INICIAR SESIÓNRider’s POVFew hours ago“She’s going into heat.”I did not look up from the papers spread across my desk when Raven said it, my eyes moving slowly over the words even though I had already read the same line three times.“I know,” I replied calmly.Raven frowned. “You know.”“Yes,” I said again. “The healer already told me.”“You didn’t think to mention it,” he asked, his voice tight, “or are you just pretending it doesn’t matter.”“It matters,” I said flatly. “It just doesn’t surprise me.”Raven took a step into the room. “She’s struggling.”“I’m aware,” I answered, still not looking at him.“That didn’t sound like awareness,” he said. “That sounded like indifference.”Before I could reply, the door swung open and Declan walked in, his shirt half unbuttoned, his hair messy, irritation written all over his face.“Tell me I’m not the only one feeling like my skin is on fire,” he said immediately. “Because if I am then I’m going to lose my mind.”Raven glanced at him. “You feel it too.
Bailey’s POV“Leila,” I whispered, my voice barely working, “Leila I need you.”My throat burned and my tongue felt thick and when I tried to open my eyes fully, the light hurt and I squeezed them shut again, groaning softly.“Leila,” I said again, louder this time, panic crawling up my chest. “Please.”The door opened quickly. “I’m here,” she said, rushing in. “Bailey you’re drenched.”“Don’t,” I said immediately, my voice breaking when her hand touched my arm. “Don’t touch me.”She froze. “What.”“I said don’t touch me,” I repeated, pulling away sharply. “Please.”Leila stared at me, confused and scared. “You’re burning up. You need help.”“I don’t want anyone touching me,” I said, my skin itching painfully where she had brushed me. “It feels wrong.”She hesitated. “I’ll call the healer.”“No,” I said too fast, my heart racing. “No healer.”“Bailey you’re shaking,” she insisted. “You can’t even sit properly.”“I know what this is,” I whispered. “And if the healer comes she’ll tell t
Bailey’s POVI keep my distance after that night, not because it is easy but because it feels necessary, like if I bend even a little everything ugly will rush back in, so I eat alone, I stay behind closed doors, I speak only to Leila and even then I choose my words carefully, because the house feels like it is listening.“I’m fine,” I tell her every morning when she asks, and at first it is true enough.Until it isn’t.I wake up one morning drenched in sweat, my head heavy and my skin burning, and when I push the blanket off me it feels like the air itself is warm, like my body is holding too much of something and does not know what to do with it.“Okay,” I whisper, sitting up slowly, “This is not normal.”I press my palm to my forehead and flinch, and my heart starts to race even though I do not feel weak or dizzy or sick the way sickness usually feels.“Leila,” I call, louder this time.She comes in quickly, already worried, and the moment she touches my arm her eyes widen.“You’re
Chapter 28Bailey’s POVBy the time dinner ends, I already know nothing useful is coming out of it, not answers, not honesty, not even a decent lie that tries hard enough, just silence stretched thin and polite voices pretending not to hear the questions breathing under the table, and when I excuse myself nobody stops me, which somehow hurts more than if they had.Back in my room, I close the door slowly and rest my forehead against it like I might leave an imprint, like the wood might absorb some of the noise inside my head, and I let out a breath I did not realize I had been holding since Raven pushed his chair back earlier.“This is ridiculous,” I whisper to myself, though there is no one to contradict me.I pace, then sit, then stand again, my thoughts chasing each other in circles that never quite connect, because every road leads back to the same wall, Declan watching me like he is guarding something, Rider watching me like I am something to be handled, Raven watching nothing at
Raven’s POVFive years agoI stood in front of the florist shop longer than I needed to, staring at the window like the flowers inside were going to judge me for buying them again, I know that if anyone saw me with the flowers, they would assume they were for my mate and not for my brother’s woman, which already made my chest feel tight.“You’re late today,” the florist said when I stepped inside.“I got held up,” I replied, even though it was a lie and I had only been standing outside arguing with myself.She smiled politely. “Same ones as usual.”“Yes,” I said quickly. “White and blue.”“For Hera,” she said casually.I stiffened but nodded. “Yes.”She wrapped the flowers carefully and I paid without looking at the total because I never did. Whatever it cost always felt cheaper compared to the way Hera smiles at me whenever I brought them to her.As I turned to leave, I caught sight of a familiar shape outside, a woman pulling her cloak tighter as she slipped into the narrow alley ac
Bailey’s POVI stayed in my room after Raven left, sitting on the edge of the bed with my feet on the floor, like if I stood up too fast I would chase after him and I refused to do that because I was tired of always being the one who bent first, tired of feeling like I had to shrink so people would explain things to me gently.“I didn’t even mean it like that,” I muttered to myself, staring at the wall. “I just asked.”The silence in the room pressed on me and my chest felt tight. I kept replaying the expression on his face when I said her name, the way something in him shut down so fast it scared me, and for a second I wondered if I had crossed some invisible line I was never meant to cross.But then my pride kicked in.“No,” I said out loud. “If I go after him now, he’ll think I’m apologizing for wanting answers.”I stood up and paced the room, then sat again, then stood again, restless like my body did not agree with my stubbornness.“He said I should ask,” I whispered. “So I asked
Bailey’s POV“I don’t understand why you’re all staring at each other like that,” I said, my voice already softer than I meant it to be, breath uneven, because the room felt different even before any of them touched me, and I could feel it in my skin, in the way my wolf was restless, pacing, pushin
Bailey’s POVI couldn’t stop replaying Raven’s words in my head even after breakfast was long over, every step I took beside him feeling careful, measured, like I was walking on something fragile and didn’t want to be the one to crack it, and the worst part was that I didn’t even know what I was af
Bailey’s POV“I was not being greedy,” I blurted out before my brain could catch up with my body, my face already hot, my voice already giving me away, and that was when Rider’s arm tightened around me just enough to make it impossible to pretend I was invisible.Declan didn’t even get to enjoy my
Bailey’s POVI didn’t know what to do with Raven standing there in front of me like that because I was used to Rider’s anger that filled a room and Declan’s jokes that never stopped flowing, but Raven was quiet, still and intense in a way that made my thoughts scatter instead of sharpening, and it







