Se connecterDAMON POVThe moment the footsteps reached the staircase, every wolf in the room went still. Nobody spoke. Nobody needed to. Blaze was already moving toward the entrance while Colt stepped in front of Betty. Lucien shoved the nearest box of records farther into the room and grabbed another. If we came all this way only to lose these documents, I was going to lose my mind.The footsteps stopped. Then a voice echoed from above."Found them."Gunfire exploded through the archive."DOWN!" I roared.Everyone dropped instantly as bullets slammed into the stone walls. Dust filled the air. Betty hit the floor beside Colt while Blaze launched himself up the staircase.A scream followed. Then another. Then silence.For about three seconds."Blaze?" Betty shouted."I'm fine!"A body came flying down the stairs. Thankfully it was not Blaze. One of the attackers. The man crashed into the wall hard enough to knock himself unconscious.Colt cursed. "He's enjoying himself.""Obviously."More gunfire
BETTY POVBy the time we reached the archive location, my nerves were completely shot. Blaze hadn't stopped checking mirrors since the gas station, Damon looked like he was preparing for war, and Colt kept pretending everything was fine even though he had checked the perimeter three different times before letting me out of the vehicle.The place didn't look like an archive. It looked abandoned.A massive stone building sat in the middle of the forest, surrounded by overgrown trees and broken walls. Parts of the roof had collapsed years ago, and vines covered almost everything.I stared up at it."This is it?"Lucien nodded."This is it.""It looks haunted.""It probably is," Blaze muttered.Damon ignored him and started giving instructions immediately."Nobody separates. Nobody wanders off. If something feels wrong, say it.""I feel wrong already," I replied.That earned a small smile from Colt."You'll fit right in."We entered through what used to be the main doorway. Dust covered e
BLAZE POVI knew we were being followed long before I found proof. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was experience. Or probably it was because every time things started looking calm lately, somebody tried killing us. Whatever it was, I couldn't shake the feeling.The convoy had been moving for hours. Damon was leading while Colt stayed behind him. Betty was riding with Damon because, apparently, the two of them had spent half the morning arguing about archive routes before somehow turning it into one of those emotional conversations they liked having lately.I still wasn't used to Damon being the romantic one.The road stretched ahead while trees blurred past on both sides. Neutral territory wasn't far now, and that made me even more uneasy. I checked my mirror again.Same black SUV.Same distance.Same road.Still there.I reached for the communicator."Damon.""What?""Check your mirror."A few seconds passed.Then his voice came back colder. "How long?""Long enough.""That's not an
Damon’s POVThe house felt too quiet that morning, like the air itself was holding its breath, and I couldn’t stop replaying Betty’s words—her frustration, the sharp edge in her voice when she walked out earlier, because she was right. She was always right, and hiding her, controlling when she could act or move, it wasn’t keeping anyone safe — it was just delaying the inevitable, and I knew it.I stayed in the living room, map and archive notes spread across the table, trying to figure out a plan, my hand rubbing at my jaw over and over while every scenario ran like a movie in my head, each one ending with Betty or the baby hurt—or worse—and I could hear her moving in the kitchen quietly, shuffling through papers Lucien had left, muttering half to herself about the Crown Bloodline and old archives. Her concentration was sharp, deliberate, and it made my chest ache because even now, hours after her outburst, she refused to rest, refused to slow down, refused to let me keep her safe by
Damon's POV I could barely sleep at night. Every single time I closed my eyes, Betty’s nightmare played on repeat in my head. The panic all over her face. How she grabbed her stomach right away like that was the only thing that mattered. Her whole body shaking while she tried to tell us she was okay. She clearly wasn’t. By the time the sun started coming up, I gave up trying to sleep. I just couldn’t do it.I slipped out of the room quietly so I wouldn’t wake her. Outside, I found Blaze already there. A few minutes later Colt showed up carrying coffee for all of us. For a while nobody said a word. We were all wiped out. You could feel it in the air.Eventually Blaze broke the silence. “This isn’t working.”I knew exactly what he meant, but I still said, “We’re safe here.”“No, we’re hiding here,” he shot back. “Every day we’re just sitting around waiting for them to make the next move. Meanwhile Betty keeps having these dreams that are telling us they’re getting closer. I’m sick of i
Betty's POVI just couldn’t sleep at night. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept thinking about my mother and the ultrasound and everything Lucien had shown me. My body felt tired but my mind wouldn’t stop. I tossed and turned for a long time before I finally drifted off. Then I had a weird dream. It wasn’t a normal dream. It felt real. I saw my mother running through the woods at night. She was younger. Scared. She was carrying something small wrapped in a blanket. Me. I could feel her fear like it was my own. She kept looking behind her like someone was chasing her. Then the scene changed. I saw the silver-eyed man. He was younger too, standing in front of a group of wolves. He was giving orders. “Find the heir. Bring her alive. Her blood is the key.”I woke up gasping.My heart was pounding hard. Sweat covered my body. I sat up quickly and touched my stomach. The baby was still there. Safe. But I couldn’t calm down.Damon came into the room a few seconds later. He must have heard







