Mag-log inPOPPY There had been many moments—too many, actually. Moments where we were close to the point that I could feel Jude’s breath brushing against my lips, where the space between us was so thin that it almost felt meaningless. Moments where I thought, " This is it. And yet, it never happened. At least, not completely. Something always stopped us. Most of the time, it was his work. Sometimes, it was me. Sometimes, it was just… the overwhelming awareness that neither of us knew what we were doing. I lay on my bed one afternoon, a book resting open against my chest, my eyes scanning the same line over and over again without actually absorbing a single word. My mind was somewhere else, specifically, on my mate. I let out a soft groan and dropped the book over my face. “This is so embarrassing,” I muttered into the pages. The books I had been reading lately were not helpful at all. They were bold and wild—detailed in ways that made my face heat up just thinking about the
INDY When we returned from Firefell, I felt so much better. The world hadn’t changed, but I had. The car ride back to the mansion was quiet and comfortable. Rome sat beside me, his arm draped behind me, his fingers occasionally brushing against my waist. His hand slipped lower, bold and entirely unashamed, and squeezed my waist. “Rome,” I said sternly. He did it again with a cheeky smile. I turned to glare at him, but he only smirked, appearing unrepentant.“What?” he asked innocently.“You need to stop,” I said, lowering my voice. “We’re almost home.”“Exactly,” I shot back. “We are almost home.”He leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear.“I’ll see you later in the bedroom, hmm?” he murmured.My heart skipped a beat, and I shook my head. “Haven’t you had enough in Firefell?” He turned to me with a smirk. “I will never have enough.” The car came to a stop, and before I could say anything else, he was already stepping out excitedly. I took it, but I knew that look in
INDY The flight back to Firefell was supposed to feel like the beginning of something new.It was our honeymoon. And yet, as I sat beside Rome, staring out the small oval window of the plane at the endless stretch of clouds below, my thoughts refused to calm down.They had not settled since the night of our wedding, most especially since that moment in the bathroom where I heard the two maids talking about our capability to have an heir. I swallowed softly, my fingers tapping against my lap.“Indy.”I turned my head and found Rome watching me. His gaze looked worried, as though he had been observing me for far longer than I realized.“Are you okay?” he asked.I could hear the genuine concern in his voice, and it made me more apprehensive. I forced a small smile.“Yeah,” I said. “Everything’s good.”The lie slipped out too easily, but he did not call me out on it.Instead, he studied me for a moment longer before nodding slowly.“Alright.”He reached over, his hand finding mine, hi
INDY The wedding ceremony itself had already ended.It had been intimate in a way I never expected a wedding to be, especially one involving an Alpha like Rome. There were no overwhelming crowds pressing in close, no roaring cheers echoing off grand halls during the vows. Instead, it had been held quietly inside the mansion, within walls that had seen years of royalty long before I ever stepped into them.Only a select few had been present during the ceremony itself.I could still feel the lingering warmth of Rome’s hand in mine as we stood before them earlier, his gaze never once leaving mine as though the entire world had narrowed down to just the two of us.Now, the doors to the gardens stood just ahead.Beyond them, everyone else waited. The moment we would step out not just as two individuals, but as one. “Let’s go,” Rome said softly.I turned to him.He looked composed, as always, but there was something softer in his expression, somehow. I nodded.Together, we stepped forw
POPPY Before we could even make it to the infirmary, I was already pulled back. A familiar force wrapped around my waist, yanking me away from Sam and back against a solid chest. I gasped softly, startled, my balance faltering before I was steadied. “Mine.” My eyes widened at the sound of Jude’s voice. Jude’s arms were wrapped tightly around me, his grip firm enough to make it clear that he was not letting go anytime soon. I could feel the tension in his body, and when I turned my head to look at him, my breath got caught in the back of my throat. His eyes were glowing. They burned with a golden intensity that I had never seen before. It was the first time I had seen him like this. My heart pounded in my chest. “Jude…” I whispered. Sam, who had been leaning slightly on his feet just moments ago, straightened despite his injuries. His expression turned amused as he raised a brow at the scene in front of him. “Well, well,” he drawled, wiping the corner of his mouth where bl
POPPY My eyes widened.“How did you know?”Harmony’s smile widened as if she had been expecting that exact reaction from me.“It’s obvious,” she said easily. She gestured casually behind me toward the cabins. “You two came out of the same room together.”“Oh.”“And,” she continued, leaning slightly closer, “you smell like him a little bit.”My ears warmed.“I do?” I muttered, subtly checking my scent while looking around to see if others had noticed. She nodded with certainty. “It’s faint, but it’s there.”Then her eyes examined me more carefully, her expression hardening just slightly. “Although,” she added, tilting her head, “you’re not marked.”I instinctively touched the side of my neck.“That’s kind of a bad thing.”“Hm?”Harmony folded her arms loosely as she looked around the sparring field where dozens of Alphas were gathering. “There is a lot of testosterone here,” she said dryly.I couldn’t help but laugh softly at the way she phrased it.“When I used to come here unmated
INDY He talked about not liking sweetness, but he ended up eating most of what I had ordered anyway.“You ordered too much,” he said, standing up from the cafe table, already putting his laptop back into his bag. I raised a brow. “I ordered for myself.”“And yet I was forced to help you.” “Force
INDY It turned out there was absolutely nothing to cook in this place.I stood in the small but elegant kitchen, opening cabinet after cabinet, hoping to find something even remotely edible. But all I found were fancy-looking jars filled with things that looked more like decoration than food. Rom
INDY We didn’t talk all the way until we arrived at their mansion. He didn’t even have the opportunity to respond to my suggestion because the driver fetched us before he could say a word. After that, he didn’t talk at all during the ride, making it feel longer than it actually was. By the time w
INDY So, it’s already established that Clara is not the protagonist—but the villain of this story.The problem was… what was I supposed to do with that information?I sat on the edge of my bed, staring down at my hands. The gauze was long discarded, leaving a scar that was scabbing. The skin aroun







