LOGINIsla’s POV
Two weeks later, everything settled into a rhythm I didn’t expect.Grayson adjusted to my pace like he’d been molded for it, quiet when I needed silence, talkative when my head threatened to drown me.He wasn’t overbearing, not the type to hover or breathe down my neck. He just… existed in the right place at the right time, and that alone made the days softer.It helped that Liam spent most of his hours glued to Mia, sneaking off whenever he thought no one noticed.Killian, on the other hand, was swallowed by meetings, councils, negotiations and anything that kept him away from home until ungodly hours.And when he did come home, he was tired, dropping files on tables, muttering half formed sentences, barely looking at anyone.Thorne was buried in his own obsession, tracking the runaway heir of the Blackwood’s.Whether he was trying to drag the heir home or drag her to judgment, I didn’t bother tIsla’s POV All around us, the Blackwood pack was still bowing. Heads lowered and their knees pressed to the earth. I shifted my body, suddenly unsure where to put myself. My hands felt useless at my sides. My name, Alpha, still echoed in my head like it belonged to someone else.“You don’t look relieved,” Thorne said quietly, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “Most people would be celebrating right now.”“I don’t know how to celebrate something I didn’t ask for,” I replied. “Or something I don’t fully understand yet.”He nodded once, accepting that without argument. “That’s fair. But understand this, no one here expects perfection from you. Your presence alone is enough for them, for us.”I glanced at the kneeling crowd again. Some looked up briefly, curiosity and reverence mixed in their eyes, then bowed again like they were afraid to offend fate itself.“Stand up,” I said suddenly.It c
Liam’s POV I leaned against the side of the helicopter, arms folded, watching the guards move with practiced precision. Boxes locked. Weapons checked. No room for mistakes.Thorne’s voice carried too easily for a situation this loaded, and that alone made my jaw tighten.“Who knew I’d be heading back to my pack this early?” Thorne went on, grinning like this was some victory parade. “And with the great Alpha Killian himself.”Killian didn’t smile. He didn’t glare either. That was the problem. When he went quiet like that, it meant he was choosing control over instinct.Thorne turned slightly, adjusting his jacket. “Like I said earlier, it’s not really necessary you follow us,” he added casually. “She’s our Alpha now. I can guarantee her full safety.”I felt it then, the shift. In Killian.His shoulders squared. He turned to Thorne, eyes sharp, voice calm in a way that warned of violence better than shouting ever could.
Isla’s POV Silence swallowed the graveyard. My tears wouldn’t stop. They slid down my cheeks unchecked as I stared at the ring resting in Thorne’s open palm. It wasn’t just a ring. It felt old in a way time couldn’t explain. The symbols carved into it stirred something deep in me, something that hummed under my skin, as if the land itself knew it belonged to me.“I…” My voice cracked before the word could form. I lifted a hand to my mouth and shook my head. “I don’t even know who I am yet.”“You are a Blackwood,” Thorne said gently. No teasing. No arrogance. Just the truth. “By blood. By fate. By everything they tried to bury.”I felt Killian beside me before I saw him. His presence was solid, tense. I knew that look, his instincts were screaming, telling him to pull me back, to shield me from this weight being laid at my feet. This was destiny.I turned and saw Daphne on the ground, her eyes red, hollo
Liam’s POV I took the necklace from Killian slowly, like it might burn through my skin if I moved too fast. It felt heavier than it should, not by weight, but by meaning.“At what cost?” I asked, my eyes fixed on it. “What do you gain from this?”Calista tilted her head, lips curving into that familiar, unsettling smile. “Must there always be a price where I’m concerned?” she said lightly. “Your mother was my longtime friend. I’m willing to bring her back for you.”Her tone was playful, almost mocking, and it only made my grip tighten. Nothing about her generosity had ever come without blood.“Then tell me,” I said, lifting my gaze to hers, “what stopped you all these years? Why couldn’t you bring her back before now?”She laughed softly. “I haven’t seen that necklace in years, darling. How exactly did you expect me to perform a resurrection without it?”I looked down at the chain resting in my palm.And f
Liam’s POVCalista laughed, a short, hollow sound that didn’t carry any warmth. She turned away from Daphne and faced the tomb instead, resting her palm on the cold stone as if it were the only thing there that understood her.“You ask questions like a child who thinks answers are owed,” she said calmly. “Blood doesn’t make a mother. Survival does.”Daphne stepped closer, shaking her head. “Stop talking in riddles. I deserve the truth.”Thorne shifted beside me. I felt it, the way his body went rigid, the way his jaw locked as if every word Calista spoke was a test he was trying not to fail.“She deserves it,” Thorne said quietly. “Whatever you think you’re protecting, it’s already broken.”Calista turned then, slowly, her eyes finding Thorne’s face. For a brief moment, something unreadable passed between them. Recognition, maybe. Or regret.“You look too much like him,” she said. “That alone tells me you are exactly who you claim to be.”My chest tightened.Killian took a step forwar
Liam’s POV Sleep never came. I lay there the entire night, staring into nothing, counting thoughts instead of hours. We were supposed to meet Calista, and the idea of seeing her again sat in my chest like unfinished business. I didn’t just want answers from her, I wanted blood. If Daphne truly was what Thorne believed she was, and Calista had carried that truth in silence all these years, then she’d made her choice long ago. I wouldn’t hesitate to make mine.A loud knock shattered the quiet.“Wait up, hot headed Beta!” Thorne’s voice followed, sharp and relentless, his fist banging against my door like he owned the place.I groaned, dragged the duvet off my body, and sat up. “Give me just five minutes,” I called back. “Five. Not a second less.”We’d been living under the same roof for a while now, by circumstance, not by agreement. Endless arguments, complaining about foods I poured my whole talent into making, clashing tempers, doors slammed more times than I could count. Still,







