MasukClinton's POV For a few seconds, I can’t even force words out of my mouth.I just stand there staring at her while my thoughts crash into each other so fast my head starts hurting.Catherine grips the handle of her traveling bag tighter and tries walking past me again. Instinct makes me move into her path immediately, but this time, I stop myself from touching her.I don’t think I can survive seeing that fear in her eyes again.Up close, she looks worse than I first realized. Her face is pale beneath the anger twisting across it, her eyes swollen from crying, her breathing uneven. She keeps glancing at me carefully, almost expecting me to suddenly turn into something else right here.That thought alone makes my chest ache.Danny couldn’t have told her everything.There’s no way he told her about the sacrifice.There’s no way he told her that she’s a talisman.“How much do you know?” I ask quietly.“Everything.”My stomach drops instantly.Everything.I shove my trembling hands deeper
Clinton's POV I’ve been standing in front of Catherine’s apartment for over ten minutes, knocking until my knuckles ache, but she still refuses to open the door.She’s definitely in there.Ignoring me on purpose.I rest my forehead briefly against the door and let out a slow breath.“Catherine, please.”Nothing.Not even footsteps.Usually, she would at least yell at me through the door by now. Tell me to go to hell or call me annoying or... something.This silence feels different.Heavy.I drag a hand through my hair and lean back against the wall, staring at the floor while exhaustion settles deeper into my bones.I deserve this, honestly.I left her alone at the hospital without explanation and disappeared. Any normal person would be furious.The problem is, I didn’t know how to face her after Richard died.Even now, the thought still hits me so suddenly my chest tightens again.Richard.I close my eyes briefly.I really thought he’d always be there somehow.The idiot annoyed me h
Catherine's POV I don’t know how long I stay unconscious, but when my eyes finally open again, the first thing I see is the ceiling above me.White.Still.Quiet.I lie there staring at it while my head throbs faintly and my body feels too heavy to move properly. My mouth is dry. My chest hurts in that strange, deep way it’s been hurting all day.Then my brain catches up.Danny.The wolf.Bones snapping.Golden eyes.My stomach twists instantly.“No,” I whisper under my breath, shaking my head slowly at the ceiling. “No, that can’t be real.”I swallow hard and sit there trying to force logic back into my head because people don’t turn into animals. That doesn’t happen. None of this makes sense.I probably hallucinated the whole thing.Stress does crazy things to people.Maybe I hit my head after fainting.Maybe Danny drugged me somehow.Yeah.That has to be it.But then my eyes start burning again, and tears slide quietly down the sides of my face before I even realize I’m crying.I
Catherine's POV My phone rests on my thigh while I stare at Clinton’s name glowing on the screen.Still no call.No text.Nothing.The silence keeps stretching and stretching until it starts feeling personal.He dropped me off at the hospital after I fainted, then disappeared completely. No checkup. No explanation. Not even one stupid message asking if I’m okay.Typical Clinton.Whenever things finally start feeling stable between us, he somehow finds a way to ruin it.I unlock my phone again and scroll through my contacts slowly even though I already know where his name is. My thumb stops over it.Clinton.One click.That’s all it takes.But my hand just stays there, frozen.I sigh sharply and throw the phone onto the bed instead.“Forget him.”The words sound weak even to me.I press a hand against my chest because something still feels wrong inside me. Ever since this morning, my heartbeat hasn’t settled properly. It keeps skipping strangely, hard enough to make me stop breathing
Danny's POV By the time I get outside, Natasha’s car is already disappearing.Unbelievable.She really thinks she can destroy everything and drive away peacefully afterward.My jaw tightens as I head toward my car. I’m already imagining dragging her back here by force just so she can explain what gave her the confidence to walk into Catherine’s apartment and ruin my morning.I yank the car door open and slide inside.The engine hasn’t even started before my phone begins ringing.I almost ignore it.Honestly, whoever’s calling right now has terrible timing.I pull the phone from my pocket anyway, ready to curse the idiot out, but the second I see the screen, I pause.Mom.Of course.A long sigh leaves my mouth before I answer.“Hello, Mom.”“Where are you?”Straight to interrogation as usual.I lean back against the seat and close my eyes briefly.“Why does everybody suddenly care where I am today?”“Danny.”That tone.Sharp enough to cut through irritation instantly.I rub the back o
Danny's POV The second I reach Catherine’s apartment, I start pounding on the door hard enough to wake the entire building.My chest still hasn’t settled since seeing Clinton earlier. Blood all over him. Tears on his face. That broken look in his eyes when he whispered Catherine’s name.I keep hearing it over and over during the drive here.Please don’t be dead.Funny thing is, I didn’t even realize how badly I needed her alive until those thoughts started crawling into my head.The door finally unlocks.It opens slowly.And there she is.Relief hits me so hard it almost feels humiliating.Alive.Breathing.Standing right in front of me.She looks different. Pale. Exhausted. Her eyes are dull in a way I’ve never seen before, as if she hasn’t slept properly in days. Even the way she stands there feels heavy.My heart starts beating harder anyway.I almost pull her into my arms right there.Almost.Then somebody shoves past me from behind.I turn sharply.Natasha storms straight into t
Jack's POV My body feels like something heavy rolled over it and didn’t bother to stop, like I’ve been dragged across asphalt and left there long enough for the pain to settle into my bones.Even breathing takes effort. My chest rises slow, uneven, like it’s unsure it wants to keep doing this.I t
Clinton's POV Jack dares to touch her, even when he knows she’s mine.The thought doesn’t come quietly. It burns its way through everything else, cuts through the pain clawing at my chest, through the weight dragging at my limbs. It’s the only thing that makes sense right now, the only thing that
Catherine's POV The first thing I feel is the pull, sharp and piercing deep in my head as Jack grabs my hair and yanks me forward without hesitation. I am helpless in his grip, my body scraping across the concrete as my knees hit the ground first, sending shocks through my bones.My palms hit nex
Amy's POV I glare at Richard. “What? So you’re just going to stand there and say nothing?” I clench my hand into a small fist and press it against my thigh.There’s a dead body inside the schoolyard, and Richard is just… standing here, watching me. Like whatever is in his head matters more than wh







