LOGINElle Varrin was two seconds away from committing a felony in a classroom, and the only thing stopping her was the fact her Alpha was ten feet away and would see."Sit down, Ms. Varrin! One more outburst and both of you are scrubbing the floors of the dungeon on your hands and knees after your training TONIGHT. Do I make myself clear?"Elle paused, trying to compose herself. She wanted to talk back to him and give him a piece of her mind. She looked at Nova who gave the slightest tilt of her head. Elle knew what that meant. I've got this.Elle sat back down. Her expression said, Fine. But if he says one more thing, I'm flipping this desk and I don't care whose legs are under it."Yes," Elle answered after she'd sat."Yes what?" Shard sneered.A cadet behind Elle mouthed "don't do it," like he was watching someone reach for a live wire."Yes, sir.""Let me make one thing clear to the two of you. You both are unmarked, unmated omegas who curried favor with our pack's Gamma and Beta. It i
The exam landed on Nova's desk and she almost laughed.Almost. She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste copper, because laughing in Professor Shard's classroom was roughly equivalent to spitting on a hornet's nest.She sat in a lecture hall, amid rows of students and 1st year cadets.Essay questions only, on werewolf war strategy. The subject she'd accidentally become an expert on weeks ago because she couldn't keep her hands off her mate's bookshelf. Coincidence? Or was Jax behind this? Her classmates stared at the exam sheets. Eyes wide, pens hovering. Milo Briant flipped his paper over, as if looking for an alternate version. Elle buried her head in her hands, trying not to panic. Rael glanced at her bouncing knee. "Can you not? Some of us are trying to fail in peace."Nova sat back. She could have joined them in confusion. But instead she found herself calmly reading the questions, and knowing the answers.Question One: Supply denial often harms the aggressor as
Talon: You're jealous.Jax: I'm processing.Talon: You've been processing since she said his name in her sleep three nights ago.Jax: We agreed not to talk about that.Talon: You agreed. I was overruled.Wolves didn't glow when they shifted. They cracked. Bones snapping, muscles tearing, reforming. It was violent and fast and ugly. Not for Nova. When her body flooded with silver light, Jax stopped breathing. But he knew immediately Fin was correct about her still needing help. It wasn't as quick as it should be, and it hurt.Talon: She's in pain.Jax: I know.Talon: I need to get closer. I need to touch her. Let me out. Let me OUT.Jax: You are out. We're already shifted.Talon: Then run to her. Now. Why are we standing here like idiots?She was fast. Damn fast. But he was faster. Barely. They raced through the forest, two wolves playing chase under the moon.When he caught up, he tackled her gently, paws gripping moss, and licked her face in wolf form.Talon: Pinned her. Victory. We
The mindlink hit Jax mid-sentence, and she watched his expression shift from relaxed to Gamma Thorne in under a second. He kissed her forehead, told her to stay put, and was gone before she could ask what was wrong.Left alone, she let her gaze drift across the room. She wasn't snooping. She was conducting an unsanctioned tactical survey of her mate's personal belongings. Completely different.A half-hidden volume on his bookshelf caught her eye. War strategy. Pack conflicts of the last five hundred years. Why some packs rose, why others crumbled into dust.Light reading. The kind of thing normal people grabbed when they couldn't sleep. Or when they were secretly unhinged.She didn't consider herself a fast reader, yet the moment she opened it the pages pulled her in, each chapter feeling disturbingly familiar, like scattered memories rising too quickly to the surface. Her brain was doing that thing again, the thing she refused to name, where information locked into place like it had
Nova collapsed face-first onto her bed with a groan. "Remind me never to say Draven looks cranky again."Elle dropped her training bag, flopping backward onto her mattress, hair splayed like a halo around her. "He was cranky. But now we're dead. I think he was trying to kill us.""I think he succeeded," Nova mumbled into her pillow.It was well past dusk, and their bodies ached from hours of relentless drills. After the morning archery showcase, sparring with blunt staffs turned into full-contact hand-to-hand drills that dragged on long after the sun had disappeared."I'll take an arrow to the shoulder over that elbow combo from Milo any day," Elle grumbled, stretching one arm across her eyes.Nova winced as she rolled onto her back. "I'm not built for brawling.""Right?" Elle agreed. "All I could think about during drills was how Jax, Cael, and Fin left before things got sweaty and humiliating."Nova chuckled. "Too much pressure when they're around.""Way too much pressure. I can't e
Nova turned toward Fin, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "You said if I landed three in a row, you'd have a new challenge for me. What did you mean by that?"Fin smirked. "Usually we save this for advanced warriors, not cadets. But you're not really a cadet, are you?"She arched a brow, intrigued."We'll have you shoot at live targets."Her face dropped."Runners," he clarified, hands sliding into his pockets like this was nothing out of the ordinary. "Warriors running at full speed across the range — first in human form, and later, in wolf form."Nova's brows pulled together. "What if the arrow hits though? Won't they get hurt?""In wolf form, we put a reinforced armor shield over their flank and chest," he explained, gesturing across his ribs. "It's enchanted and won't weigh them down. And in human form..."His smirk widened. "The runner catches the arrow before it hits.""They catch it?" she repeated skeptically."They do. The runners for this kind of training are always elit
He couldn't stop thinking about her, and it was going to get someone killed.The Elder Council meeting finally ended. Painfully, reluctantly, and with a level of droning that made Fin question his own sanity.Beside him, Cael muttered, "They're still down there with Draven. His trainings are gettin
Time to check on Jax. Her mate who hated her.She felt empty. No matebond. No pull. No electricity sparking in her veins. Just numbness. Like her heart had been hollowed out and all her emotions had gone with him.On the bright side, she'd eaten a cracker today. The bar was underground and she was s
"If he sees you," Aeron said, "don't approach."Nova's stomach dropped.They'd come straight to his study after the woods, and Aeron had listened to every detail without interrupting. Now he stood behind his desk, arms folded."His instincts are in chaos, and seeing you might trigger the wrong resp
The moment Nova's blood touched Jax's lips, his body jolted like he'd been struck by lightning. She stepped back, her heart pounding.For a few seconds, nothing happened.Then his eyes snapped open."Jax," she whispered. "You're awake."He blinked at her — once,







