Mag-log in** Poppy’s POV ** I don’t remember deciding to move. One second I’m breathing both of them in, and the next I’m acting on it.Heat coils low and tight inside me, sharper than before, impossible to ignore now that I’ve stopped pretending I can. This isn’t hesitation anymore. This is choice. Jake do
** Poppy’s POV **I don’t know who moves first, maybe it’s me, maybe it’s them. Or maybe it’s the bond finally coiling tight enough that none of us can pretend it isn’t there anymore. All I know is one second there’s space between us, and the next there isn’t.Leo’s hand closes around my wrist, not
** Poppy’s POV **After we all take a shower and I get some time alone with my thoughts, I can finally breathe again. The world doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming.Whatever this power is… I feel a little more certain I can control it. I’ve started to recognise the signs. It’s not much, but it’s some
** 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 wipes her face harshly with the back of her hand, inhaling hard as she steadies herself again. “I need to pack,” she says, her voice shaky but full of determination. “Paige, can you…”“I’ll drive,” Remy says, stepping through the back door to join us in his human form.“Thank you,” she breathe
** Remy’s POV **There are battles you train for. Fights you can prepare your body and mind to survive. You can sharpen your instincts, steel your nerves, accept the possibility of blood and loss as the cost of standing between danger and the people you love, but this?… This is worse.Paige’s pain h
I don’t wave, I just hold his gaze for a second longer than I should. Then the bus lurches forward, and the town slides away.I relax into my seat and let myself breathe, because I got away. I got on the bus without my protectors catching me, and Alaric has my number, even if it’s the wrong one.The
The air outside is cold enough to bite. Good, cold helps to keep me from getting lost in my own thoughts.I post my apartment keys through the letterbox of the takeaway downstairs and send a text message to the owner, thanking him for letting me rent the apartment and explaining there has been an ur







