ANMELDENI raise my brows. That should scare me … to feel her so intensely. But instead, I crave that connection to her.“How fast is she?”“Fast enough that Jake couldn't catch her to get her to drink some water, and Leo couldn't get anywhere near her.”I laugh. The image of Poppy zipping around the kitchen
** Bastian’s POV **Branches crack somewhere below the ridge, followed by the unmistakable sound of someone making absolutely no effort to move quietly. Typical Alaric.A few minutes later, he appears between the trees, fully dressed, and carrying two travel mugs.I stare at him. “Did you seriously
** Bastian’s POV **The problem with running is that you can’t do it forever, and then everything you've been trying to outrun catches up with you. So I push harder.My paws pound the damp earth, sending leaves and loose soil scattering behind me as I tear through the forest. The trees blur past lik
“I'm helping!” He laughs.“You're going to be the first person I test this speed by punching if you carry on.”“See?” he smirks. “Already thinking like an Alpha.”I glare at him. Then take a long, victorious drink. No one will take this coffee from me.Jake folds his arms. “Now, how about that water
** Poppy’s POV **“Do that again,” Jake says.I pause with the mug halfway to my mouth. “Do what?”Jake is staring at my hand. “Put it down.”“No. I’ve waited long enough for this. You'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”I finally take a sip of heaven. Leo definitely made this; it has the p
** Poppy’s POV **When Alaric finally pulls away, I have to remind myself that there's a very important point to this conversation.“Bastian,” I whisper.Alaric rests his forehead against mine. “Right.”“I have an idea.”“That sounds dangerous,” he smirks, before kissing me once more.I smile agains
Paige looks down at her hands, and I can see the tremor in her fingers.“They’re… tethered,” she whispers. “Like someone pulled them back from death with a thread that’s too thin. Like it’s fraying. Like it’s going to snap.”A growl rumbles in my chest before I can stop it. “Snap how?”“Snap, meanin
** Callen’s POV **The first thing I feel is the bond.It’s not the usual background hum, or the distracting warmth Paige always radiates when she’s close. This is something else… something sharp, bright, electrifying, like she’s a live wire pressed directly against the inside of my ribs.And then a
** Paige’s POV **Nina draws a slow breath, as if bracing herself. “There’s something else,” she says softly.The forest seems to freeze around us, and I feel everyone around me tense, waiting for the blow.Jake stands just behind Nina with a steadying hand on her shoulder. “What else?” he whispers.
Callen huffs a laugh behind me. “Interfered is one word for it.”Parker snorts weakly. “Ryder almost blew the clinic door off its hinges.”I don’t look back. I can’t take my eyes off her.“You scared the shit out of me,” I whisper, my forehead pressed to hers. “Don’t ever do that again. Ever.”Her f







