ВойтиGinnie **The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was how soft everything felt, and for a moment, I thought I was dreaming.My body sank into a mattress so smooth and warm it felt unreal, nothing like the wicked rocks that I remembered crashing against. I blinked slowly, trying to get a clear vision of where I was as I stared up at a high ceiling decorated with gold patterns that gleamed faintly in the morning light.“What the—!”This was not the forest.I pushed myself upright too fast, pain exploding through my skull so sharply that a cry escaped my lips, forcing my head to drop back against the pillows. I shut my eyes and forced myself to breathe until the dizziness passed, and by the time I opened them again, I looked around properly.The room was large…too large for a human being to stay in. A polished fireplace burned quietly near the far wall, filling the air with warmth, followed by expensive wooden furniture that lined across the room, each piece carved with detail s
Ginnie**Varkos’s last words kept ringing in my ears over and over again like a death knell, each one sharper than the last. I stumbled through the dark corridors of the underground tunnel, my body aching everywhere from the fight with Kenna, my hands still bleeding from the broken glass I’d used to free myself. But none of that pain compared to the one tearing through my chest when Varkos told me to get out of his life and never come back. After I had finally told him the truth about Lily—he looked me in the eyes and said he never wanted to see my face again.He had no fucking right to judge me!Everything!Every single thing I went through all these years was because of him!“I fucking hate you, Varkos!” The words ripped out of me before I could realize. “I regret that night I met you six years ago…I wish I had never met you!”“Fuckkkkk!!!” The curse sounds tore out of me, echoing through the underground tunnel. “My baby… I’m so sorry…oh god!”I didn’t even know where I was going,
Varkos**I stood there, still covered in Maria’s blood. For a second, Ginnie’s words didn’t register with me; it felt distant, muffled, as if I were underwater. “Varko…talk to me. What happened?!” Ginnie barked, taking one shaky step forward, her gaze still locked on Lily.Something inside me snapped.The grief, the rage, the guilt — everything I had been holding back since I woke up chained to that chair, erupted like a volcano.“You want to know what happened?” My voice started low and dangerous, then grew loud, echoing through the dark room. “You happened, Ginnie!”She flinched as if I had slapped her. “W..what are you talking about?”“You hid her from me for six fucking years!” The words exploded out of me, raw and ugly as I took a step toward her, my hands shaking with barely contained rage. “My daughter! My own blood! You let me live in the dark while you raised her alone, telling her I was dead. You were selfish, Ginnie! You were so afraid I would take Lily from you…and now yo
Varkos**“Lily… please wake up.”My voice cracked as I cradled her tiny, motionless body against my chest. Glass shards cut into my knees, but I barely felt them, not even the wolfsbane gas that still lingered in the air, burning my lungs, but all I could focus on was her pale face.“Lily, open your eyes, sweetheart. Come on… please wake up for me.”Still nothing.Not even a single motion of movement from Lily to show that she was conscious. Her dark curls were wet and plastered to her forehead, and her lips were already beginning to turn into a terrifying shade of blue. Her small chest remained completely still.“Lily!” I barked, my voice thundering through the dark room, desperation bleeding into every syllable. “Wake up! It’s me…Mister Varkos. I’m here with you. I’m right here!”For the first time in my life, the cold-hearted and ruthless Alpha of Bleeding Rose felt himself breaking from the inside. Tears I had never allowed myself to shed before began to burn hot behind my eyes, t
Varkos**Lily was dying.“Mister Varkos!” Her tiny voice echoed through the thick chamber glass, raw and trembling. “Mister! Please help! It’s burning….Please!”The greenish wolfsbane gas had risen past her waist and was climbing fast—almost to her neck now. Her small hands kept pounding weakly against the chamber glass, leaving bloody smudges. Her dark curls fell to her tear-streaked face, and she was coughing violently, her tiny body shaking as the poison filled her lungs.“Looks like you’ll never make it in time, Alpha.” Maria’s voice cut through the tension, her voice dripping with pure venom. “How does it feel? Knowing your precious halfling daughter is about to drown in the same poison that you used to kill the man I loved? Huh?”“Shut the fuck up!!” Rage and terror twisted together inside me until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. I roared, struggling with every ounce of my last strength against the chains binding my wrists to the heavy wooden chair. The m
Ginnie**Kenna’s fingers tightened around my throat like iron bands, crushing every single airway in my lungs as I gasped, clawing uselessly at her wrist, my nails scraping against her skin but doing nothing. My back slammed painfully into the stone-cold wall as she pinned me there, her face inches from mine.“You’re so fucking pathetic,” she spat. “So…you really thought you could fight me? A weak little human who spreads her legs for power? You took everything from me and now…now I’m going to enjoy taking it back!”She slammed me against the wall again, my head cracking against the stone wall so brutally that the sheer force sent stars bursting behind my eyes. LilyVarkosI had to get to them. I couldn’t die here…not like thisWith the last of my strength, I brought my knee up, slamming it hard between her legs. Kenna stumbled back a step, but the blow barely did anything to stop her. She was Lycan — stronger, faster, deadlier. My human body was nothing against hers.“You bitch!” s
Ginnie**Every eye in the hall was already on me as I stepped forward, my legs betraying me in the worst possible way.Six years.Six years since I’d sworn I would never do this again, that I had buried this version of myself so deep that for a while I almost convinced myself that Ginnie Thorne was
Ginnie**CRACK!The sound exploded through the kitchen before the pain did. My head snapped to the side, vision turning white as uncontrollable pain bloomed across my cheek.For a moment, the only taste that filled my mouth was the sharp taste of blood as I staggered back, my fingers gripping the c
Ginnie**Kenna rose first.The scrape of her chair against the stone floor cut through the hum of conversations in the dinner hall, loud enough that the entire hall slowly fell silent. All eyes turned to her as she stood beside Varkos, radiant in an expensive red silk dress that clung to her body
Ginnie**“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Varkos’s voice sliced through the hallway like a blade.Shit!For half a second, I considered running away before he could get to me, letting instinct take over—but then Lily stirred in my arms, her small fingers tightening around my shoulder, an







