로그인Kael's POVWe were back at school, but nothing felt the same.The bond felt thin and stretched in my chest—something pulled past its limit, holding on through stubbornness alone.Fenrir watched our surroundings quietly. "It's weaker today," he said.It shouldn't have thinned this fast. The mate bond was built to survive distance, conflict, and time—one of the most resilient things in existence. The fact that it was fading this quickly meant something was actively working against it."Zander knows exactly what he's doing," Fenrir said.Ryker was tense beside me, Duke as restless as Fenrir—I could feel that low, continuous energy coiled in him, wanting to move and being held forcibly still. Soren was on my other side, quieter, but the anxiety was building behind his eyes even as Blaze worked to keep him focused and steady.I felt her before I saw her.We all turned at the same moment. She was crossing the hall with him, close and unhurried, comfortable in a way that had no business look
Ayla's POVThey still weren't there, and that was the first thing I noticed when the hallway emptied — no familiar footsteps behind me, no warmth at my side, no pull from three directions at once reminding me where they were. Just quiet with too much space in it.Tala shifted uneasily. "The bond feels weaker.""I feel it," I said. "Like they've given up."It was still there—technically intact—but fragile in a way it had never been before. Like it could snap if pushed any further.That scared me more than I wanted to admit.I walked slower than usual without meaning to. Like my feet were waiting for someone my mind had already decided wasn't coming."They're not coming," Tala said. It was as if she knew I needed to hear it spoken aloud."I can see that," I said.I didn't like it. This wasn't what I'd expected. It didn't feel like breathing room anymore—it felt like being left behind. Like I hadn't meant enough for them to keep fighting. Like they'd finally looked at the situation clear
Ryker's POVThe drive felt too long. Every second dragged and stretched in a way that had nothing to do with traffic and everything to do with the bond sitting faint and thin in my chest, like something being slowly pulled apart at the seam.My leg wouldn't stop moving. Duke kept pacing inside me."Turn around," he growled."We can't," I said."She's with him.""I know," I said. "That's the problem."We knew exactly where she was and exactly who she was with, and we couldn't do a single thing about it that wouldn't make everything worse.I watched Kael drive—hands steady on the wheel, Fenrir quiet and contained behind his eyes in that specific way that meant Kael had made a decision and was moving toward it. Soren sat beside me in the back, barely seeming to breathe, Blaze at the surface, focused and still.Neither of them spoke. Neither did I, because nothing useful was going to come out of my mouth right now.We pulled through the packhouse gates.I was out of the car before it stop
Ayla's POVThe triplets didn't follow me, and I felt that absence everywhere.Every corner I turned felt emptier than it should have. Every hallway was a little too quiet, like the sound had been turned down on a room I'd grown used to hearing properly."They're giving you room," Tala said."I can see that," I said, and felt miserable about it.It should have felt good. This was what I wanted, wasn't it? Distance. Room to breathe. No expectations pressing in from three directions at once, no complicated history sitting heavy in the air between us.Instead, it felt wrong.The space was too quiet — like a sound I'd grown so used to that its absence was louder than the sound itself. I walked to class and felt it with every step. The gap where something had been. Not dramatic. Not sharp. Just missing.Without asking or hesitating, Zander fell into step beside me, as if someone had already decided it without consulting me. His pace matched mine exactly."He's becoming routine," Tala said.
Kael's POVWe were ready before she arrived.The hallway took most of the night—balloons were tied to every railing, notes were pinned with care, and roses were arranged along the windowsills and locker vents, scattered across the floor in patterns that took Ryker three attempts to get right because his hands kept shaking. He'd never admit that. I wouldn't tell him I noticed.Fenrir stood very still inside me, holding his control while everything in us screamed to just go to her. "Let her choose."We positioned ourselves at the far end — not blocking, not cornering. Just present. We gave her the full length of the hallway to walk through everything we'd built, to take it however she needed.Ryker was beside me, barely contained, Duke's presence rumbling low across the mind link. Soren was on my other side—quiet and alert; Blaze was reading everything around us with that methodical attention he gave to things that mattered.We waited.She came through the front doors looking like someo
Ayla's POVZander was beside me the whole way to school, and somehow that made the walk easier than it had any right to be.The building came into view, and I was already bracing—already rebuilding the walls I'd forgotten I needed—when I stepped through the front doors and stopped.The hallway was decorated.Balloons tied to every railing, clusters of red and white floating quietly in the still indoor air. Notes pinned between lockers, small and deliberate, covering every available surface. Fresh roses lined the windowsills, were tucked into locker vents, and were scattered across the floor in careful patterns. There were far too many roses for winter, indicating that someone had put in effort to obtain them.Tala blinked. "Where in the goddess's name did they get roses at this hour?""Don't know," I said. "And don't care."Except I did know. I just didn't want to look at it directly and let it land somewhere it would do damage.Zander stayed quiet beside me, watching everything with
Ayla’s POVLuna Ria disappears into the packhouse the moment she sees me moving. I guess someone must have called her; otherwise, she would have waited for me.She and Alpha Jack took me in after the fall of my pack.I push the depressing thoughts aside and focus on my breathing. The closer I get to
Ayla’s POVThe closer I get to the packhouse, the louder the world becomes again—voices carry through the trees, followed by laughter and music. It sounds so bright against the darkness and quiet outside that it leaves a coldness under my skin.Every sound inside the packhouse hits my ears wrong; it
Ayla’s POVAlpha Jack and Luna Ria don’t stand in my way when I get up and head toward the door a second time. They know it’s time for me to leave.With one last silent nod, I exit the packhouse and slip into the cold.It’s dark now, the wind howling through the trees in the distance.I head toward
Ayla’s POVSnow falls in a slow, quiet drift all around me—not in the kind of way that makes it look magical.It just looks endless, a dull color of white and cold. It settles over everything—the trees, the ground, rooftops—as if trying to cover things up. As if, if it piles high enough, no one will







