MasukKeanuA gentle smile spread over her lips. It transformed her face, softened every hard edge she’d been carrying, and for a moment I could see the woman underneath the armor. She was beautiful. Not the kind of beautiful that needed to be announced. The kind that existed quietly, only revealing itself to people who were paying attention.She guided my hands. Showed me where to touch, how to touch, with a patience that made something in my chest crack open. She placed my palm against her breast and I felt her heartbeat hammering beneath my fingers. She showed me how to trace the curve of her waist, the dip of her hip, the places that made her breath catch when I found them. Every reaction she gave me was a lesson I memorized instantly.She laid me back against the soft earth and the moss, and the forest canopy stretched
KeanuNight fell and the forest changed. Tempest said we can’t travel at night and will have to wait until daylight to leave.The canopy blocked most of the starlight, but what filtered through turned everything silver and shadow. The spring beside us caught the glow and held it, changing the water into a ribbon of liquid moonlight. The temperature dropped, the way it does in old forests where the trees hold the cold close to the ground, but I didn’t feel it. The heat beneath my skin was running hotter than it had all day.Tempest had built a small fire. Not with matches. She’d placed her palm against the kindling and it had caught, a flicker of heat that came from her hand like the most natural thing in the world. I’d watched her do it and said nothing. She’d told me to keep her secret and I would. I wondered what she was though.We sat on opposite sides of the fire, the prepared cure cooling in a sealed container between us. The noctis bloom paste had reduced properly. Dark, thick,
Keanu“Why do you need noctis bloom?”I didn’t have a reason to lie. And honestly, looking at her face, I wasn’t sure I could have managed one if I’d tried. Something about her made the usual deflections feel cheap.“My sister is sick. A virus she picked up in a place saturated with dark magic. It’s parasitic. Feeds on her powers. The healers said the noctis bloom can cure it, but it has to be prepared properly.”“Your sister.” She studied me. “You came into a forest full of feral creatures to find a plant for your sister.”“I’d walk into a volcano for my sister.”“That’s either very brav
KeanuThe forest was old.The trees here were massive, their trunks wider than cars, their canopies so dense that the sunlight filtering through looked like it had been chewed up and spit out in thin, golden threads. The undergrowth was thick with ferns and moss that covered everything in a carpet of green so vivid it almost looked fake. The air smelled like wet soil and flowers and something underneath it, something ancient that had no name but made the hairs on my arms stand up.I’d been walking for hours.Cain’s maps were good. He’d marked the likely growth zones for the noctis bloom in red ink, with notes about terrain, water sources, and the “feral supernatural creatures” that populated the deeper part of the forest. His handwriting was surprisingly neat for a man who could crush a skull with one hand. I appreciated the effort. What I didn’t appreciate was the footnote at the bottom of the final map page: Don’t do anything stupid. — CainHelpful.I scratched the back of my ear. T
LeahKeanu met his eyes. Something passed between them. Not spoken but understood. The agreement that had been building since the moment Keanu called Darien about the virus. One stays. One goes.“I’m going to stay with Leah,” Darien said. “You fly to the forest, find the noctis bloom, and bring it back.”Keanu nodded. No hesitation. He’d been waiting for this. He wouldn’t have left before Darien came home, wouldn’t have taken even a single step out of the kingdom without knowing that the man who would die for his sister was at her side. But now Darien was here. And the path was clear.“I’ll find it,” Keanu said. “Take care of her.”“With my life.”
LeahI heard him before I saw him.The sound of running on stone, fast, taking the stairs two at a time. The guards in the corridor snapping to attention. A door opening down the hall and someone calling “Your Majesty” before being cut off by footsteps that didn’t slow.Then our bedroom door swung open.Darien stood in the frame, windswept from being in a hurry, his jacket still on, his tie missing entirely, his silver eyes sweeping the room until they found me on the bed, where Keanu had confined me with strict orders not to move.He crossed the room in a few strides. His arms were around me before I could say a word, pulling me against his chest, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other wrapped around my waist so tight I could feel his heartbeat against my ribs. He buried his face in my hair and breathed in like he’d been holding his breath for days and this was the first air that counted.I held him back. Let myself sink into the warmth of him, the scent of him, the overwh
LeahMy stomach twisted into knots as I watched Darien's expression darken further while reading the letter. Whatever news it contained, it wasn't good."What about Anton?" The question came out more sharply than I intended, panic already clawing at my throat. "Is he okay? Is he hurt?"Darien's sil
The moment his fingers brushed my cheek, electricity shot through me. The tingles exploded across my skin, a thousand times stronger than before, and I gasped. My wolf howled with pleasure, pressing against my skin, wanting to shift and claim our mate right here in the snow.I jerked back, nearly t
I woke up to growling."That's my sister!""You aren't related by blood, and you are a man. You calling her your sister isn't enough for me.""And you calling yourself her mate isn't enough for me."The growling continued. I blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the chaos in front of me. Darien was st
LeahThe training arena was cold, despite the bodies moving through it. I sat in the observation area, my arms wrapped around myself, watching three males circle each other in the space below. Two days. It had been two days since Andromeda's voice had gone silent, leaving nothing but echoes and que







