Mag-log in“Is there anything wrong with believing in soulmates?” Fitch’s voice was calm.
Ada snorted. “Of course not. It’s just the way you practice that belief… rather unique. Sleeping with every girl in town. Living on one-night stands.”
Fitch suddenly tightened his grip on my hand, so hard it made me suck in a breath.
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Within just a few hours,I kissed Ethan.And I kissed Fitch.The truth clings to me like dirty water dried on skin—sticky, sour, impossible to wash away no matter how many times I try to scrub it clean.I’ve never been that kind of person.I’ve never been the girl who holds two hands at once while pretending innocence. The kind who stands between two hearts and calls it confusion, as if that word can excuse everything.But now—that’s exactly who I am.And the most ironic part of all is that neither of them knows.They both have flaws.They both have pride.They both make mistakes like any other person.
I close my eyes.The pain doesn’t fade.It doesn’t even soften.It hooks deep inside my chest like a barbed iron claw, dragging something raw out of me inch by inch. It tears downward through my ribs, through my abdomen, along my spine, burning all the way to my toes.And yet—I’m still running.I know I am.My paws strike the earth in relentless rhythm. Muscles coil and release with practiced strength. The wind slices past my ears like cold blades.But my mind is splitting apart.Sarah.She is betraying the mate bond.This isn&rsq
I know I’m selfish.I’ve known it for a long time now.Last night, I shouldn’t have left Sarah the way I did.She was standing there, right in front of me, her eyes filled with something raw and fragile—longing, dependence, and a kind of pain she could barely hide no matter how hard she tried. And yet I still slipped out through her window like a coward retreating from the battlefield.Like a deserter.But I had to leave.My father was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. The pack was waiting for orders. And only hours earlier, I had stood in front of them all and been crowned Alpha.Not symbolically.Not ceremonially.
I sighed.The whole house had gone quiet.My parents’ lights went out first. Then, from the far end of the hallway, came the sound of Cody’s bedroom door closing. After that, the light in Ethan’s guest room disappeared as well. One by one, everyone naturally surrendered to the night.Everyone except me.I had slept until sunset, and now it was nearly one in the morning. Instead of being tired, my mind felt painfully awake—like some nocturnal creature living on an opposite schedule from the rest of the household.I leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling, my heartbeat a little too fast.My phone screen lit up.Missed calls—Mom. Cody. Many of them.
For that minute, I stood at the center of the stage.Applause, shouts, vows, blood, and glory intertwined like a ritual written by fate long ago. I had waited for this moment for too long—so long that I had almost begun to believe it would never come.I was Alpha.Not the future heir. Not a candidate. Not the one people expected to become Alpha someday.But now.The crowd lowered their heads and bowed. The air was thick with obedience, reverence, and something heavier, something invisible.Responsibility.From this moment on, these people—their lives, their safety, their hunger and fear—rested on my shoulders.My pack.
I slowly opened my eyes and blinked several times, chasing away the last traces of sleep.My face was still buried in the pillow, and that scent curled around me again—clean, warm, carrying a hint of forest night.Fitch.I knew perfectly well it was impossible, yet I still allowed myself to sink into it. The smell relaxed me like some conditioned reflex. Maybe it was only my brain trying to comfort itself. Maybe it was just memory lingering in the air. Whatever it was, it had been enough to lull me to sleep.I had only meant to nap for a few hours. Sleep had always been the most effective way for me to deal with anxiety. But apparently, I had “over-treated” myself.When I glanced at the blinds, orange light seeped through the slats. For a moment, I couldn
The phone vibrated for the third time.I buried my face violently into the pillow—Fitch’s pillow. It still held the faint imprint of his head, still breathed out the scent of him: sunlight tangled in hair, pine and leaves crushed underfoot, something clean and alive like a forest warmed by morning.
Fitch staggered backward, almost losing his balance, as if my words had taken on physical form and struck him square in the chest.The color drained from his face so completely it was startling. In the space of a heartbeat, he went
“Mark me.”The words slipped past my lips before I was fully aware of them—light as a feather falling to the ground, yet in his eyes they sparked a wildfire.Fitch froze. His face was so close to mine that I could see my own shrunken reflection in his dark pupils, could see the subtle swallow as hi
The air in the classroom froze solid.I could almostseethe energy now—like a golden, warm string suddenly pulled taut between Alex and the small figure at the doorway. Every whisper, every rustle of turning pages,







