LOGIN*Naomi*The howl echoes through the trees, bouncing off trunks until it seems to come from everywhere at once."Drive faster," Bella whispers."I'm trying."The road narrows ahead, branches scraping the sides of the car like claws. The GPS is still dead—just a black screen reflecting my own pale face back at me.Another howl. Closer.Bella makes a small, terrified sound."It's probably just—" I start.Something darts across the road.I slam the brakes.The car skids, tires losing grip on the loose gravel. We spin—half a rotation, maybe more—and then the world tilts as the front wheel catches the edge of a ditch.Metal screams. Glass cracks.We jerk to a stop, the car tilted at a sick angle, my seatbelt cutting into my chest.Silence.Then Bella's voice, shaking: "Nay? Naomi, are you—""I'm okay." I fumble with the seatbelt, hands trembling. "You?""I think so. I think—"A shadow passes the window.We both freeze.It's there and gone in a heartbeat—a shape too large to be a dog, too fl
*Lilah*The flower wilts on my windowsill.I've kept it there for three days now, watching it slowly curl in on itself. The girl who gave it to me—Tomas's niece—doesn't know that her small gesture has become an anchor. This is a reminder that some good exists here, beneath all the danger and politics.But it also reminds me of everything I left behind.I sit by the window, staring out at the forest, and let myself think about them.Naomi. Bella.Did the letter reach them? Did Cassian's contact actually deliver it, or did it disappear into some pack security protocol I don't understand?Are they worried? Angry? Have they moved on, assuming I abandoned them?The guilt sits heavy in my chest, familiar and sharp.I promised myself I'd protect them by staying away by not dragging them into this world. But the longer I'm here, the more I wonder if silence is protection or just another kind of abandonment.A knock pulls me from my spiral."Come in," I call, not moving from the window.Cassia
*Lilah*The training yard is empty at dawn.That's why I chose it.No audience. No whispers. No wolves watching the human Luna stumble through exercises designed for creatures three times her strength.Just me, the cold morning air, and the punching bag Cassian strung up last week.I hit it.Again. Again. Again.My knuckles ache. My shoulders burn. Sweat drips into my eyes, stinging, blurring my vision.I don't stop.*Tomorrow, I claim ground.*The words from last night echo in my skull, driving each punch.*Their war waits.*I hit harder.The bag swings, creaking on its chain. The impact jolts up my arms into my spine. Pain blossoms across my knuckles—split skin, probably. I'll deal with it later.Right now, I need this.The burn. The focus. The feeling of doing something instead of being done to."Starting without me?"I spin, and the fists raised.Cassian stands at the edge of the yard, arms folded, one eyebrow arched. He's dressed for training—loose clothes, bare feet, hair tied b
*Ronan*The council chamber feels smaller with Jax in it.He sprawls in his chair like he owns the room—one ankle crossed over his knee, fingers drumming a lazy rhythm on the armrest. His wolves flank the doorway, their scents sharp with barely concealed aggression.My wolves line the opposite wall. Cassian at my right shoulder. Leo at my left. The elders clustered at the far end of the table, Malric's white head bent toward Vera as they murmur in voices too low to catch.The air is thick with tension, the kind that makes your skin prickle, and your wolf pace beneath the surface."Trade routes," Jax is saying, his tone light, almost bored. "The northern pass has been problematic for both our packs. Rogue activity is up. Merchants are complaining.""Then patrol it properly," I say flatly. "Your territory, your problem.""Ah, but the rogues don't respect borders." His pale eyes glint with amusement. "They slip through yours as easily as mine. Perhaps a joint patrol would benefit us both
*Lilah*Sleep doesn't come.I lie in the dark, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything on an endless loop.Ronan's hands on my skin last night. The way he said my name like a prayer. The bond blazing so bright I thought I might dissolve into it.And then—morning. Cold sheets. Empty room. His absence was like a slap.*He left you.*Jax's voice, smooth and knowing, slides through my memory.*He puts his pack before you every time. That's what he's always done.*I roll onto my side, pressing my face into the pillow. The fabric is cool against my flushed skin.The worst part isn't that Jax said it.The worst part is that I can't argue.Ronan had reasons. I know that. Jax's arrival, the political pressure, the need to show strength. Alpha things. Important things.But knowing the reasons doesn't make the hurt go away.*Do you really trust a man who chose everyone else over his Luna in the last life?*My chest aches. I press my palm flat against my sternum, as if I could hold the feeli
*Lilah*The compromise feels like surrender.My shoulders ache with it, a weight I didn't agree to carry.I'm not present for most of the negotiation—Ronan and Jax locked in his study, voices muffled but tones sharp enough to cut through stone walls. Cassian keeps me company in the corridor, pretending to read a book while actually listening to every raised syllable.His easy humor falters. He studies me like he wants to say something, then doesn't. The silence itself feels like a confession."They're going to kill each other," I say flatly."Probably not today." He turns a page he definitely hasn't read. "Jax wants something. He won't get it by starting a war in Ronan's office.""What does he want?"Cassian’s eyes flick to me, then away, like the answer might hurt."That's the question, isn't it?"The door finally opens, and both Alphas emerge. Ronan looks like he's been chewing glass. Jax looks like he's won the lottery.Neither expression reassures me."A compromise has been reach
*Lilah*The dining hall looks like something out of a dark fairy tale.Long wooden tables stretch the length of the room, lit by iron chandeliers and the glow from a massive fireplace at one end. Wolves fill the benches—some rowdy, some stiff, all too aware that this is more than just dinner.It’s
*Lilah*Morning hits like a hangover I didn’t earn.My head is clear enough. My body is…not. Every muscle reminds me of Cassian’s training. My lips feel swollen. My skin remembers him far too well.The worst part is that when I first open my eyes, my brain gives me half a second of warmth and comfo
*Lilah*He walks me back to my room in silence.Leo falls in behind us without a word. The tension in the corridor follows like a ghost—cracked stone, torn fabric, the echo of a boy’s scream, and the memory of Ronan’s hand on my face.My heart hasn’t quite figured out how to calm down yet. It stutt
*Lilah*I don’t go straight back to the main hall.I can’t.My feet carry me down a different corridor, one I’ve only half‑mapped in my head—stone walls, narrow windows, the occasional battered painting that looks older than my entire family tree.My hand is still pressed to my chest.It doesn’t he







