LOGINFenris’s PerspectiveI have to move. Now.The heavy iron door clicks shut behind me with a sickening finality, but the air in the alley offers no relief. It feels too thin, too damp, and nowhere near cold enough to put out the catastrophic fire raging under my skin. My chest heaves as I lean against the rough brick wall, my massive hands planted flat against the brick, trying to ground myself.I try desperately to lean on the cold logic of my father’s teachings, on mating protocol. Be patient, I chant internally, my jaw locked so tight my teeth ache. Be distant. Show restraint. Do not overwhelm her.But then, a voice hits my mind like a physical blow, shattering that protocol into a million useless shards.It isn't a distant memory of a lecture; it is Alpha Orion himself. His voice booms through the the mind-link with the crushing weight of a collapsing mountain. The sheer psychic pressure of it literally buckles my knees, forcing me to brace myself harder against the brick.'It is no
Leila's PerspectiveThe air in the boutique tastes distinctly like copper and burnt ozone.It is the lingering psychic residue of a Mate Bond snapping into place like a heavy steel trap. To a wolf, even a bystander, it feeels like the heavy, charged atmosphere right before a violent lightning strike—thick enough to make the fine hairs on my arms stand up in a jagged, static line.I don't waste a single second. Fenris had bolted out the back door, but I knew he was barely contained in that alleyway. I also knew my idiot brother, Silas, was sitting right in my back office, monitoring the security feeds. He had just felt that psychic shockwave hit the building at point-blank range.Through the fringes of the pack bond, I felt Silas’s sudden, violent spike of pure, unadulterated shock...the jarring realization that his sickly "ghost of the science labs" was actually his best friend’s fated mate.'Stay in the office,' I snap a
Fenris’s PerspectiveI am barely holding on.Standing in the cramped, perfume-scented air of Leila’s boutique, I feel like a star collapsing under its own massive gravity. My skin feels three sizes too tight for my muscles, my lungs are too small for the oxygen-deprived air I’m trying to pull in, and Damian is a frantic, howling mess in the back of my mind.I’m staring at June, and I physically cannot stop. My gaze has become a physical thing, tracing the curve of her jaw, the way her hair spills like dark silk over that cream-colored wool, and the way her green and silver eyes dart nervously away from mine.When her eyes drop to my waist, I feel a surge of heat so violent it’s a miracle the floorboards don’t ignite beneath my feet. I know what she’s seeing. I know the thin, technical fabric of my workout pants is betraying every dark, predatory, and deeply ungentlemanly thought I’m having.I see the
From June's PerspectiveThe air in the boutique has fundamentally shifted. It’s no longer scented with Leila’s calming lavender and the neutral smell of new fabric; it’s thick, heavy, and saturated with the scent of Fenris, rain-soaked cedar, crushed mint, and a dense, muscular warmth that seems to coat the back of my throat.He is towering over me, a massive 6’6” mountain of a man who makes my new 5’7” frame feel delicate and fragile all over again. He is crowding the doorway, and as he takes a slow, deliberate step toward me, II feel the "electricity" under my skin surge. It’s not just a metaphor anymore; it’s a physical hum, a literal vibration in my marrow that makes my breath hitch. I’m staring up at him, my neck craned back, and for a moment, I am paralyzed by the sheer, impossible scale of him.Then, his gaze drops.He looks me up and down, his striking blue eyes, the color of a freezing w
Fenris’s PerspectiveI don’t wait for an invite. I can’t.The scent of her, the soft peaches and vanilla, now sharpened by the salt of her workout and the heavy ozone of her Lycan awakening, something ancient, is a physical chain wrapped tight around my throat, pulling me relentlessly into the room. It’s a primal lure, dragging me out of the damp alleyway and straight into this delicate sanctuary of silk and dried lavender.As I cross the threshold, the spacious boutique seems to instantly shrink around me. I’m a towering 6'6" of raw, restless energy, a creature built of heavy bone and brawn, and I feel like a feral bull trapped in a glass house. I have to duck my head just to clear the frame, my broad shoulders nearly brushing the sides of the heavy steel door. I’m crowding the entryway, my sheer mass blocking out the morning light and casting a long, dark shadow that reaches all the way across the hardwood floor to her bare feet.But I don't care
June’s PerspectiveLeila sighs, a long, exasperated sound that vibrates with years of dealing with difficult men. "It’s the President of ΦΟΜ," she says, her tone dripping with mock fatigue. "Fenris. My idiot of a brother's best friend."That's when it hits me like a bucket of ice water, the striking facial similarities, the same fiery red curly hair. Leila is Silas's older sister. The realization makes my stomach do a slow, nervous roll; in my blind panic to escape the fraternity house, I’ve stumbled right into the inner circle of the very people I was trying to avoid.She huffs, the sharpclack of her heels echoing as she paces the small space outside my dressing room. "He’s currently standing in my alleyway looking like a kicked puppy with the temper of a grizzly bear. He says he has your pendant, June. Apparently, you dropped it at the house."My breath hitches, my hand flying instinctively to my chest.He has it. The only piece of







