Se connecterSIERRA'S POVI don't realise I'm crying until my brother pulls back slightly and looks at me with the same surprised expression I imagine is mirrored on my own face.Not sobbing. Not breaking apart.Just tears.Quiet ones because I always wanted a brother or sister but my Mom always said that she couldn't have anymore kids and I settled with being an only child but now...Now I'm crying like an idiot because I have a family of siblings.It's the kind of crying that slips free when something buried so deeply inside you finally gets permission to exist.For years, I told myself I didn't need anyone. It was easier that way. Easier to believe I was alone because then I never had to wonder why nobody came for me. Why nobody searched. Why nobody cared enough to look harder. But now, sitting in this bed with one brother awkwardly holding onto my shoulders, another hovering nearby pretending not to be emotional, and Damiano watching me with unmistakable affection in his eyes, and a mate who th
My heart starts racing the moment the door opens, and I hate how obvious it feels.After everything I’ve just been through, after pain and fear and everything else, this is what makes me nervous? Meeting people? But this isn’t just people. This is something else entirely. Something deeper. Something that feels like it’s shifting the ground beneath my feet in a completely different way.Because this isn’t about survival.This is about… where I belong.Damiano steps in first, familiar enough now that his presence immediately steadies something in me. There’s reassurance in the way he moves, in the way his eyes flick to me like he’s checking, confirming, making sure I’m still alright. But it’s the two figures behind him that pull my attention fully.My brothers.The word feels strange in my head. New. Heavy.They’re both large, broad-shouldered, carrying the same kind of presence that fills the room without effort. Strong. Controlled. Dangerous in the way warriors are—but their eyes…Thei
NikolaiShe looks stronger.Not fully—no, not even close—but stronger than she has any right to be after what she’s just endured. There’s still a fragility to the way she holds herself, a carefulness in her movements that tells me her body hasn’t caught up with her mind yet. But her eyes… her eyes are clear. Focused. Awake in a way that tells me she’s already thinking ahead, already trying to piece together everything that’s happened and everything that’s still waiting for her.And that unsettles me more than if she had just broken down.Because Sierra doesn’t fall apart.She adapts.She pushes forward.And right now, I don’t know if I want her to.“You’re thinking too hard,” I say quietly, leaning back in the chair just slightly, though I don’t release her hand. My thumb keeps moving over her skin, a slow, steady rhythm that’s become more for me than for her.Her gaze flicks to mine instantly, sharp despite the exhaustion lingering beneath it. “So are you.”There’s no hesitation in h
SierraWaking up feels… different this time.There’s no sharp panic tearing through my chest, no immediate jolt of fear that snaps me fully conscious before I even understand where I am. Instead, everything comes back slowly, like my body is finally allowing itself to surface rather than dragging me up all at once. My breathing is steady. My mind isn’t racing. Even the pain—because it’s still there—is dulled, like it’s been pushed just far enough away that I can exist around it instead of inside it.For a moment, I don’t move.I just lie there, letting myself feel it.The quiet.Not the suffocating kind from before, not the heavy silence that came with being alone and waiting for something bad to happen. This is different. Controlled. Safe. There’s no echo of footsteps outside a locked door, no distant voices, no countdown ticking somewhere in the background like my life is something disposable.Just stillness.And warmth.That’s what pulls me the rest of the way back.Warmth.Familia
Nikolai's POVI don’t let go of her hand. Not when the doors shut, not when the engine turns over, and not even when the vehicle begins to pull away from that place. My grip stays firm around her fingers, like if I loosen it even slightly, she might disappear again. The world outside the window blurs into nothing, buildings and shadows passing by unnoticed, because all of my focus is locked onto the woman beside me.She’s here. Breathing. Warm. Alive. That should be enough to steady the storm inside my chest—but it isn’t. Because every time I close my eyes, I still see her chained to that chair, wrists torn raw, body trembling under something she refused to show me fully. I still smell the wolfsbane. I still hear the quiet way her breath hitched when the restraints came off.My jaw tightens as I shift slightly in my seat, careful not to jostle her. Her head rests against my shoulder now, her body finally giving in to exhaustion, but even in sleep, her fingers curl faintly into mine li
Sierra's POVThe first thing I feel is his hands.Warm. Careful. Shaking just a little.For a moment I think I’m dreaming, because nothing about the last few hours has been gentle. Nothing has been warm. Pain has been my entire world for so long that the softness almost confuses my body.Then his scent reaches me. It surrounds my every senses and I relax into it.Nikolai.My eyes struggle to open, lids heavy and swollen from when Joey punched me several times, but when they finally do open, he’s right there. Close enough that our foreheads are nearly touching, his breath brushing over my face. His skin is streaked with blood—too much of it—but his eyes…His eyes are on me like I’m the only thing in the world.“I’m here, baby girl,” he whispers again.My throat burns when I try to speak. Only a rasp comes out.“Nik…”The relief that flashes across his face nearly undoes me.His hands move faster then, working at the restraints around my wrists, not even a hiss comes from his mouth with
Chapter 81: Can we get that dog now?Sierra's POV "Nikolai, you won't even look me in the eye!" I say, but it comes out as more of a shout and a cry. It hurts to see him so defeated about something but I also know that he is one of the most closed off people I have ever met yet the way he can't ho
Chapter 80: I do want you Sierra's POV"So, how have you been?" Maeve asks me as she sits next to me on the bed. I feel like I have been hit with an emotional truck. "Good", I lie through my teeth, but she doesn't pester me on it. She puts her motherly arm around my shoulder and holds me close to
Chapter 77: She...Alive?Nikolai's POV"Because she lives with me. I'm her mate," I say matter—of—fact, no room for discussion. "She's...Alive?" Katarina cries. It's silent, but it is so loud all at the same time, like Sierra's."She is. She wanted the truth on what really happened, they were run
Nikolai's POV 5 hours earlier The drive from where I am to where Sierra is takes too much time. Time I might not have if she doesn't stay around and carry on with all of her searching. I found the names of her biological parents. I tried to call, but after a few rings it went to voicemail. What s







