LOGIN“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
** Poppy’s POV **Bastian has been gone too long for a simple perimeter check of the cabin. I don’t know why that bothers me, but it does. I catch myself rubbing my thumb over the rim of my coffee mug again. It’s gone lukewarm, but I haven’t taken a sip in several minutes. Instead, I keep glancing
“I only detected five scents in the pack centre,” Bastian says. “The sixth entered here.”He points to a patch of flattened fern that none of us had even looked at.“They were already travelling together.”“That’s what we thought,” Leo says.Bastian doesn’t answer. He simply keeps moving, following
** Paige’s POV ** I’m still shaking when Parker pulls me in closer, his arms wrapping around me and Jaxon. The blanket is warm, but it’s not doing much to stop the way I’m trembling. Jaxon’s little hands clutch my shirt, and he presses his damp cheek against my chest. I keep imagining him out the
**Paige’s POV **Callen’s home. He’s right here, looking as if nothing ever happened, but it still doesn’t feel real.He’s sitting beside me on the couch, his thumb tracing lazy circles against the inside of my wrist like he’s been doing it for years. Like he didn’t almost die. Like I haven’t spent
**Paige’s POV ** Remy takes my hand again, his eyes searching mine. “Maybe we should keep this between us for now, just until we know if it’s a possibility. Ryder was…” “I’m not hiding this,” I cut in. “Not from them. If I brought a threat, they deserve to know.” Remy’s jaw works, but after a
** Paige’s POV ** “I wasn’t fair to you,” I whisper. “Before it happened. I was scared and confused. I ran without explaining myself, and then I thought… God, I thought… what if the last thing you remembered from me was rejection?” His brow furrows, but his hand tightens around mine. “Are y







