All Chapters of What Survived The Burn: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Simon’s POVCarrying a tray full of different foods up the three flights of stairs, I realize—why the hell didn’t I bother to ask what she wanted?I’ve got sandwiches, chips, and a variety of snacks. Three drinks too—an orange juice, a Coke, and a Dr. Pepper. Hopefully, she likes at least one of them. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Her scent threw me so far off guard.When my Beta, Matt, mind-linked me to say he was bringing a she-wolf to the pack house, I expected someone lost, maybe a little scared—not the girl who walked through the front door and shattered every piece of calm I thought I had. Not my mate.And she’d been abandoned as a baby... then all but rejected again when her adopted dad found out she wasn’t human. It makes me furious.It makes me even more furious that she thought she had to run away just to make her mom happy. That kind of pain runs deep, and she’s been carrying it all alone.“Now that she is here, I’m glad she ran away,” Zyan—my possessive, growling wolf—cut

Loria’s POVI stood just inside the doorway, quiet, unmoving, and completely unprepared for the tidal wave that was this moment.Simon’s back was to me as he pulled open drawers with the kind of ease that came from hundreds of mornings just like this one. He didn’t hesitate. Each movement was practiced, efficient, and loving. The kind of care that came from devotion, not obligation.Zerina stilled beneath my skin, her ears tuned not to sound, but to feeling.“He’s a good father,” she said softly. “He loves that boy.”“Yeah,” I agreed. “I can see it in everything he does.”Anthony’s little legs swung at the edge of the bed while Simon moved around him, collecting socks and a dinosaur shirt. The kind of shirt a kid would wear until it practically fell apart.I found myself smiling before I even realized it.And then, he sniffed the air. I saw his little nose twitch and his head snap toward me like a wolf cub who just caught wind of something important.His eyes widened.“Daddy, who is t

Loria’s POVI stood just inside the doorway, quiet, unmoving, and completely unprepared for the tidal wave that was this moment.Simon’s back was to me as he pulled open drawers with the kind of ease that came from hundreds of mornings just like this one. He didn’t hesitate. Each movement was practiced, efficient, and loving. The kind of care that came from devotion, not obligation.Zerina stilled beneath my skin, her ears tuned not to sound, but to feeling.“He’s a good father,” she said softly. “He loves that boy.”“Yeah,” I agreed. “I can see it in everything he does.”Anthony’s little legs swung at the edge of the bed while Simon moved around him, collecting socks and a dinosaur shirt. The kind of shirt a kid would wear until it practically fell apart.I found myself smiling before I even realized it.And then, he sniffed the air. I saw his little nose twitch and his head snap toward me like a wolf cub who just caught wind of something important.His eyes widened.“Daddy, who is t

Simon’s POVLoria was asleep before we even got back to our room.Her breathing had slowed against my shoulder as I carried her through the hallways, and by the time I laid her in the bed, she was completely out. No tension in her jaw. No flicker in her lashes. Just the softness of sleep, deep and real. I lingered for a second, brushing one of her curls off her cheek. She looked younger like this. Or maybe just untouched by everything that had been pressing on her since the day we met.Now she lay wrapped in a blanket, her chest rising and falling in a rhythm that steadied something inside me.I should’ve joined her. Should’ve crawled under the covers and wrapped myself around her. Instead, I sit on the couch across the room, the amulet in my hand and a knot in my chest that won’t come loose.The object is heavier than I expect. Not in weight, exactly, but in presence. Like it’s holding more than just old metal and a polished stone. It’s about the size of a walnut, maybe a little smal

Loria’s POVI didn’t move. I couldn’t.The weight of everything they’d just told me pressed down like a mountain on my chest. I wasn’t just a werewolf, not even just a mate or Luna. I was something else entirely—something ancient. Something impossible. My body held the blood of both the Moon Goddess and the Shadow God. And I was pregnant.I blinked at the floor, then at the doctor, then Simon, my mouth opening, but no words came out. My thoughts spun like a tornado."What does all of that mean?" I finally asked, my voice quieter than I expected. "About the divinity, I mean?"Simon shook his head. "That’s the problem. No one knows."I looked at the doctor, hoping she had something more to add. Her expression was grim.I leaned forward on the couch, fingers tightening around the throw blanket over my lap. "What does it mean to have both their blood? To carry both light and shadow?"Simon exhaled, rubbing his hands together. "The only way we’re going to get answers is to find your birth