MasukVincent POVI went to pick her up early.The morning air was cool, the kind that kept a werewolf alert without stirring the instincts too sharply. I told myself it was just another outing for the children, another obligation I had agreed to and nothing more. That was the line I held onto as I parked outside her place and waited.
Adeline POVI noticed the uncanny resemblance watching them stand side by side.Myra stood near the path, dressed with careful attention, her hair neatly arranged, her clothes chosen with a child’s earnest desire to look her best. She looked delicate and bright at the same time, her young werewolf scent clean and steady. The twins hovered close to her, calme
Adeline POVIt pressed against the edges of my consciousness, restless and sharp, feeding on the surge of anger still burning through my veins. Its voice was no longer a whisper. It was insistent, predatory, certain of its own logic.She will ruin everything. End her now.“No,” I said aloud.The word left my mouth with force, echoing through the lab. I planted my feet and drew a steady breath, bracing myself as I pushed back against the spirit with sheer will.“You do not decide this,” I said, my voice low and unyielding to her. “You do not touch her.”The resistance triggered a backlash. Magic roared through me, no longer flowing in its usual disciplined channels. It surged outward, wild and uncontained. Before I could pull it back, the glassware on the central table exploded.The sound was deafening. Beakers shattered into a thousand shards. Vials burst, their contents vaporizing in the air. The reinforced glass panels lining the walls cracked instantly, spiderweb fractures racing a
Adeline POVThe lab had been silent when I arrived that morning, the kind of silence that usually meant safety. I had designed it that way with layers of wards and scent locks keyed only to my blood. It was almost impossible for any unauthorized entry to enter without leaving a trace. This was the security measures I had put since the incident with the new doctor and nothing had slipped past unnoticed.That morning, something was wrong. I knew it before I saw the data logs. It was something about the air and how different it smelled. Someone had moved through the lab during my absence, with knowledge of how it functioned. I walked to the central table and checked the containment seals on the herbal compounds I had prepared the night before. Two were intact but one of them was not.I did not touch it immediately. I straightened, breathed slowly, and scanned the room with my senses fully open. Witch perception came first, then the deeper awareness tied to my wolf spirit. There was no li
Adeline POVThe twins tugged at my sleeves the moment we stepped a few paces away from the park entrance. Their young wolf instincts were fully awake now that the confrontation had passed. I could see it in the way their pupils brightened and their ears twitched ever so slightly beneath their human forms. They stood in front of me with identical expressions of hope and determination.
Adeline POVThe park was busy as usual when we arrived. Vincent had chosen the open space near the riverbank, probably because it gave his daughter enough room to be free without disturbing the civilians nearby. The twins stayed close to me as we crossed the grass. I kept my palm around the herbs and released a faint, steady stream of witch aura
Adeline’s POVI’d been waiting for the right moment to move, but patience was starting to taste like ash in my mouth.That morning, I’d wrestled Elijah into a neat shirt he swore felt like “sandpaper” and tied Caleb’s shoelaces three times before he finally left them alone. They’d dashed toward the
Adeline’s POVI barely had time to set down the teacup before Caleb burst into the room, Elijah close on his heels, both wearing matching grins that always meant trouble or news. Caleb clutched a thin, cream-colored envelope like it might vanish if he let go.“Our teacher said we have to give this
Elijah & Caleb’s POVThe second his eyes looked at us, it felt like the whole air turned cold, like when the fire goes out too fast. Elijah straightened up quickly, his book squished tight against his chest. I copied him, even though my fingers really wanted to grab his hand. The King did say hello
Adeline's POVI opened the door and there she was.Tall. Immaculate. Beautiful in that cold, sculpted way only wolves born of power could be. Draped in a gown of silken ivory, hair cascading like molten gold, her painted lips curved in feigned sweetness. The woman, every whisper in the tribe named







