LOGINThe living room was unusually tense, the kind of quiet that pressed on the chest and made every movement feel louder than it should. The Guardians had gathered, each paired with their mate, forming a circle of anxious anticipation.
Isolde sat close to Thorne, her fingers brushing his as she tried to anchor herself. Tora’s hand never left Jax’s, Chelsea leaned into Ben, Nalia kept one arm around Tyler, while Gunner’s gaze never left Koa, who paced near the center, a low hum of energy rolling off her wolf form. At the edge of the room, Serenya lingered, her posture stiff, as if she was trying to shrink into herself despite being far too tall and striking to do so successfully.
Koa paused, lifting her head so that her green eyes, bright with the moon’s glow, swept over everyone. “I bring a message from the gods,” she said, her voice carrying the weight of the Goddess realm. “They have spoken. We are not facing this alone. Each of
The living room was unusually tense, the kind of quiet that pressed on the chest and made every movement feel louder than it should. The Guardians had gathered, each paired with their mate, forming a circle of anxious anticipation.Isolde sat close to Thorne, her fingers brushing his as she tried to anchor herself. Tora’s hand never left Jax’s, Chelsea leaned into Ben, Nalia kept one arm around Tyler, while Gunner’s gaze never left Koa, who paced near the center, a low hum of energy rolling off her wolf form. At the edge of the room, Serenya lingered, her posture stiff, as if she was trying to shrink into herself despite being far too tall and striking to do so successfully.Koa paused, lifting her head so that her green eyes, bright with the moon’s glow, swept over everyone. “I bring a message from the gods,” she said, her voice carrying the weight of the Goddess realm. “They have spoken. We are not facing this alone. Each of
The realm shimmered into focus as Koa pulled herself free of Cheyenne’s body. White marble and silver light stretched endlessly, the air humming with a pulse that was both song and silence. The goddess realm was as beautiful as it was unsettling, a place where time moved like water and weight pressed against her bones in ways the mortal world never could.The Goddess Realm shimmered as Koa stepped into it, her form glowing faintly in the silver light of Selene’s moonlit court. Marble columns stretched toward an endless sky of swirling constellations, each one shifting like living things, whispering secrets across the heavens. Selene stood waiting at the center of the dais, her gown woven from starlight itself, the crescent moon glimmering on her brow.“You’ve come with questions,” Selene said softly, though the weight of her voice filled the entire sky.Koa bowed her head, though her wolf instincts bristled. “We’ve piece
Cheyenne sat cross-legged on her bed, phone in hand, chewing her lip like it might help steady her nerves. It didn’t. She’d already tried pacing, tried fresh air, tried staring at the stars for clarity—none of it worked. The only thing left was the one person who might have answers, even if reaching out to him meant reopening wounds she wasn’t sure had healed.Charlie answered on the second ring, his familiar voice rough with sleep. “Chey? It’s midnight. Please tell me you didn’t blow up another training ground.”Despite everything, she smiled. “Not yet. Give me a week.”There was a pause, then a sigh. “Alright. What’s wrong?”She hesitated, then pushed straight in. “We’ve been putting pieces together since you left. About the attacks, the shadows Maddox saw, Serenya’s tribe… Charlie, have you ever heard of creatures that hunt guardians?”Th
The gym had long since gone quiet, but Ben and Gunner hadn’t moved from the benches pushed against the far wall. A single fluorescent light buzzed above them, flickering every few minutes like it was debating whether to stay alive or give up. It matched the mood.“You ever think back to that night?” Ben’s voice was low, almost like he was afraid someone—or something—might be listening. His hands were laced together, elbows braced on his knees, shoulders slouched in a way that only came with memories he didn’t like revisiting.“All the damn time,” Gunner muttered, leaning back with a heavy sigh. “And the more I do, the more it makes me sick.”Because the truth had shifted. What they’d believed for years—what their fathers had told them, what they had convinced themselves to accept—no longer fit.They weren’t The Originals.Maddox stirred inside Gunner&
Cheyenne was never a fan of secrets—especially the kind that clawed at her gut and whispered in the dark like a horror movie voice-over. After what Gunner told her, she couldn't shake the gnawing sense that they'd been tiptoeing around something for far too long.So they went back to basics.One-on-one. No distractions. No chaos. No toddlers trying to use enchanted sticks as swords.Just truth.******First: ToraThey met on the training cliffs behind the cottage she shared with Jax and the twins. Kael and Liora were off with their grandparents, giving Tora her first taste of silence in what felt like a century.She was already mid-spar with a training dummy, a blade in each hand, black curls flying behind her like a flaming war banner.“Is this gunna be a casual conversation,” she said between strikes, “or should I put my stabby things away?”“Up to you,” Cheyen
The rhythmic clank of weights dropping onto rubber flooring echoed through the mostly empty gym, each thud a physical punctuation mark to Cheyenne’s chaotic thoughts.She gritted her teeth and exhaled slowly, lifting again, sweat beading across her brow. The bar shook slightly in her grasp, but she powered through, letting the burn in her muscles chase away the overload in her brain. Her arms trembled, not from weakness but from holding everything in for far too long.The prophecy. The lost herd. The monsters. The fact that history might be repeating itself—and worse, that no one had any clear idea of how to stop it.Koa?I’m here, her wolf murmured gently from the back of her mind, her presence warm and steady, like a fire glowing low in the hearth of her soul.“Just making sure,” Cheyenne muttered aloud, breathless as she let the weights down with a controlled thud. “You’ve been







