Mag-log inJasper povI've dealt with many people to know that they resisted lies forced down their throats, but give them enough carefully chosen facts and they would build the lie for you, then defend it because it had become their own answer.I opened the folder of photographs again and moved through them slowly. Ciara laughing beside me at dinner, her face turned away because she hated being photographed while eating. Another of her asleep against my shoulder during a flight. One from our home, barefoot and irritated because I had apparently done something stupid enough to deserve the look she was giving the camera. Then there was the wedding photograph, her hand inside mine, the ring clearly visible.All real.That was what made this so easy.I did not need to manufacture a husband. I was already her husband and neither do I need to invent years together because we had those years. I only needed to remove what came after. Dax. Shadowfen. Asher. Ayla. Her mother and everything family, the th
Jasper’s POVAyla had made one mistake.She thought nobody was watching her but I had been watching for two days.Well, I wasn't doing it directly. Ayla was too careful for that, and people like her became suspicious the moment they felt eyes on them. I watched the things around her instead, the equipment she requested, the routes she cleared, the people suddenly removed from normal duty, the old Blackthorne resources that had not been touched in years but were now moving again under quiet authorization.By themselves, none of those things meant much.Together, they were practically a confession.I sat back in the chair inside the small office I had claimed at the estate and let the stolen records scroll across the second screen. Old ward-stones had been pulled from restricted storage. Containment frames had been moved. Current-dampening seals were being transferred under repair codes that looked legitimate until someone bothered checking where they were actually going. Two heavy cra
Ayla’s POVThe moment I stepped into the underground level, I stopped smiling.There was no need for it anymore.There was no Ciara watching me with those suspicious eyes that did not yet understand why they were suspicious or Inara pretending she trusted me because I had erased a video that would have exposed her to half the supernatural realm and the human world. So there was no need to soften my voice, pretend uncertainty, or act as though I was still building theories around things I had already concluded.The corridor was quiet, lit only by the low white glow of embedded ward-stones. My footsteps echoed faintly as I moved deeper into the facility, passing sealed doors, monitoring chambers and the laboratory where I had spent far too many nights proving something I had desperately hoped was wrong.It was not wrong.I entered the main lab and locked the door behind me before removing my coat. The book I had shown them earlier was only one of many. Dozens of older records covered th
Author’s POVLong after Ayla left the room, the ancient book remained open on the table.She had told them they were free to study it, even suggested they look through the surrounding pages in case something else felt familiar, before leaving with an almost careless warning not to damage it because some of the pages were older than several modern supernatural kingdoms. Inara had watched her leave with narrowed eyes and waited until the bedroom door closed completely before looking back at the book.Something about the entire situation still bothered her.Ayla had been helpful. Too helpful actually, perhaps, though Inara knew that alone was not enough reason to suspect someone. She had destroyed the arena footage before it could spread, hidden Inara’s transformation from supernatural authorities and brought them the first solid evidence that whatever she had become had existed long before she was born. Those were not small things. Yet Inara had never forgotten what Ciara told her abou
Ciara’s POVFor several seconds after Ayla said she might have answers, nobody moved.She remained near the door with one hand still resting lightly on the handle, looking far too composed for someone who had just walked into a room where two supposedly human women were discussing glowing eyes, voices inside their heads and spontaneous transformation into giant beasts. Inara had gone very still beside me, and I did not need to look at her to know she was already suspicious. I could practically feel it radiating from her. My own reaction was stranger. The warning that had tightened beneath my skin when Ayla entered had not disappeared, but neither had it become stronger. It simply remained there, quiet and watchful, like some hidden part of me had opened its eyes and was waiting to see what she would do.Ayla finally stepped farther into the room and placed a thick leather case on the table. “Before either of you starts accusing me of spying, experimenting without permission or gener
Ciara’s POVFor several seconds, I forgot how to breathe.Whatever stood in front of me was Inara, and somehow, at the same time, it was not the Inara I had known all these years. The creature filled more space than something born from a human body should have been capable of filling, its shoulders almost level with my chest even on all fours, its presence pressing into the room so heavily that everything suddenly felt smaller around it. At first glance, it resembled a wolf, but the longer I stared, the less that explanation made sense. Wolves did not have bodies built like ancient war beasts. Her fur was thick and impossibly smooth, dark beneath the afternoon light, but beautiful streaks of burning orange ran along her sides, curling over her shoulders and down her legs in patterns too perfect to be natural. They almost looked painted into her skin by fire itself, brightening faintly every time she breathed.And her eyes...Goddess.Those eyes were nothing like anything I had ever s







