FAZER LOGINOf course, the voice remains completely silent. Coward.“So what am I?” I ask.No one answers quickly enough. Jake steps closer, crouching in front of me so I have to look at him and not the horror show printed on the paper in my hands.“We don’t know yet,” he says. “But we will.”I want to believe
** Poppy’s POV **The room feels too small and too hot.I swallow. “Not the same how?”Jake exhales slowly, reaching for another sheet. “Paige’s blood showed abnormal energy markers, mostly consistent with what Ronnie later connected to Dawn energy, cleansing, regenerative and life-based.”“Sounds l
Rain… Headlights… Control it, Poppy. I push the thought down hard.Leo is already dressed by the time I sit up, pulling on his boots near the edge of the bed. His hair is damp from a shower, and his expression is locked into the serious mask he wears when he’s pretending not to be worried. It does n
** Poppy’s POV **Leo sets a glass down in front of me far more carefully than necessary. He’s slow, deliberate, as if he’s half expecting it to explode the second it leaves his hand. My eyes flick to Jake across the kitchen, only to catch him watching me too.The rest of the day passes in a strange
** Poppy’s POV **Shiver’s run through me. Starting from my chest and spreading out, but everything else calms. My heart stops pounding, my breaths come easier, and the cold that was creeping in is slowly replaced by a comforting warmth.It’s them, my mates. They’re anchoring me. Whatever this power
“Hey,” I say, dropping to my knees in front of her, not caring about the glass. “Look at me.”Her eyes snap to mine, and for a second, they’re not right. There’s something deeper in them. Something darker flickering beneath the surface like a storm trying to break through. The hairs on my arms lift.
** Ryder’s POV **The moment it hits me, I almost drop to my knees. It’s not a pulse or a flare. Not the usual warm tug of the bond when Paige is overwhelmed or scared. This… this is a detonation.A tidal wave of heat slams into my chest so violently my vision goes white. For a breathless second I c
I swallow. “What about? Is Jax okay?”“He’s fine,” Remy answers. “It’s Nina.”A cold ripple of tension ghosts down my spine.Nina, the suspected traitor.My stomach knots. “What about her?”“We need to speak with her,” Callen says.Blaine stiffens in front of me, instantly alert. He rises slowly unt
Paige looks down at her hands, and I can see the tremor in her fingers.“They’re… tethered,” she whispers. “Like someone pulled them back from death with a thread that’s too thin. Like it’s fraying. Like it’s going to snap.”A growl rumbles in my chest before I can stop it. “Snap how?”“Snap, meanin
** Callen’s POV **The first thing I feel is the bond.It’s not the usual background hum, or the distracting warmth Paige always radiates when she’s close. This is something else… something sharp, bright, electrifying, like she’s a live wire pressed directly against the inside of my ribs.And then a







