LOGINThe moment the healer placed the final vial under the soft moonlight, the energy inside me reacted instantly, a sharp surge that made me gasp and press against Derek. He leaned close, lips brushing my temple as his hand slid over my waist, steadying me. Jax was behind me, chest against my back, his arms locking around mine like a shield, heat and scent mingling with mine, and the pulse inside me throbbed hard against both their touch.“I can’t lie,” the healer said, voice tight, eyes wide as they traced the glowing lines forming in the vial. “It’s… it’s alive, more than normal. There’s life, yes, but it’s layered… energy, Alpha, Omega… something else I can’t name yet.”My stomach clenched, heart racing. The life inside me responded instantly, coiling tight with instinct and curiosity, and I felt Derek stiffen, jaw tight. He pressed his mouth to my shoulder briefly, teeth grazing lightly, as if claiming both me and the life that stirred within. “It’s ours,” he murmured, low and possess
The healer’s hands were firm but gentle as they guided me onto the stone table, their eyes flicking toward Derek and Jax constantly. I didn’t flinch, though every instinct hummed inside me, alert, tense, and ready. Derek’s hand pressed against my thigh beneath the edge of the cloth, grounding me, and Jax hovered close enough to feel my warmth through his fingers. My body was alive with tension and anticipation, the pulse inside me echoing with every breath.When the first needle touched my skin, I flinched slightly, and Derek’s lips brushed my temple. “Breathe with me,” he murmured, his hand sliding over my hip to cup my stomach just lightly. Jax pressed his chest to my back, arms bracketing me so I couldn’t move away, and the closeness sent a shiver of both fear and longing through me. The pulse inside me reacted instantly, a tiny surge that made both men stiffen instinctively.The blood flowed into the vial, glowing faintly as if catching moonlight from nowhere. The healer’s eyes wi
I moved through the pack silently, keeping my thoughts tight and unreadable, though a low tension hummed through me. Every instinct told me something was shifting, something deeper than before. Derek stayed close, his hand brushing my hip now and then, grounding me even when I refused to admit the unease twisting in my chest. Jax shadowed me, silent, restless, his eyes scanning the periphery, always alert.The moment we entered the training grounds, my pulse jumped. Wolves paused mid-step, sensing the subtle energy radiating from me, bowing instinctively or averting their eyes. I pressed a hand to my stomach, feeling the faint stir again, and caught the shared glance between Derek and Jax. Their worry mirrored my own, though neither spoke it aloud.“You hiding something?” Derek murmured, his voice low against my ear as he brushed my hair aside. His fingers trailed along my jawline, a touch that made my skin burn. I shook my head, forcing a small smile. Jax’s hand slid over my shoulder
The morning light slipped through the windows, casting pale gold across the room, but I barely noticed. My body felt restless, as if something inside had started moving on its own. I pressed a hand to my stomach, feeling the faintest stir, a flutter that made my pulse spike. Derek and Jax were near, always near, their presence a tether to the strange energy that pulsed through me.“I feel it again,” I whispered, barely audible, though both of them turned immediately. Derek’s eyes darkened with concern, and Jax stepped closer, his hand brushing my arm with a light, grounding pressure. The hum inside me had started low, almost imperceptible, but now it rose, wrapping around my ribs and settling across my shoulders.Jax studied me silently, his lips pressed into a thin line, and I could feel the tension in him. “Your scent,” he said finally, voice low, “it’s changing.” My breath hitched as he traced the air around me with subtle movements, his wolf instincts reading what I could not yet
The hall was full, but the noise seemed to drain away the moment I stepped inside, leaving only a silence that felt heavy and aware, as if the walls themselves were watching me. I moved slowly, letting my eyes sweep over the pack gathered before me, and I noticed something impossible: their postures shifted subtly, instinctively, almost without thought, and every wolf lowered their head or adjusted their shoulders in a gesture that went deeper than respect or fear. I did nothing to command them, yet their bodies obeyed something they could not name, and my chest tightened in response to the hum that had begun inside me, a low vibration that settled under my ribs and throbbed through my core.Derek was already there, standing at the edge of the hall, still but alert, his eyes sharp and measuring as if he could feel the shift I could barely understand myself. Jax leaned against the wall, relaxed at first, but the instant I moved again, he straightened, his gaze following me, his muscles
The wind carried their scent far before they even reached the open ground, and it was not just a normal scent anymore, not something simple or easy to name, because it moved in layers, Alpha and something deeper, something older, something that did not belong to one body alone, and as Raya stepped forward with Derek and Jax at her sides, the land itself seemed to hold its breath.They chose the highest ground in Montenegro, not for pride but for truth, because there was nowhere higher to stand and nowhere left to hide, and if the world was watching, then it would watch clearly.Below them, wolves had already gathered, not just their pack but others who had traveled through the night, drawn by something they could not explain, and even those who stayed far back still faced the same direction, still watched with quiet attention that felt almost like reverence.Raya felt all of it, every gaze, every breath, every shift of instinct, and instead of fear, there was something else inside her
The night did not end when Drail fell to his knees.It split open.I stood between Derek and Jax in the ruined chamber while the pack’s howls carried across the hills. Smoke drifted through broken stone. Blood soaked into ancient floors. The war that had been whispering at our backs was no longer a
The first explosion shook dust from the ceiling.It fell into my hair, into my mouth, mixing with the copper taste of blood. The chains around my wrists rattled as the walls trembled again. This time harder.They were here.I felt Derek before I heard him. His rage was cold and sharp, controlled li
We walked back into the estate before dawn.The smoke had thinned, but the scent of blood still clung to the stone. Wolves moved quietly through the courtyard, clearing debris, tending to the wounded, counting the dead. No one celebrated. A siege leaves no room for pride.They looked at me differen
I felt the weight of it before I saw her, the faint tremor in the air, the hesitation in the pack around me. Lyra. She wasn’t just a shadow in my peripheral vision; she was a storm waiting to break, a mirror warped by someone else’s hands. The moment our eyes met, I felt a cold shiver run down my







