LOGINThat thought settled heavy in my chest as I came around the last bend and the cottage came into view.It looked the same from the outside. The same stone path leading to the front door, the same flower beds along the front, although the flowers were dead now, dried up and frost-bitten from the cold.
Ellie’s POVI pulled the chair from the corner of the room over to the bedside and sat down. I started unpacking the containers, setting them out on the table. The smell of the rotisserie chicken filled the room immediately, warm and rich, and I heard Dominic’s stomach growl.“When was the last time
My stepfather had made financial arrangements contingent on Dominic becoming Alpha King.I thought about that on the walk home, and the further I got from the academy, the more pieces started shifting into place. Moments from my past life that I had nearly forgotten slowly filtered back in, and with
Ellie’s POVIt had been a long, tiring day. Finals were in just a few short weeks, and the semester was wrapping up with a mountain of projects and assignments. Just when one ended, another one seemed to pop up, and I felt like I was drowning. I was coming down the academy steps with my bag over one
I closed the door behind me and crossed the grass. He didn’t turn around, but I knew he knew I was there.I stood beside him and looked up at the same patch of sky.For a while, neither of us said anything.“You don’t have to pretend,” I said after a bit.He was quiet for a moment. “I’m not pretendi
Ellie’s POVIt took the better part of an hour to explain everything, sitting cross-legged on Lucas’s living room floor with a mug of tea gone cold between my hands while Sarah and Abigail occupied the couch and Lucas sat in the armchair with his arms folded, saying nothing.I started with Ryan in f
Dominic POVI barely make it to my locker before my friends descend on me like starving vultures.“Bro, you look different today,” Marcus says, elbowing me hard enough to bruise a warrior.“Glowing,” Tyler adds with a smirk. “Heard the news, and it’s pretty clear the Moon Goddess finally blessed yo
Ellie POV By the time evening rolls around, my brain feels like it’s been wrung out like a rag. School had been a circus—whispers, stares, people pretending they weren’t looking directly at my neck as if a glowing bond mark might suddenly appear. That’s not how that works but it sure felt like it.
Ellie's POVThe next day, I spotted Dominic waiting outside my classroom. The sight made something twist in my chest. This kind of thing – waiting around, trying to see someone – used to be what I always did for him.When I finally appeared, chatting casually with some classmates, I made sure not to
Ellie's POVBefore I could leave school, I was summoned to the dean's office by his secretary. Her expression was apologetic but firm as she gestured for me to take a seat in one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs facing his mahogany desk."Miss Ellie," the dean began, shuffling through some papers







