LOGINJohanis’ POVThe first thing I hear that morning is the familiar thrum of Lily’s breathing. Mind you she's in her own room.It was not soft.Not peaceful.Just… steady. Determined. Like she refuses to die simply to spite the universe that tried to take her. Countless of times in fact.It’s ridiculous how comforting it is—even after ten years.I roll my shoulders as I step out onto the balcony outside my room in the mansion. The pack lands stretch below—wide forests, rolling fields, the faint silhouettes of wolves on patrol. The air tastes like pine. Clean. Quiet.Deceptive.Because beneath everything, I feel the same old hum—the same faint pull under my skin that I’ve lived with since I was eleven. The night the shadows came. The night they took something from us… and left something behind.“Johaaaaaa!” a voice yells from inside my room. “Wake up! We’re late!”I don’t even need to turn around.Only one person yells my name like it’s a threat.Lily..She bursts into the balcony with all
Johanis' POVThe moment the warm presence in my chest faded, it left behind an empty feeling—like someone had gently closed a door I didn’t know was open.The mysterious voice didn’t come back.Not when my breath steadied.Not when the trembling in my hands stopped.Not when my heart slowly shifted from panic to something softer—something aching and hollow.It was gone.Just… gone.But Lily—Her breathing, at least, began to even out.I crawled closer, swallowing hard as Mama wiped sweat from her forehead. Lily’s tiny chest rose and fell in shallow but steady waves now, instead of the frantic gasping from earlier. Her eyelashes fluttered, though she wasn’t fully awake. Her lips parted as if she was trying to say something.But that black mark…The one carved into her shoulder like a burn under the skin…It didn’t fade.It didn’t retreat.It didn’t even stop pulsing.A slow, deep throb.Like a second heartbeat.Like something living inside her blood.I reached toward it before stopping
Johanis' POVLily’s scream was still echoing when her body went limp against me.“Lily? Lily!”Her head lolled forward, curls falling over her face. She shivered violently, tiny whimpers slipping from her lips.Her eyes weren’t fully closed—but they weren’t open either. Just half-lidded, fogged, unfocused, rolling back like she was being pulled somewhere I couldn’t reach.“No—no, no, stay awake for me please.”I pressed my forehead to hers, trying to steady her breathing—trying to steady mine.The black mark on her shoulder pulsed.Once.Twice.Like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to her.A cold wave shot down her arm each time, making her small body jolt like it was being shocked. Her breathing hitched. Then she sagged again, slipping into a dizzy daze.“Lily. Please.”My voice cracked.She didn’t answer.The shadows were moving.Slowly at first—like they were sniffing, tasting the air—but then all at once, they surged toward us, drawn by whatever that mark was doing to her.I didn’t
Johanis' POVThe moment Mama and Papa disappeared into the chaos outside, silence swallowed our house like a vacuum.Not peaceful silence.Not a sleepy one either.The kind of silence that comes before something terrible.The kind that squeezes your lungs until you forget how to breathe.Lily clung to my sleeve, curls messy and eyes huge. “J-Joha… what do we do?”I didn’t answer right away, because for the first time my brave sister is showing her weakness. My heartbeat was too loud—rushing in my ears like waves crashing again and again. Every instinct in my bones screamed danger, louder than anything I’d ever heard before. Maybe worse than Hollowroot. Worse than the corrupted guardians. Worse than the nightmares that followed us for weeks.And it wasn’t just fear.It felt like something was telling us something..I swallowed hard and squeezed Lily’s hand. “First, we try to reach the others. Aya is closest to the border side. She’ll know what happened.”Lily nodded shakily. “Okay… oka
Johanis’ POVThey thought we didn't notice it.Just because we are young and naïve and innocent.But we do…Especially me.Adults forget that we’ve already survived things pups our age shouldn’t ever have. Monsters in the night. Corrupted beasts and spirits crawling from the earth. The way the air trembled when Hollowroot took its last breath. The pack still laughs and ruffles our hair and calls us kids, but sometimes—sometimes—I watch their eyes drift to the tree line with fear they try to swallow.And now… there’s something new.A rumor they whisper when they think we were asleep.A demon escaped from the doorway in the Demon’s Den.And it wasn’t just any demon..They say it might be the prince.I don’t know what a demon prince looks like. I don’t know why he’d be here. But I know one thing:Whenever Mama and Papa think no one is watching, their faces tighten the same way they did before all the corrupted creatures came.And that means danger.Which means my little sister needs wat
Lily’s POVI swear Brinn’s favorite hobby is annoying me.He just stood there with his stupid grin, flexing like he was already alpha of the entire pack (which is kinda impossible! Hmpp!), and said, “You’ll break like a stick, young mistress.”Excuse me?Six years old is practically grown! I can brush my own hair now. Sometimes. And I only trip over my boots, like… three times a day!!!That’s basically adult level coordination.So obviously, I launched myself at him.Brinn yelped and stumbled back, which was already victory enough for me, but then we both rolled into the dust. I clung to him like burrs on fur, yelling, “Take that, musclehead!”Behind me, I heard Joha groaning like the world’s most exhausted older brother. “Please at least don’t break her bones, Brinn. I don’t want to explain to Mama again why Lily has grass stains on her face.”Aya—oh, Aya—laughed. Actually laughed. And let me tell you, when she laughs, it’s not soft or pretty. It’s sharp, like a bark, but it still ma
Sophia's POVAll three of them bowed when we were a couple of feet away from them. The girl beamily peered at Carter; she even waved happily! I side-eyed him to see how he reacted, and he just nodded once. It was a good decision for him. If he had waved back, Lia would've forced herself to come out.T
Sophia's POV "Damn it! Those mutts couldn't even handle one single she-wolf!" The gray-haired man blurted out while stopping Carter's leg. I lunged at his back, hoping to gnaw the back of his neck. But he threw Carter at me, and we crashed on the ground. As a result, I grimaced in pain. Carter immed
Sophia's POVI immediately turned my head in his direction.'Finally, you're looking at me.' He softly stated with a gentle smile.Rubbing my eyes countless times with my free hand, only to be caught by his. 'I know what you're thinking. Yes. It's me.'He is still communicating with me through the link.
Jacob's POV"Don't shout, Addison. You'll make me deaf." I grunted while holding my sensitive ears. She rolled her eyes at me and threw her hoodie on the passenger seat. I raised my right brow at her."Luke kept on grumbling to Lia about the hoodie. Geez, at least listen to your wolf before running aw







