MasukJinx's pov "Calhoun, please!" I cried, my voice echoing off the damp cave walls. "You have to wake up. You have to heal!" His breathing was shallow and each gasp sounded like dry leaves rubbing together. The blue glow of the water was fading, replaced by the dark, oily blood of the snake. I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to hold his broken ribs together, but I felt so small. So weak. Nyx, please, I begged in the silence of my mind. I know you’re tired. I know the silver and the lunar blast hurt you but he’s dying. Our mate is dying. Deep inside me, in the darkest corner of my soul, something stirred. It wasn't a growl. It was a faint, golden pulse. “He... protected... us,” a tiny, raspy voice whispered. It was Nyx, "I don't like him, but he protected us." She sounded like she had been walking through a desert for a thousand years. "He did," I whispered aloud, tears dripping into Calhoun’s pale cheek. "He gave everything and now we have to give it b
Derrick's Pov The moon was high in the sky, but the night felt heavier than usual. Hours had passed, and Jinx was still missing. I couldn't sit still as I paced back and forth across the floor, my boots clicking against the wood as my mind raced with dark thoughts. "Shit!" I shouted at the empty walls. I had underestimated Calhoun. I never thought he would be fast enough or strong enough after being a prisoner in the iron walls to snatch her away from me so suddenly. I collapsed into the edge of the bed, burying my face in my hands. I tried to think, tried to plan, but my brain was a mess of worry. I knew they had to be somewhere in the thick forest surrounding the pack house, but the trees were dense and full of hiding spots. Finding her felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. My mind drifted back to the way Jinx looked at me. A while ago, she had actually helped me. She showed me kindness when I deserved nothing but hatred. After everything I had done, after the wa
I groaned into his mouth, my fingers digging into his muscular shoulders as the broken chains on my wrists clinked softly, a reminder of where I had just been, but the sound was drowned out by the heavy splashing of the water as Calhoun moved us toward the edge of the hot spring. He lifted me effortlessly, my legs wrapping around his thick waist. He stepped into the glowing blue water. It was perfectly hot, soothing the bruises on my skin and the ache in my soul. "You're so beautiful," Calhoun murmured, his eyes scanning my face with a worshipful intensity. He reached for the hem of my ruined shirt, his touch hesitant, as if he were afraid he might break me. "Don't stop," I breathed. "I am afraid I might hurt you little mouse." Calhoun said softly. "you won't." I replied cupping his face and kissing him slowly. He pulled the soaked fabric over my head, tossing it onto the rocks. The steam swirled around my bare skin, and I felt a shiver of pleasure that had nothing t
The cold water of the creek was freezing my blood, but the guards were getting closer. I could see the orange glow of their torches dancing on the snow at the top of the ravine. "They went down! Search every inch!" a guard roared. Calhoun staggered, his weight leaning heavily on me. He was still dazed, his eyes unfocused. We had to move. I pulled him through the waist deep water, the current pulling at our legs. We rounded a bend in the creek, and that’s when I saw it, a dark, jagged hole in the side of the cliff. Steam was puffing out of the hole like the breath of a dragon. "In there!" I hissed, dragging Calhoun toward the opening. As soon as we stepped inside, the freezing air of the forest disappeared. The cave was deep and narrow, slanting downward into the earth. The further we went, the hotter it got. The walls were wet, dripping with moisture that turned into a thick, white fog. "Jinx... stop..." Calhoun rasped, his voice thick with pain. "Just a little furt
I held Calhoun’s head in my lap, my tears dripping into his blood stained cheeks. "Calhoun, wake up," I whispered, shaking him gently. His breathing was shallow, and his skin felt like ice. The lunar blast had drained him and me. My own body felt heavy, as if my veins were filled with lead. "Jinx..." a weak, wet voice called from the cabin. I looked back. Derrick was slumped against a broken beam, clutching his side. Blood leaked through his fingers, staining his expensive shirt. "He’s... he’s going to kill us all if you don't leave him." "Shut up, Derrick!" I snapped. "You did this. You triggered him!" "I was only trying to save you. You saw it for yourself what that man really is. He is a demon. A rabid dog that should be put down before he burns the world to the ground." Derrick said coughing out blood and I glared at him."He is my Demon!" "He will kill you!" Derrick shouted back."That wouldn't be the first time would it Derrick?, seeing that you tried to kill me too." I s
Calhoun took a step into the cabin, and the temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees. The blood dripping from his fingertips hit the wooden floor with a heavy drip, drip, drip that sounded like a ticking clock in the absolute silence. "Calhoun?" I whispered, my voice trembling. He didn't answer. His head tilted to the side, a sickening crack echoing from his neck. He sniffed the air, his chest heaving. The scent of him was overwhelming as it was no longer the comforting smell of rose and rain. It smelled like blood and a cold, metallic darkness that made Nyx howl in terror inside my mind. "Jinx, get back!" Derrick yelled, scrambling to his feet. He wiped blood from his lip and gripped his silver sword with white knuckles. "Calhoun, stop! You’re not in your right mind! Look at her! You’re going to hurt her!" Calhoun’s red eyes slowly flickered toward Derrick. The growl that erupted from his chest was so loud the windows rattled in their frames. "Mine," Calhoun hissed. Th







