LOGIN** Bastian's POV **Poppy's lips part. Behind her, Alaric turns his head away, but not quickly enough to hide his smile. I ignore him.“What did you remember?”The change in Poppy is immediate. Her fingers tighten around mine.“The accident.”I have no idea what accident she is referring to, so I wa
** Bastian’s POV **She throws herself at me before I can think. One second she’s staring at me with tears swimming in her eyes, the next she’s there, hands gripping my shirt, her face buried against my chest as though I’m the only thing keeping her upright.My body locks. Every instinct screams at
“Stop! Don’t do this!” They can’t hear me, can’t feel my desperate attempts to stop this. I’m trapped inside the worst moment of my life with no way to change it. The world fractures around me, and for the briefest second, my mother’s fingertips brush mine. “Live, Poppy.” Then darkness explodes
** Poppy’s POV ** I blink against the darkness surrounding me. The cabin is gone. The smell of dinner. The warmth of the fire. The laughter in the kitchen. All of it has vanished. Instead, cold asphalt presses against my bare feet. I know this place. Not because I’ve seen it before, but because I’
“It seems our timing,” Leo says, looking between us, “is perfect.”“No, it’s terrible,” Alaric corrects flatly.“That depends on who you ask,” Jake shrugs.Alaric ignores him, turning back to the stove to flip the chicken with far too much focus.“So, what were you saying about defence lessons?” Leo
** Poppy’s POV **I thought Alaric would have been pissed at learning his brother had my number all along and had been messaging me, but he’s amused, and maybe even a little proud. He shakes his head again and laughs; it’s so contagious that I can’t even be mad.“Come on,” he says, standing from the
His face softens, and he exhales slowly, the tension draining from his shoulders. “You always make it sound so simple.”“It’s not simple,” I admit, “but it’s true.”He looks away, staring into the water. “You think he knows that? That I still…” His voice falters. “That I still want him?”“Yes,” I sa
He nods, his eyes softening. “Yeah. It is.”I laugh softly, shaking my head. “You always did make things complicated.”He grins. “And you always loved me for it.”“Still do,” I admit.We start walking again, the silence between us lighter this time. The tension that’s been building in my chest for d
**Paige’s POV **When I wake up, the world is quiet.The faint grey light of early morning seeps through the curtains and spills over the bed. For a second, I can’t remember how I got here. Then it comes back in pieces… the vision, the fear, the sound of Ryder’s voice shouting my name. He must have
** Paige’s POV **For a few minutes, everything feels normal. I rest my hands against the cool stone of the wall. Then Callen lands hard after taking a hit to the ribs. He doesn’t flinch much, but I feel it, sharp and sudden, like the echo of pain pressing against my chest.I blink, clutching the ed







