LOGIN** Poppy’s POV **Ronnie doesn’t waste time after that. Blood samples are taken quickly from us all. Jake handles most of it with steady hands and a focused expression, as if he’s clinging to something he understands. Something that makes sense to him… science. I can barely feel the needle. Or mayb
** Poppy’s POV **I mull over Ronnie’s words. Even though I’d already started piecing it together, hearing the words spoken aloud lands hard.Collides… like we’re something dangerous and unstable. As if we’re the problem.My stomach twists. “So what? We just… stay away from each other?”Ronnie’s gaz
** Poppy’s POV **The silence doesn’t last. Footsteps hit the hallway, fast and heavy, then the door swings open hard enough to rattle the frame. Callen steps in first, eyes scanning the room in a sweep before locking onto Paige.“What the hell is going on?” he demands, already moving toward her. “I
** Poppy’s POV **The cracked glass shouldn’t still be holding, but it is.I stare at it, my breath caught somewhere between my lungs and my throat as another thin fracture splinters outward, branching like it’s alive. The water inside trembles, rippling faintly.Leo’s arm is still locked around my
“What?” Leo asks, softer.I hesitate. Because I don’t know how to explain it without sounding insane.“It’s like…” I swallow. “Like everything is louder when I stop fighting it.”“There it is,” the voice murmurs.My eyes fly open.“Stop,” I whisper.Jake’s expression sharpens. “What happened?”“It s
** Poppy’s POV **The room feels too heavy after my outburst. Like my mates and even the walls themselves are waiting to see what I’ll do next. My stomach is still in knots, heat and shame twisting together so tightly I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins. Jake is staring at me like he’s
“Paige…” I groan against her lips. “You’re… goddess; you’re killing me.”“Good,” she breathes, kissing me again, needy, hungry, almost reckless. “I want to.”I pin her against the door with my hips, both hands braced beside her head. I kiss down her throat, slow at first… then harder when she tilts
“They wanted leverage,” I say. “They wanted fear.”I look each of my mates in the eye.“So let’s give them the opposite.”Ryder rises too, stepping into my space with a mixture of awe and something far more primal.“Paige,” he murmurs, “we have another idea, but I’m not sure how you’d feel about it.
** Paige’s POV **I wake to warmth. Not sunlight or the lingering glow beneath my skin, but warmth that feels alive. That feels wrapped in love. The kind of warmth that only comes from my mates.Ryder’s arm is draped over my waist, heavy and protective even in sleep. His breath is slow against the b
** Ryder’s POV **The cabin door shuts behind the others, and the silence they leave behind feels charged.Paige stands in the middle of the room, breathing slowly, the weight of everything we just planned pressing down on her shoulders. The glow under her skin hasn’t fully faded. It pulses soft gol







