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
I nod, gripping his fur tighter, taking strength from him. But the reassurance barely lasts a second, because something in the air changes.The pack’s rhythm falters, a ripple of unease running through the air. The ground beneath us seems to hum with tension, and then Parker stumbles.It’s small at
** Callen’s POV **Whispers are already rippling through the air. News of an attack spreads fast between packs, and I’m sure the light show we left behind will only fuel the rumours.Ryder stays quiet, eyes fixed on me, one hand resting protectively over Paige’s. Jake crouches beside her, still moni
“Put her on the couch,” Leah says. “I’ll get some bandages in case she’s bleeding under those blankets.”“Not necessary,” Jake says quickly, stepping forward. “I’ve already checked her over, no open wounds. She’s stable. I’d prefer to monitor her myself if you don’t mind.”Leah’s eyebrows lift, her
I stagger forward; the breath leaving my lungs in short, gasping bursts. “No,” I whisper again. “No, please…”A sound rises in my ears, faint at first, then growing, a voice that’s not my own or my mate’s, inside my head. “It’s time.”I blink, confusion cutting through the grief. “What…”“You know w







