LOGINLeah“The curse changed everything,” I said, thinking out loud. “When the kingdom went underground, the boundaries were preserved as they were at that moment. But this deed predates the wall.” I looked at the man. “When did your grandfather build it?”“He was a young man.”“I think he did build the wall but on the wrong boundary from the looks of it.” I held up the deed. “The original boundary was here.” I pointed to a line on the deed that placed the border six feet closer to the man's house than where the wall currently stood.His face darkened. “That wall is—”“I understand. And I'm not dismissing it. Your grandfather built that wall. B
Leah“You just got shell in the batter.”“Calcium.”“That's not how that works.”“It is in my kitchen.”“This is my kitchen.”“Our kitchen.”We fell into a rhythm. He measured sugar with approximate accuracy. I sifted flour and tried not to micromanage his technique, which was generous in spirit and chaotic in execution. He found chocolate chips in a cabinet and poured half the bag directly into his mouth before adding the rest to the bowl.“Those were for the cookies.”
LeahI glanced at Keanu, who was now pretending to be deeply interested in the texture of his cereal bowl. He looked sheepish. Good. He should.“The spirit parasite showed up.” I kept my voice calm. “Eyera. That's her name. She came to the castle while you were gone.”The silence on the other end was lethal. I could feel the shift through the bond even across the distance. The warmth hardening into something sharp.“She came to the castle.” His voice was dangerously controlled. “To my home. While I wasn't there.”“Yes. She tried to place a tracker on me. A rune forged by demons so Korvax could find me.” I paused. “I removed it. Then Andromeda and I had a conversation w
LeahI woke up to the sound of something exploding.My body jerked upright, shadows instinctively rising from my skin before my brain caught up with my surroundings. I was in my bedroom. Sunlight pouring through the windows. And Keanu, sprawled across the armchair in the corner with his legs draped over the side, a bowl of cereal balanced on his stomach, watching television.The explosion had come from whatever movie he was streaming on the flatscreen mounted to the wall. A car chase, from the looks of it. He was completely absorbed, his spoon halfway to his mouth, milk dripping onto his shirt without him noticing.I let the shadows sink back beneath my skin and pressed my palm to my forehead. My body felt like it had been filled with sand. It felt heavy and sluggish. Every musc
LeahThe shadows binding Eyera snapped. The concentration broke, the tendrils dissolving into smoke as my focus split between the threat in front of me and the brother who'd just dropped from the sky. Eyera hit the ground, stumbled, and in the half-second it took me to process what was happening, she was already moving.She dissolved. Her body broke apart into dark smoke the same way it had in the woods, scattering into the night air, threading through the garden, over the wall, gone. The scent of her lingered for a few seconds and then the wind carried it away.Gone. She was gone. And she'd taken every answer with her.“You stupid whelp!”Andromeda's voice ripped from my throat with a fury that made the
LeahThe shadows poured from me like a dam breaking.They moved with purpose, wrapping around my hand as I pressed my palm flat against the rune on my chest. The glow pulsed against my skin, resisting, the magic that forged it clinging to me like something alive. It burned cold.Get it off. Get it off, now.I pushed harder. The shadows sank into the rune like fingers prying open a lock, finding the edges of the magic, pulling at the seams. The glow flickered and stuttered. I felt Andromeda surge forward inside me, her power flooding into my hands, into the shadows, amplifying them with something that made the rune scream.Not a sound, but a burning vibration.I ripped it free.
The men stopped, turning to look at me. And then they smirked.It was the kind of smirk that said they thought I was out of my depth. That I had no idea what I was asking for. That I was just a soft southern wolf playing at being tough.Fine. Let them think that.They shifted.And I realized, with
Leah"Why would you say they are already ranked?"Darien's voice was ice, sharp and cutting, each word measured and controlled. He stood in the doorway of the Tundra Arena, his silver eyes fixed on me with an intensity that would have made most people back down. His arms were crossed, his posture r
LeahThe hot water had done little to wash away the tension coiled in my muscles. I stood in front of the mirror in Darien's bathroom, staring at my reflection, watching steam curl and fade against the glass. My hair hung damp against my shoulders, and I'd changed into clean clothes, but I still fe
LeahBreakfast was a quiet affair. The dining hall felt cavernous with just the two of us seated at one end of the massive table, the only sounds the scrape of forks against plates and the distant howl of wind rattling the windows. I'd barely managed three bites of eggs when an omega slipped into t







