“Now, we have a nurse practitioner who will do a physical examination after we check your bags. His office is down that hall. Your doctor already sent medical records and your current therapist sent notes from your sessions together. Very interesting stuff there, Bronx. Unfortunately, the last session was five months ago.” She stops and gives me a smile I can’t read, but it makes me uncomfortable that she already knows so much about me and I know nothing about her except that she is smoking hot and owns a rehabilitation ranch in the middle of a desert. “Yeah, I stopped going, but I’m glad to know my team is on top of their shit.” I look around, assessing my surroundings. Everything is so calm here. There’s no boisterous laughing, no omegas running to their next task. No wolves outside the windows growling while they play. Everything is just so… “It’s quiet here.” “Does that bother you?” She tilts her head and looks at me, her eyes full of curiosity. “The serenity? I know it’s not a

“Bronx, you need to wake up. Right now. Open your eyes and look at me. I’m not asking. I’m commanding you.” A sharp voice penetrates through the mindlink, abruptly breaking the connection. The disruption causes a sharp pain in my head and a falling feeling, even though my feet are on solid ground. “It’s time to come back. You need to stay inside the compound.” I let my eyes flicker open and look around, feeling disoriented. I’m alone in the desert. Turn around, but I see nothing familiar. The night sky is clear, letting the moon and stars illuminate the landscape with an eerie blue glow. I sniff the air, but nothing smells familiar. How did I get here? I was drunk on a plane. Where was I going? There was a beautiful woman? Something about a weretiger? That can’t be right. A crackly voice? I remember a pink light, but I don’t remember where it was coming from. How do I get back? Where am I going? Home? I don’t know how I got here. How the fuck am I going to get home? Kas. I heard K

Kas takes my hand and leads me upstairs. She already shut the first door at the top of the stairs. There is a sign with a pair of wolves with noses touching. They look like Saint and Lex The banner below them says ‘Maya & Andres’ in painted in script letters. My heart beats happily, knowing they are here with us. The closed door mutes the pine and lavender scents, but it is there.I stop so I can open the door and get a peek at them. As I reach for the knob, Kas catches my hand. I look up at her to see her holding up a finger to her smiling lips, urging me to be quiet. I turn back to the door, but my hand falls because it’s already open, allowing me to tiptoe into the room. Kas keeps ahold of my hand. It’s almost as if it scares her to let go.I look into the crib. The twins are together, sleeping soundly. I want to touch them, but I don’t want to interrupt their nap either. I settle for leaning over and watching them hold hands, blissfully unaware of the world around them. Kas leans

“How did you know that?” I feel my jaw tense up. Anger heats my belly and spreads throughout my chest. If she knows who Kas really is, it puts so many people in danger. Kas and our children, the rest of the Menae, even me. I take a step back away from her in case I need to run. “Bronx, Arrow called you a child of Perses. Do you remember that?” She ignores my defensive posture and keeps speaking in a calm tone. “Yeah? It means nothing to me.” I pivot my foot, ready to turn around. I’m only familiar with the ten miles I ran with Arrow this morning, but I will figure something out. “Well, starting right now, it does. He doesn’t have much progeny, but you are one of them. It makes you unique, Bronx.” She crosses her legs and laces her finger over her knee. “You are a Greek demigod. Grandson of the Titan Perses and damn if you don’t look just like that cocky bastard. Even more so than the Frouros or the other four Guardians. Oh, I’ve never thought of it before, but I guess it also make

“Bronx, what do you mean? N-no one told us when they said you needed rehabilitation.” Doctor Khe takes a step back from me. “Why would you do that? What happened?” “I didn’t know why she left. I thought she abandoned me and I was mad and drunk and… I… I want her to hurt as badly as I was hurting.” I rub my hands over my face and force back tears. “It’s too late. I’ve killed both of us. She’ll never forgive me. There’s no point in me being here.” A feeling of despair blankets me. My shoulders feel heavy, forcing me down until my forehead is resting on the ground. This is what I’ve feared, but it’s what I deserve. The pain I have been running from, the one deep in my gut that spreads like acid through my chest, bubbles up and makes up for all the time I spent numbing myself to stop feeling it. The fire it creates is not consoling the way the one liquor creates is. The more it builds, the more it burns a hole straight through me. I grit my teeth and let the growl from deep within me ro