LOGINMate.The word rolls through me, low and possessive, but tonight it doesn’t feel overwhelming. It feels certain. Poppy swallows hard.“You calm it too,” she whispers suddenly.I frown slightly. “Calm what?”“That feeling.” Her eyes lift back to mine. “The pressure. The noise in my head. It gets quie
** Jake’s POV **The second Leo leaves the cabin feels wrong.It’s quieter and colder, even though the fire still crackles softly in the corner. Rain still taps steadily against the roof, and Poppy is still standing only a few feet away from me.But something shifted when he left. I felt it immediat
“I’ll be okay,” she whispers.I wish I believed that.Instead of answering, I lean forward until our foreheads touch, and for a second, everything else fades away. It’s just her breathing against me and the warmth of her hands on my face.“What if this thing isn’t new?” she asks quietly. “What if it
** Leo’s POV **“It’s not staying silent anymore.”The words have been stuck in my head for the last two fucking hours since Jake explained what happened at the clinic.I tighten my grip on the strap of the knife sheath sitting across my chest harder than necessary, checking it for the third time si
Of 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
“Stop,” one of them says calmly.I step half a pace in front of Alaric without making it obvious. “Who are you?”“Phoenix Pack,” the other replies.Of course they are. The pack every Alpha is suddenly talking about. The pack tied to the goddess rumours, and whose territory hunters seem to avoid as i
Then… Jaxon. The moment I find him, my breath breaks. His light is brilliant. It’s sharp or overwhelming, just impossibly bright, like sunlight through crystal. Pure, curious, untouched by shadow. It’s so strong it nearly hurts, and tears sting my eyes before I can stop them.“Jaxon,” I whisper, my
** Paige’s POV **Morning comes softly. Not with alarms or panic or the edge of fear that’s lived under my skin for days, but with light filtering through the curtains and the quiet sound of breathing around me. The cabin smells like coffee and earth and clean air, like the forest itself has forgive
“Take your clothes off for me, beautiful,” I say softly, trying not to let her hear how close I am to completely losing control.I had planned to undress her slowly, to unwrap her like the gift that she is, but I’m too keyed up for this. There’s no way her clothes will come off in one piece if I do







