로그인The ride is eerily quiet. Kai absentmindedly stares out the window at the familiar landscape. The routes he’s taken before are like old wounds—recognizable, dull in places, but sharp when he least expects it. He remembers driving these roads when he was younger, when the world around him was different.It was alive.Now, he watches ruin after ruin slip past the glass: buildings stripped down to their frames, storefronts boarded up or abandoned entirely, nature already taking back its territory—weeds breaking through concrete and vines climbing what used to be walls. Swathes of land that should be filled with homes and bustling markets are empty. Hollowed out.His uncle had longed for this day, believed in it until his last moments.Kai clenches his jaw.His mother is somewhere—or nowhere. He still can’t tell which, and that uncertainty inflicts its own slow damage on him.He pushes away the thought that his father might have harmed her. He refuses to jump to conclusions until he can
Kai's chamber is quiet when they arrive. Two servants are near the far wall, folding linens, but Kai barely glances at them."Out."They leave before the door clicks shut. Jackson stands in the center of the room, arms crossed, observing Kai as he approaches the wardrobe with stillness.He has been holding his emotions back for two hours and is now deciding how much to let it show.Kai begins to unbutton his shirt."You could have told me," Jackson says. "I could have.""But you didn't."Jackson's jaw tightens. "Again, I'm always the last to know. I walk into that council room and find out along with everyone else that we're packing up and leaving—Elias is taking over." He shakes his head. "You never discuss anything with me before you act.""Because this way is better." Kai slips his shirt off one shoulder. "Better for whom?" "For everyone. The fewer people who know in advance, the smoother the execution.""That's not leadership, Kai. That's control." Jackson steps closer. "And yo
By the time Elias, Eliana, and Kai are done, the little hut feels smaller than it did an hour ago.Ivy stands in the middle of the room, her arms crossed tight over her chest, her jaw aggressively chewing at nothing.They told her everything.The pack she never knew existed. The massacre — names, faces, fire. The fact that she wasn't born into an ordinary quiet life but dragged out of a burning one. And Kai's visit to her parents before the surprise this morning, the conversation that happened behind her back while she slept in his arms thinking, foolishly, that she knew the shape of her own life.All eyes are on her as Ivy stops pacing."How come," she breathes through her nose, "none of you told me anything?"Elias moves the small side chair out of his way and rises to his full height."Ivy—""You ran, Dad."Her voice shakes on the last word due to anger that has nowhere left to go."You left your entire pack. Your people. You saved your own head and called it protection."Her eyes
Hours later, Ivy is almost nearly passing out from exhaustion when Kai kisses her."It's time," he whispers into her ear.Stretching and wincing from the ache emitting from parts of her, "time for what?" she asks."You'll see."Ivy tries to sit properly as she bounces on something but her head hits something and her pussy hurts from the sudden intense movement."Ouch! What was—" her words die in her throat as the bouncing gets more intense and she looks around.Somehow, she's in a car, sitting next to Kai who holds her dearly, a blanket wrapping her body.She's also dressed in a comfy jeans and top."First of all," she shifts back to be able to see Kai's face, which is barely helping since it's pitch black. "Where are we? How did we get here? How am I in clothes?" She asks all at once.Kai's lips curve."We're in a car.""I can see that.""I carried you out after you fell asleep. Cleaned you up and changed your clothes."Ivy blinks."And I didn't wake up?""You were knocked out from e
She doesn't take a breath when Kai is on her. His mouth covers hers, and Ivy melts into the kiss, sliding her tongue along his, holding his body against hers.“Kai, I...I can explain,” she stammers, but he shakes his head.“Shh,” he breathes, and Ivy nods, kissing him again.His gaze drifts over her face, taking in every detail as though he's been gone for months instead of hours. The intensity of it makes her stomach tighten.He edges her toward the bed, laying her down on the mattress. He kisses her feverishly, like he can’t get enough, like the simple connection of his mouth with hers isn’t nearly enough, and it isn’t.He unzips her sheer white dress and slips her shoulders out, his mouth never leaving hers.Kai kisses down Ivy’s neck, over her collarbone, then releases her breast and laps at the hardened peak.She moans at the pleasure his tongue strokes through her. Her fingers dig into his biceps as he teases her, tugging at the nipple, his fingers toying with the other one as h
Ivy is filled with so much guilt. She tosses and turns in her room, pressing her face into the pillow in a bid to smother the memory. It's no use."I'm not even Kai's girlfriend in any traditional sense. I'm still untangling what mate means in a world where wolves are real," she says to herself.Frida's hands. Jackson's mouth. The warmth of it all sitting so wrong in her chest now, curdled into regret.She sits up, dragging the duvet to her collarbone, hugging it."Way to go, Ivy." She smacks her own forehead. "Fucking the brother and his Beta. Making out with the sister." She exhales through her teeth. "Who does that?""You do, apparently," a voice says.Ivy freezes.The words flash through her mind so quickly that she almost misses them.She turns around anyway."Who said that?"Her voice echoes in the darkness, but it returns empty.No one answers. No footsteps, no movement—nothing at all.Ivy stands still, listening until the silence starts to ring in her ears."Did I just..."Th
Ivy's temperament spikes. Power rushes through her body, as if she suddenly realizes she is connected to a live power grid all along. She grips the edge of the massive dining table with one hand and flips it over. The three-hundred-pound oak table flies across the room and crashes into the wall. Wo
She gasps as it takes over her. It's not painful or frightening. It’s just... overwhelming. Like being in warm water. As if every cell in her body is awakening for the first time.The desire filling the room no longer belongs to them; it’s hers now—pure, undeniable, intoxicating.She straightens sl
Two weeks ago, Kai fought this with everything he had.He ran from her. Battled Valor's demands. But the more he struggled, the deeper he sank. He even shot at her just for fun.Tonight?Tonight he surrenders.Not just him. Jackson too.Where's the logical Jackson who reminded Kai about his purpose
One girl can spark change. Ivy demonstrates this in just seven days. She slips into their lives, slowly at first—just a smile here, a laugh there, and a persistent reminder that life doesn't have to be all about war and waiting. Then, more quickly, she spreads through the group until even the most







