MasukGideon’s hand slid from my wrist to my waist, his fingers splaying against my side. He pulled me closer until my chest was touching his, our legs tangling together under the water as we treaded.I heard Sebastian’s sharp intake of breath, and then he was right behind me, nearly touching me now.I lo
Avery’s POVGideon stared at me like he had just seen a ghost, and Sebastian wasn’t much better. His mouth was hanging open slightly, his eyes wide.“What?” I asked, treading water. “You look like you’ve never seen someone take a swim before.”“We thought you were dead,” Gideon said.“I almost was.
I turned to the rogue and rolled my neck. “Don’t worry. I will.”The rogue lunged.I sidestepped and caught him by the wrist, twisting hard. He yelped and tried to pull away, but I held fast. I drove my knee into his stomach, and he doubled over, gasping.“Where is she?” I snarled.He spat blood at
Gideon’s POVSebastian and I stepped out of the tent, back into the mud and the rain, and looked around.“Which way?” he asked.I crouched down and pressed my hand to the ground. The rain had washed away most of the tracks, but there were still faint impressions in the mud. Bootprints, heading furth
Avery’s POVMy lungs burned. Every breath felt like swallowing glass and my muscles ached, but I forced my legs to pump faster.Behind me, I could hear him crashing through the underbrush. He was fast, and he was getting closer. I heard his footsteps pounding just behind me. I didn’t dare to look ba
Another rogue lunged at me from the side. I released the first one and spun, catching the second mid-air. We went down in a tangle of limbs and teeth, rolling through the mud. It clawed at my face, trying to get to my eyes. I jerked my head back and bit down on its leg, crushing bone and tendon. It
Avery’s POVFor the next few days, I kept up my training with Ian, but neither Jessica nor Gideon attended. Instead, Ian’s sister Melody offered to be my same-size training partner. With their help, I continued to work on my strength and stamina. I did receive a note from Gideon’s Beta, Tegan, info
As nighttime fell, I snuck the girls into my room quietly, pressing one finger to my lips. “This is a secret project,” I whispered, “We must work silently, so no one else knows.”Giggling, the other girls nodded, eyes shining. “It’ll be like a game, Luna,” Melody smiled. Madelyn’s sister, Ariadne,
A movement at the edge of the arena caught my eye, and I turned to see Gideon stalking into the training grounds, his gaze fixed on Ian and I where we trained. I froze, which caused Ian to glance over. He didn’t back away immediately, “Would you like to end our practice, Luna?” he murmured in my ea
“I thought you were going to present a challenge,” I scoffed, hoping to goad her into doing something stupid. Jessica growled, wiping stray hairs away from where they were stuck to her sweaty forehead. “Water break,” she complained, and one of her friends ran over with a water bottle. Ian brought







