LOGINLeah
We did it that night, when the kingdom was quiet and the only light came from a single lamp.
Leah lay back against the pillows. I lay beside her, my hand splayed flat over her heart, the mating mark on my neck pulsing in time with hers. Andromeda rose to the surface, her presence filling Leah’s body like water filling a vessel, and throu
LeahWe did it that night, when the kingdom was quiet and the only light came from a single lamp.Leah lay back against the pillows. I lay beside her, my hand splayed flat over her heart, the mating mark on my neck pulsing in time with hers. Andromeda rose to the surface, her presence filling Leah’s body like water filling a vessel, and through the bond I felt the doorway in my soul swing open.The shadows came.They poured from my hand, not into the room this time but into Leah, sinking through her skin, dark tendrils diving beneath the surface to a place that had no light and no air. And then I was there with them. Not physically. My awareness, my sight, riding the shadows into the landscape of my mate’s body.
LeahI slept for almost two days after the fire.Not the natural sleep of a body healing. The other kind. The parasite-deep unconsciousness that swallowed me whole and held me under, surfacing only in fragments. Darien’s voice. The cool press of a damp cloth on my forehead. Maren’s hands checking my pulse. The smell of smoke that clung to Darien’s skin even after he’d washed it away because he washed quickly so that he was back by my side.When I finally woke for real, the late afternoon light was gold against the walls and Darien was sitting in the chair beside the bed, watching me. Like I might disappear if he blinked.“There she is,” he said softly. “My sleeping beauty.”“How long?”“Almost two days.” He moved to the edge of the bed and took my hand. “The east wing is rebuilt. Tommy and his mother stopped by yesterday to check on you. He drew you a picture.” He nodded toward the nightstand, where a piece of paper sat propped against the lamp. A crayon drawing of a woman with brown
Leah Every time she shifted to smoke, the dark tendrils tracked her, mapping her true form inside the haze, and Darien’s claws followed where the shadows pointed. He fought with his eyes closed half the time, hunting her through senses that weren’t his, herding her away from me, cutting off every escape with walls of living darkness. “You can’t kill me!” Eyera shrieked, and there was something new in her voice … fear. “I am eternal! I have worn a hundred bodies! I will wear a hundred more!”
Leah A child crying. Down the first-floor hallway. Deeper in the building. I didn’t think. I went. The hallway was filling with smoke, the lights flickering overhead, and the heat was real now, radiating through the ceiling from whatever was burning above. I dropped low, pulling my shirt over my mouth, following the sound of the crying through the gray haze. Third door on the left. A family a
LeahI needed to feel useful. That was the truth underneath everything. Darien hovered, the healers monitored, Andromeda fought her endless war inside my blood, and I lay in bed feeling like a battlefield instead of a person. Sleeping had become my main occupation. Some days I was awake for only a handful of hours, surfacing from the exhaustion long enough to eat, to hold Darien’s hand, to hear Keanu’s voice on the phone, and then the parasite would pull me back under like a tide that owned me. But today was a good day. I’d woken with actual energy, eaten an actual breakfast, and convinced Darien that a visit to the apartment complex was not going to kill me. “One hour,” he’d said, holding up a finger like a parent negotiating with a toddler. “And a guard stays with you.” “Two hours, and the guard waits outside the building.” “One hour, the guard waits in the lobby, and you call me if you feel even slightly dizzy.” “Deal.” He kissed my forehead and held it a moment longe
KeanuI didn’t want to. The story belonged to me and Tempest and the forest where we’d spent one night together that had changed everything about who I was. But Eldric had the kind of presence that made confession feel less like vulnerability and more like laying down something heavy you’d been carrying too long.“I met her in the forest. She helped me find the cure for my sister. We spent the night together.” I stared at the stream. “When I woke up, she was gone. I searched for her every day. Never found her. She’s an elemental dragon who hides because the world punished her kind for existing. And I don’t know if she left because she’s afraid of being found or because …” I stopped.“Because?”
DarienI hadn't planned to stay.The balcony above the training yard was cold as hell, the wind cutting through even the thick fur lining of my coat. I'd come up here to check on the new officers, to see if Leah was making any progress with them. A quick glance, maybe ten minutes, then I'd head bac
DarienI couldn't stop smiling.Here I was, the Lycan King, sitting in my office reviewing intelligence reports about potential Raven Witch sightings, and I was grinning like a fool.But I couldn't help it.Leah sat across from me at my desk, her hair falling forward as she read through the documen
LeahI looked around the woods slowly, taking in every detail. The trees were too quiet. No birds singing. No small animals rustling through the underbrush. The scents were gone, somehow there was no smell here.
"If you are still needed?" His silver eyes flashed with confusion. "What does that mean? Leah, we are mates. You aren't going to deny that. Not after that kiss. Surely you know—"I reached out and gr







