Se connecterI straightened up. My heart was pounding. I looked around the room and for a single, disorienting moment, I had no idea where I was. The black stone walls, the red sky beyond the window, the dead air of this place—none of it felt right. None of it felt like mine. I felt like a man who had woken up m
Andrei’s POVThe collar of my shirt was pissing me off.I had fastened it twice already and it still insisted on sitting crooked, pulling too tight on the left side. I undid it a third time and redid it, slower, watching my hands in the mirror rather than my own face. My reflection had been botherin
Natalia’s POVHe didn’t hesitate.The moment I swung the rod toward him, his hand shot out and closed around my wrist like a vise. My arm wrenched sideways, and I felt the bones grind together under his grip, and the rod fell. It clattered somewhere on the stone floor, rolling away into the darkness
Andrei’s POVThe room was warm. The bed was soft and plush, the pillows made of feathers and velvet. Everything smelled familiar, the kind of scent that you recognize from a past life but can never put a finger on its source.Home.The woman was laying next to me, just as she always did. Amber hair
But I would do it, because the alternative was my children going through whatever came next, and that was not something I was willing to consider.I wasn’t certain yet. That was the only reason I was still trying so hard now. Because there was still a small part of me that thought that there must be
Natalia’s POVThey came for me after what felt like a full day. I say felt like because it really could have been any amount of time, or none at all. But someone did bring me some slop to eat at some point, so that had to have meant that at least a full cycle had passed.I was on my feet before the
NataliaThe next morning, I arrived bright and early at the arena after a quick breakfast. David promised to meet me there to begin my training, which I was so excited for that I could hardly even sleep the night before.We started with a series of stretches and poses designed to enhance my flexibil
“Celeste,” I said, stopping in front of her and deciding to cut straight to the chase, “I wanted to apologize. I’m sure Karl told you by now—”“Right. The kiss.” Celeste looked up at me, and I was taken aback when I didn’t see a look of contempt on her face, but rather a… smile? “It’s alright. I und
My words seemed to have struck a chord, because Lilith whipped her head around, wild eyes burning into me with an intensity that made my wolf’s hackles raise. She opened her mouth once, twice, three times. Then closed it a final time and seemed to hold herself back from saying something.“If you kno
That did make me laugh, actually laugh, and the sound felt foreign in my throat. When was the last time I’d laughed? Yesterday? A week ago? The days had started blurring together. It could have been years and I wouldn’t have known.“See?” Andrei said softly. “There’s my girl.”My laughter turned int







