. No rage. No possessiveness. Just an overwhelming sense of connection.“Say something,” Jake muttered, his jaw tightening.Lucas exhaled sharply. “I don’t— I don’t understand. How is this possible?”Jake’s expression darkened. “It’s not unheard of. In our family, having two mates isn’t impossible. It’s rare, but it happens.”Lucas’s mind raced back to the stories his father used to tell him, about the legends of wolves with more than one destined mate. He had dismissed them as myths. But now, standing here, facing this impossible truth, he realized those myths had just become his reality.“And you’ve felt it too?” Lucas finally asked.Jake nodded once. “From the moment I saw her lying there after the explosion, something inside me shifted. It was like losing her would destroy me. And now... I don’t
"I won't let him get away with this," Jake said, his voice thick with anger. His eyes were fixed on Lila, who lay motionless in the bed, her once lively presence now replaced by a quiet stillness that seemed unnatural. Lucas stood by her side, gripping her good hand with a tenderness that betrayed the depth of his feelings. His gaze never left her face, even though the sight was almost too much to bear."I know," Lucas replied, his voice strained but resolute. "But we need to focus on her right now. We can’t do anything if she’s not okay." Jake’s jaw tightened. “I’ve never felt this helpless. Watching her like this, it feels like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”He took a step closer, his anger simmering beneath the surface, threatening to explode. His fists were clenched at his sides, but he did nothing with them. Instead, he let the rage build. "Lawrence is going to pay. For this. For everything. He won't get away with hurting her like this."Lucas turned his head slowly, meetin
Waking into Pain:"She moved."The voice was distant, yet urgent.Lila felt as if she were trapped under something heavy, her entire body aching in ways she couldn’t understand. A dull, throbbing pain pulsed in her head, and her limbs felt too weak to move. It was like waking up from a terrible dream, but the nightmare hadn’t ended—it had followed her into reality.A sharp sting burned her throat when she tried to swallow. Her lips felt dry, cracked, and raw. She attempted to lift her arm, but it wouldn’t respond. Her fingers twitched, but even that small movement sent a wave of agony through her."Lila?"The voice was closer now, deep and rough with emotion.She tried to turn her head toward the sound, but her body refused. Every part of her felt disconnected, like she was floating between pain and exhaustion.Something warm wrapped around her hand. A touch. Familiar. Safe."Can you hear me?"Lila wanted to answer, to let whoever was speaking know that she was here, but all that came
"Lila, breathe." The voice was steady, but she barely heard it over the pounding in her ears. Her heart raced, the erratic beeping of the monitor beside her growing louder with every second. She stared at them—both of them. Lucas. Jake. My mates. Her mind struggled to piece it together, to make sense of why the two men she had vowed to hate stood on either side of her bed, watching her like she was something fragile. This couldn’t be real. "Lila," Jake said her name softly, stepping closer. Something inside her reacted—a rush of warmth, a pull so deep it made her breath hitch. Her wolf. Her traitorous wolf, who had spent years snarling in anger at the mention of them, was now purring at their presence. No. No, no, no. Her breathing quickened. The beeping of the monitor spiked again. Jake's expression darkened with concern, and then—before she could stop him—his hand was on her face. The second his skin touched hers, everything inside her exploded. ---
“Lila? Can you hear me?”The voice was deep, steady—one she should recognize.She tried to open her eyes, but her body felt impossibly heavy, like she was sinking into an ocean with no way to reach the surface. Everything around her blurred between reality and dreams.A hand brushed her hair back gently. The touch sent warmth through her, a sensation she didn’t expect.“It’s okay,” the voice murmured. “Just rest.”She wanted to fight it. To demand answers. But exhaustion pulled her back into the dark.The next time she woke, the light was dim, but the air in the room was thick with something—something familiar.She shifted slightly, wincing at the dull ache in her body. Her senses sharpened just enough to notice the presence beside her.Jake.His head was lowered, his breathing even, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. He was waiting. Watching.Her throat was dry when she spoke. “You’re always here.”His head lifted immediately, his blue eyes locking onto hers.“You finally noticed?” he sai
