LOGINKillian's POV
“Go ahead, Isla,” I said, my voice carrying the edge I hadn’t used in months, not even when I was getting angry at Liam.This wasn't just angriness, fear wasn't far from me.The softness she’d seen earlier was gone. I wasn’t her companion now, I was the Alpha my people whispered about in fear.She froze, her eyes darting between me and Calista. Her hand shook as she finally placed it back into mine, the same hand she had refused minutes ago.I felt the tension in her grip, the hesitation, and I had to fight the instinct in me not to unleash what I’d been holding back at Calista. This wasn't Isla's fault.Calista’s lips curled, sharp and venomous. “Perhaps she should stay,” she said, voice like broken glass dragged over stone. “Let her hear of the filth you’ve buried. The treacheries. The blood you hide under your name. You bastard.” She spat the last word, her body trembling with a rage that didn’t look staged.Isla’s POV For a moment, no one spoke.The compass didn’t just twitch, it settled, the needle locking into place. Thorne’s grip tightened around the object, his thumb brushing the rim as if to be sure it wasn’t playing tricks on him. Daphne stared at her finger, then at the compass, then back at Thorne, disbelief written plainly across her face.“That’s impossible,” she said. “I’m not from your damned pack.”Thorne didn’t answer her right away. His attention was fixed on the needle, his jaw clenched so tightly a vein stood out along his neck. “Blood doesn’t lie,” he said at last. “Names do. Records do. People do. But trust me, blood doesn’t.”Killian stepped forward, placing himself half a step between Thorne and Daphne. “You said the heir was lost,” he said. “Not living comfortably under another name.”“Lost doesn’t always mean living wretchedly or dead,” Thorne replied. “Sometimes it means hidden. Some
Isla’s POV We pulled up in front of Daphne’s house with a shared, unspoken understanding that something wasn’t right. No one said it aloud, but it sat between us inevitably. We stepped out together, moving toward the gate with purpose, not urgency. Whatever Thorne was tangled in, it wasn’t something brute force could fix. If he was trapped inside some illusion, then charging in blind would only make it worse. The goal wasn’t confrontation, it was to pull him back, to shake him loose from whatever had wrapped itself around his mind.Then we saw him.Thorne stood just beyond the gate, motionless, his posture stiff, his gaze fixed straight ahead. He looked present, yet not fully here, like someone caught between waking and dreaming. He didn’t acknowledge our arrival. He didn’t move forward. He didn’t retreat.He just stood there, right at the threshold, as if he couldn’t enter without our permission.
Isla’s POV I was awake before the alarm even had a chance to go off, my body stirring on its own as if it already knew sleep would be pointless. Curiosity sat heavy on my chest, louder than any ringing clock could have been. No matter how hard I tried to lie still, my thoughts kept circling back to one thing, replaying Thorne’s words over and over until they felt carved into my mind.I rolled onto my side, staring ahead, unable to shake the urge pulling at me. Whoever this daughter was, whoever Thorne claimed to have found, must be me.The night before hadn’t offered answers, only questions, and they followed me into the early hours, refusing to loosen their grip.By the time I finally sat up, fully awake, there was no trace of sleep left in me. I wasn’t tired. I wasn’t calm. I was waiting. Waiting to see the truth he spoke of, waiting to see the daughter Thorne said he found.“Are you curious if it's you?” Killian as
Isla’s POV Killian came back without warning, jacket already half off, sleeves rolled like he’d peeled himself out of the world just to get back to me. I was still pretending to be annoyed when he stopped in front of me, eyes dragging over me slowly, like he was cataloguing proof that I was real and still here.“You’re smiling,” he said.“I’m not.”He reached out anyway, hooked a finger under my chin, tipped my face up just enough to make lying pointless. “You do this thing when you’re pretending you’re mad. Right here.” His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth. “It gives you away every time.”I swatted his hand. He caught my wrist easily, tugged me forward, and suddenly I was against him, my palms flat on his chest, feeling the steady certainty of him beneath my hands.“You disappeared,” I said.“I came back,” he replied, immediate, firm, like that was the only part that mattered.He leaned his foreh
Liam’s POV After what felt like forever trapped inside the car, watching time crawl instead of move, I finally saw the front door open. Daphne stepped out first, keys already in hand, Tasha close behind her, laughing about something I couldn’t hear. Mia followed last.They moved together toward Daphne’s car. I stayed where I was, engine off, watching. Daphne unlocked the doors, Tasha slid into the passenger seat, and Mia leaned in through the window to say something that made them both grin.Then the doors shut, the engine came alive, and the car rolled down the street.Mia stood there alone.I waited until the car disappeared completely, until the street returned to stillness, before opening my door. I stepped out slowly, dipping my hand into my jacket out of habit more than intention, and walked toward her.She turned when she heard my footsteps.“I hope I’m not the one stopping you from going out with them,
Liam’s POV My phone started buzzing nonstop on the nightstand, dragging me out of whatever half-sleep I’d slipped into. I grabbed it without checking the caller, ready to snap at whoever thought it was a good idea to call me at whatever hour this was.But the moment I saw her name on the screen, every trace of irritation died. She has no business with me unless Killian needs me.She didn’t waste time on greetings.“Killian needs you now. At the training ground.”Her tone alone told me it wasn’t optional. The line cut before I could ask anything.I sat up fully, rubbing my face as the weight of it settled. Killian didn’t call for me these days unless something was wrong, seriously wrong. And if she was the one delivering the message, then whatever pushed him to summon me was no small thing.I grabbed a shirt, decided against wearing it, and left my room with my pulse picking up for reasons I coul







