LOGINJohanis' 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
Johanis’ POVIf there’s one thing worse than being stuck with Lily when she’s sugar-hyper, it is being stuck with Aya when she’s wolf-snarling.Lucky me—I had both today.Training yard day. Which meant sweat, dirt, and, unfortunately, Brinn’s shirt already discarded somewhere he’d forget. Sari leaned against the fence with his usual ‘I’m too calm for this pack of fools’ expression, while Lily argued that she deserved to spar with the older pups.“Six years old is practically an adult,” she announced, chin high. “I’m ferocious.”“Ferociously short,” Brinn teased, ducking as Lily swung a fist at his stomach.Sari chuckled. “Careful, she bites.”“I do not!” Lily snapped, baring her teeth. “Okay maybe a little.”Aya snorted. For her, that was practically a laugh.I rubbed my temple. “Can we not traumatize my little ittle sister before training starts?”“She traumatizes herself,” Brinn said innocently. “Existing.”That earned him another punch attempt from Lily, which he dodged easily, sti
Jhoanna's POVI closed my eyes and let the mind link open, and almost immediately, I heard my mother’s familiar sulky tone echo in my mind.‘JHOANNA CARTER-MARTIN! Why didn’t you call when you went into labor?’ My mother’s voice grumbled, warm yet teasing. (Yes, this is her grumbling.) ‘I was waiti
Jhoanna’s POVThat very night, after our mind link with our parents, the healer’s wing finally fell into silence. The only sounds left were the quiet hum of the night beyond the windows, the occasional crackling of the lantern, and the soft, steady breaths of our newborn son nestled against my ches
Jhoanna’s POVMira hovered at my side, her warm presence a welcome contrast to the exhaustion weighing down my limbs. Despite my aching body, I felt strangely content. The scent of my pup filled the air, soft and new, grounding me in a way I hadn’t expected.Mira, ever the ray of sunshine, leaned i
Jhoanna’s POVThe laughter faded into a comfortable silence, the warmth of our little family settling in around us. Rio stretched, letting out a dramatic sigh as he stood.“Well, I have done my duty as an official witness to the great name war of Johanis Martin,” he said, smirking. “I’ll leave you