“You’re beautiful.” Lila’s breath caught. She turned sharply to look at Jake, expecting to see amusement or sarcasm in his expression. Instead, he was watching her with a look so raw it sent a shiver down her spine. A bitter laugh escaped her lips. “I look like hell.” Jake’s eyes didn’t waver. “You don’t.” She scoffed, lifting her metal arm. The artificial fingers curled and uncurled, the movement eerily smooth. “You see this?” She tapped the metal plating, the sound hollow. “This isn’t beautiful. This is ruin.” His jaw tightened. “You’re not ruined, Lila.” She turned away, unable to look at him. How could he say that? Her skin was pale, her lips cracked, her face swollen from the weeks of unconsciousness. And now—this thing attached to her body, a constant reminder of everything she had lost. Jake reached out, but she shifted away before he could touch her. “I don’t need your pity.” “It’s not pity,” he said softly. “It’s the truth.” She clenched her jaw. H
Lila followed Arika up the ramp, her boots clinking softly against the grated metal, heart thudding louder with each step. Something in Arika’s voice lingered like smoke—too calm, too measured. She didn’t trust it. Not for a second.“You keep the data onboard?” Lila asked, eyes flicking to the wall-mounted surveillance cams. The ship’s interior was sleek but sterile, with black paneling and chrome fixtures. Cold. Like its owner.“No,” Arika said, stopping at a narrow corridor. “I keep my insurance onboard.”She keyed a code into the control pad, and a mechanical hiss broke the silence. A door slid open, revealing a freight elevator platform.“After you,” Arika said with a mock bow.Lila stepped in cautiously, hand still near her weapon. The platform hummed, descending smoothly into the ship’s belly. A few seconds passed in silence. Arika didn’t move. Didn’t smile.Then the metal chamber opened—and Lila’s breath caught.Rows of blinking machines lined the container-sized space. The ser
The Vault’s Truth:Arika’s voice cut through the still air like a blade. “You ever stop and ask yourself what the point of it all is?”Lila didn’t answer immediately. The faint hum of the servers was the only sound between them. Outside, the snow still howled, muffled through thick bunker walls. Her fingers hovered over the tablet screen, pulling fragments of data—locations, funds, faces of corrupt officials—but her mind was already one step ahead.“I used to,” she said finally, gaze still fixed on the display. “I used to think the world was rotten to the core. That maybe if I set a match to everything, it’d feel better.”Arika snorted. “It doesn’t.”“No,” Lila agreed, voice softer now. “It just burns you with it.”That silenced Arika for a beat. Lila glanced over, catching the flicker of doubt that cracked through her sister’s sarcasm.“You sound like one of those therapy podcasts the Alphas play for their anxious mates.”“I sound like someone who’s been burned before.” Lila turned o
Frostbite and Fireworks:"“You sure you’re not walking me into a trap?”Lila’s voice cut through the storm, low and razor-sharp, carried on the wind like a blade tossed by fate."Would I waste this much time just to kill you?” Arika replied without glancing back, her silhouette a blur through the thick curtain of snow. “Don’t flatter yourself.”"You’ve done worse for less."Lila adjusted the grip on her sidearm beneath her coat, every muscle coiled. “And you still haven’t answered how you got the servers out of here without leaving a trail.”"You'll see.”It wasn’t a tease. It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise laced with something darker—familiar, dangerous, and maddeningly vague.The snowstorm howled around them like a feral thing, wind battering exposed skin and biting through layers as they trudged deeper into the derelict port grounds. Long-dead cranes loomed like rusted sentinels, skeletal and forgotten. The place reeked of salt, decay, and memory.Lila kept scanning—trees, rooft
The locket in Arika’s hand glinted one last time in the fading light before she tucked it into the folds of her coat, her fingers twitching as though the cold no longer bothered her—just the past that still clung to her skin.But Lila wasn’t finished.Not yet.She turned slowly, like a predator toying with a rival too confident for her own good. “You know,” she said conversationally, her voice laced with honeyed venom, “for someone who prides herself on good taste, I’m surprised you didn’t notice the warning signs.”Arika’s head tilted. “What signs?”Lila’s smile was all razor-edge charm. “Oh, just that Salicus was riddled with diseases. Biochemical ones. I should know—I left him with a few.”The blow landed with precision. A flicker of something passed through Arika’s expression—a stutter in her breath, a twitch at the corner of her mouth. She masked it quickly, but not quickly enough.“You’re bluffing,” Arika said, voice clipped.“Am I?” Lila stepped closer, letting her words drip.
