MasukIrene's POVThe war room felt smaller with everyone crowded inside.Elders filled the seats around the main table. Maps and diagrams spread across every surface. The smell of blood and smoke still lingered on our clothes from the battle hours before.We had won the skirmish. But winning a battle wasn't the same as winning a war.
Karson's POVThe scratches on her arm weren't deep.But they were there. Red lines carved into her skin. Evidence of a fight that could have gone differently. Evidence of my failure.I watched her apply the ointment. Her movements efficient. Practiced. She didn't wince at the sting. Didn't hesitate or fumble.
Irene's POVThe battlefield was still settling when Karson appeared at my side.He moved fast despite his injured leg. Limping across the blood-soaked ground like the wound didn't exist. Like nothing mattered except reaching me."Irene." His voice was rough. Breathless. "Are you hurt? Did they—"
Irene's POVLexie was broken beneath me.Bleeding. Whimpering. Defeated.I shifted back to human form. Stood over her crumpled body. Ready to end this once and for all."It's over, Lexie." My voice came out cold. Flat. "You've lost."
Irene's POVMidnight came slowly.I waited in the shadows near the depot. My body tense. My senses stretched to their limits. Every rustle of leaves. Every whisper of wind. Every distant owl call amplified in the darkness.The children were hidden safely behind the main building. Far from the trap zone. Close enough to alert us if their sharp noses detected anything unusual.
Irene's POVThe trap needed bait.Good bait. The kind that would make Lexie abandon caution entirely. The kind that would draw her in like a moth to flame.I knew exactly what that bait needed to be.Me.
IRENE My ears rang at her words, jaw hung loose as I stared with my heart palpating in my chest. She was shivering, hugging her arms as the forbidden words spilled from her mouth. No one blinked. No one moved a muscle. The fear in her voice worsened the tension in the room and in her eyes, I saw
IRENEI felt stupid as he explained. Not just because my ass with his hand print was still in the air, but because of how I had acted.He didn't cheat. He did nothing wrong.That hurt more than any spanking.“Where did you sleep last night?” I
IRENE
“Ugh!” Lexie groaned, throwing a pillow across the room before kicking over a chair. She tangled her hands in her hair, pulling hard as if to punish herself for the news she'd just heard.This was the third time this week she had torn her room apart in frustration







