LOGINVivienne POVThe bedroom had never been this silent.Not truly silent, because there were too many people in it for that. The twins were whispering to each other near the foot of the bed, Kane was standing close to the door like a guilty criminal waiting for judgment, Asher was beside him looking unusually pale, Ryker was by the window with his arms folded and his eyes locked on me like I might disappear if he blinked, while Dante stood near the chair with that careful, controlled expression of his that fooled absolutely no one. Through the bond, I could feel them all. Happiness. Shock. Fear. Wonder. A kind of insane joy they were trying so hard to hold back that it made my chest ache. They wanted to smile, touch me and ask questions, make plans, probably start building a nursery and threatening the entire realm in the same breath, but none of them dared to say one word because the woman carrying their child was sitting on the bed looking like she had just been told the moon had fall
Vivienne POVBy the time we finally left my room, I was already exhausted and we had not even reached the front door. Kane had one of my bags in his hand, Asher had somehow stolen another one while pretending it was too heavy for “a delicate soul like me,” and the twins were glued to both my sides like two beautiful, dramatic bracelets with abandonment issues. Maya held my left arm, Mara held my right, and every few steps one of them would sigh like I was going to war and not returning to an empire I literally owned. Dante and Ryker walked ahead, speaking lowly to one of the senior guards, while Kane kept turning every few seconds to check if I was still behind him, as if I could disappear into smoke between the hallway and the stairs.“You know,” I muttered, glancing at the twins beside me, “for people who are not coming, you two are doing a lot of escorting.”Mara tightened her hold on my arm. “We are emotionally escorting you.”Maya nodded firmly. “And physically too, because if
Vivienne POVPacking should have been simple. Fold clothes, choose weapons, hide the more illegal items under the innocent ones, check documents, lock cases and leave. That was the plan, a clean and easy plan, but apparently my life was cursed because Kane and Asher had decided that helping me pack meant standing too close, touching too much and making every simple movement ten times harder than it needed to be. I was kneeling beside my open suitcase with three shirts in my hand while Kane sat on the edge of my bed pretending to inspect my dagger straps like he hadn’t already inspected them five times, and Asher was behind me, holding up one of my black tops against his chest with a deeply offended look.“You own too much black,” Asher announced.I didn’t even look up. “Says the man who dresses like murder got invited to dinner.”“That is style.”“That is emotional damage with sleeves.”Kane snorted from the bed, and I pointed at him without turning. “Don’t encourage him. Both of yo
Vivienne’s POV I rubbed my forehead, already feeling the headache of what this arrangement would cause. “What about the elders and the council? Don’t pretend they won’t have opinions. Those people have opinions about breathing too loudly.” Asher scoffed at once, sitting forward with the air of a man who had been waiting for this exact complaint. “They can swallow their opinions with hot sand. You’re our Luna now, whether we announce it or not, and if two of us want to help our mate reclaim full order in her territory, what exactly are they going to do? Complain? They already do that for exercise. If anyone tries to cause trouble, I’ll kill them nicely.” I stared at him. “There is no nice way to kill someone.” “That sounds like a lack of creativity.” “Asher.” “What? I said nicely.” Ryker pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, and Dante gave Asher the exhausted look of a man who had carried the burden of his brother’s personality for too many years. Kane, on
Vivienne POVThe moment Kane talked about condition, I knew I wasn't going to like it.His expression alone was enough warning.That man only looked that serious when he was about to say something that would annoy me."What condition?" I asked suspiciously.Kane nodded."Two of us are going with you."For several seconds I simply stared at him then I laughed but obody laughed with me.My smile slowly disappeared."You're serious.""Very."I looked around the room.Dante nodded, Ryker nodded and Asher nodded too My eye twitched."Oh, goddess."They had discussed this and not only discussed it, they had clearly agreed on it before coming here.I suddenly felt ambushed."Absolutely not.""Absolutely yes," Kane replied immediately."No.""Yes.""No.""Yes."I pointed at him."You don't get to decide that.""And you don't get to walk into a mafia empire full of people who would happily stab you and expect us to smile and wave goodbye."I groaned loudly and dropped back into my chair."Tha
Vivienne I nodded, though I knew all of them could feel I wasn’t exactly calm. The bond was wide open now, humming with emotions from every side, and theirs were hitting me almost as strongly as mine. There was relief, surprise, worry, love and underneath it, that sharp edge of fear they tried to hide whenever I looked too serious. It should have overwhelmed me, but instead it made me smile because these terrifying Alpha men, rulers of Shadowcrest, could face armies without blinking yet one emotional hug from me had them internally panicking like pups in a thunderstorms I pulled back fully and wiped my face even though no tears had fallen. “Come in. I need to talk to you.”The panic through the bond spiked so fast I actually laughed.Kane’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you laughing?”“Because all four of you just became emotionally constipated at the same time.”Asher blinked, then placed a hand over his chest like I had wounded him. “That is a very cruel accusation.”“It’s also true,”







