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
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
** 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
** Paige’s POV **Nina draws a slow breath, as if bracing herself. “There’s something else,” she says softly.The forest seems to freeze around us, and I feel everyone around me tense, waiting for the blow.Jake stands just behind Nina with a steadying hand on her shoulder. “What else?” he whispers.
Callen huffs a laugh behind me. “Interfered is one word for it.”Parker snorts weakly. “Ryder almost blew the clinic door off its hinges.”I don’t look back. I can’t take my eyes off her.“You scared the shit out of me,” I whisper, my forehead pressed to hers. “Don’t ever do that again. Ever.”Her f







