LOGIN** Jake’s POV **A minute later, the cabin door opens again. Callen steps out with far too much satisfaction written across his face. Poppy follows a second later. The moment she sees all four of us waiting, she hesitates, her steps faltering. Her gaze lands on me, then Leo. Then it drifts to Alaric
** Jake’s POV **My wolf practically whines in my head as my eyes track Poppy walking inside with Callen. Every second I spend with her makes every second away from her more difficult. “I know this is difficult,” Ryder says, pulling our attention back to him. “But for Poppy’s sake, you all need to
“Hey,” Paige says softly.“Hey,” I reply, my voice cracking. Her smile fades and her eyes narrow as she studies me. “What happened?”“Nothing, I’m okay.”Callen snorts a laugh, and I shoot him a look. “Callen, get out,” Paige orders.“Well, that’s rude.”“Out,” she demands, and he wisely retreats,
** Poppy’s POV **The door closes behind us with a soft click, and I finally take my first real breath in hours. I want to freak out. I want to shout that this isn’t supposed to be happening. But allowing myself to get worked up is not good for anyone or anything. Stuff will break, people will pani
“I was trying to figure you out,” he shrugs.“You were lurking.”Callen gasps. “Shadow boy was lurking?”Bastian’s eyes narrow. “Shadow boy?”“Oh, don’t worry,” I say. “It suits you.”For one strange moment, his expression softens. Not much, but enough that I see it. Enough that my heart skips a bea
** Poppy’s POV **The branch is still lying where it fell. I try not to look at it as we walk away, but my eyes keep finding it anyway. Split wood, torn bark, and leaves scattered across the ground as if it had exploded from the inside out. Because of me.One stupid argument. One moment when everyth
“Game or warning,” Callen mutters. “Either way, they’re trying to make us afraid to step outside our own borders.”“They won’t win,” I say quietly.Four sets of eyes shift toward me. Ryder’s expression softens, but there’s pride in it too. “No, they won’t.”Remy nods. “We’ve been reacting too much l
** Paige’s POV **“Morning, campers,” Ronnie’s voice calls as we hear his footsteps on the porch. He steps in and drops a small leather satchel on the counter, giving Jaxon’s hair a quick ruffle. “Morning, champ. Smells like you survived the great toaster massacre in here.”Callen salutes the black
I catch myself smiling. Jax and I watched a movie yesterday while he was feeling ill, one of those old ones with fairies and pirates. He’d fallen asleep halfway through, but I’d stayed up watching it just to see how it ended. There was a scene where the fairy lit up the dark, fierce and stubborn and
** Paige’s POV **Parker exhales slowly, some of the worry leaving his face. “I’ll talk to Jake. Maybe he can run some scans, check your energy levels. Make sure this isn’t doing you any harm.”I nod, though the thought of being poked and prodded by a healer makes me uneasy. “How are we going to kee







