LOGIN** Alaric's POV ** Poppy’s smile fades as her gaze suddenly loses focus. For a heartbeat, she doesn’t seem to be looking at either of us at all. “Are you okay?” I ask. She blinks and rubs lightly at her temple. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that.” “The mind-link?” I ask. She nods
** Alaric’s POV ** Poppy’s head snaps towards me, and I freeze. Her eyes narrow. “Did you just sniff me?” “No.” Bastian’s gaze lifts from his mug, and he smirks. Traitorous bastard. Poppy stares at me. “You did.” “I was breathing.” “Towards me.” “I have very little control over the direction
“Because you’d rather they didn’t?”“No,” I look her dead in the eye. “Because they got there first.”Poppy wraps her arms around herself, and Bastian goes very still beside the coffee machine.I should stop here. It’s the intelligent choice. Unfortunately, intelligence has never been a strong trait
** Alaric’s POV **The second Jake disappears through the door, the entire house changes. It doesn’t make sense. Nothing has physically shifted, but the moment he leaves, taking his anxious healer scent and barely contained panic with him, the clock ticks louder and the fridge hums more insistently.
“I still think peanut butter and ham should be illegal.”“It builds character,” Leo replies. “It builds stomach ulcers,” Ronnie mutters.Alaric and Bastian come closer, leaning in to take a sandwich, but they don’t take Leo or Ronnie’s seats. “Shit,” Leo curses. Every head in the room turns to hi
** Jake’s POV **Every muscle in my body tightens as Poppy steps out of the woods. I grip the chair to stop myself from running to her. “She’s coming back,” Callen says into the phone.“Good,” Paige lets out a breath. “Remember, she needs a little normalcy. Don’t crowd her and don’t question her. M
“Sh*t,” I hear Callen breathe as I storm off towards my house. When I get home, I slam the door closed and lock it behind me. With my back pressed to the door, I slide to the floor, finally allowing myself to break. Fat tears roll down my face as the last bits of hope for Ryder leave my body.
We don’t get to talk for long before I hear a commotion in the woods at the back of the house. It’s hard to hold a conversation with her while trying to figure out what is going on with Callen and Remy. I’m torn between checking in on them or staying present with Paige and leaving them two to fight,
Jaxon goes quiet as he focuses on his race. The sheer determination on his face and the way he sticks out the tip of his tongue when he’s concentrating are adorable. I may be biased, but Paige and I have created a good-looking kid. I hear Paige and Parker talking outside, and I tune in just enou
Ryder’s head rises and his ears flick forward at the sound and Remy steps aside. “Go Rye, but take it slow, or you’ll scare her to death.” We follow a few paces behind our alpha as he tries to control his pace towards his brother and mate. My brother and I hang back whilst Ryder creeps up behind h