Lila’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out. That sentence—so personal, so venomous—stuck in her like a blade wedged between ribs.Arika didn’t wait for her to recover. She turned and walked slowly toward the edge of the clearing, her fingers brushing the frost-covered rail of a long-abandoned cargo lift. The silence between them thickened.“I had a guest once,” Arika called over her shoulder, too casual. “You might know him. Salicus Grante.”Lila’s body snapped to attention.The name landed like a hammer.“You’re lying.”Arika looked back, one eyebrow raised. “Am I?”“Salicus is dead.”Arika gave a mocking little shrug. “Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night? Or just what you hope is true?”Lila took a shaky step forward. Her pulse thundered in her ears. “Where. Did. You. See. Him.”“Here. There. Doesn’t matter,” Arika said. “He’s a wanderer. A very persistent one. Had a few... interesting stories about you, too. I see where you get your taste in men.”Lila’s hands
Chapter Title: Blood Tides and Buried Truths"You look older than I imagined. The cold's not kind to you, huh?"Lila’s voice cut through the air, sharp as shattered ice.Arika smirked, slow and poisonous. “And you still greet people like you’re handing out ultimatums.”“I only greet the ones who fake their deaths and sell lies for a living.”Arika’s eyes flicked down her nose, unfazed. “Still bitter, I see. At least that hasn’t aged.”The wind between them twisted, biting through cloth and bone alike. They stood ten paces apart in the heart of the abandoned clearing, surrounded by cracked concrete and frost-covered crates. The silence of the ruin only emphasized how violently the past clawed its way into the present.“You died,” Lila said, voice low now. Controlled. “That’s what they told me. What you let them tell me.”“They weren’t wrong,” Arika replied smoothly. “Not entirely.”Lila scoffed. “You faked your death and vanished. What else was I supposed to believe?”“That I had a rea
The cold gnawed at Lila’s exposed cheeks as she emerged from the warehouse’s side exit and stepped into the clearing.A vast, open yard stretched before her.Flat, white, endless.The area must have once been the central cargo bay—a wide slab of cracked concrete now buried beneath ice and powdery snow. Massive tracks were etched faintly beneath the layers, ghost-lines of long-dead machinery. Here, where shipments had once been loaded, goods transferred, and orders barked, now only wind howled and silence ruled.She stepped forward slowly.Her boots sank with every crunching step, leaving deep impressions behind her. The expanse was so open, it felt vulnerable. Naked. No cover. No shadows to slip into. Just the broad chest of the clearing exposed to the grey sky overhead.Lila exhaled through her nose, eyes scanning left to right, then back again.No movement.No signs.And yet her pulse wouldn’t slow.Something didn’t add up.If this was Arika’s meeting point, where the hell was the e
The snow swallowed their steps as they began to move again.None of them spoke.The world had gone eerily still, as if holding its breath. Lila led the way, eyes narrowed against the wind, with Jake close behind her left shoulder and Lucas covering their right flank. Their boots crunched against the crusted snow, the only sound in an otherwise dead landscape.With every step forward, the forest behind them shrank, consumed by the encroaching white.“This is madness,” Jake muttered under his breath, his voice muffled beneath his scarf. “Visibility’s garbage. We’re tracking straight into open ground. Arika wants us blind.”“She wants a meeting,” Lila shot back, not looking over her shoulder. “And I’m not turning back.”Lucas scanned the tree line one last time before sighing. “Yeah, well, if we die out here in the snow, at least it’ll be poetic.”The wind howled in answer.Their pace slowed as the ground sloped downward, snow now knee-deep. Every few steps, one of them stumbled. Lila’s
Lila froze.The crimson dot shimmered against her coat, small but deadly. Her breath caught in her throat, her muscles wound tight. Not a single sound echoed behind her—no footsteps, no shouts, no signs of the guards or her brothers intervening. Just that quiet, icy stillness and the whine of wind over rusted steel.Where are you, Arika? she thought, pulse hammering.She didn’t raise her hands. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she stared up at the ridge. “You’re not going to shoot me,” she said, her voice even despite the cold in her spine. “If you were, you already would have.”A long beat of silence. Then a laugh—faint, hollow, metallic.The laser dot vanished.Lila exhaled slowly. Her hand dropped to her side, fingers brushing the outline of her weapon, but she didn’t draw it. That would only escalate things. She was here for answers, not war. Still, her unease grew by the second. Not because of the target on her chest.But because her wolf was silent.Utterly.Painfully.Silent.Why ar