All Chapters of Marked by Fire & Fang: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

LillyThe northern ridge burned.Not from fire. Not yet. But I felt it coming in my bones, in the slow twist of my gut, in the way the air shimmered around the edges of Logan’s silhouette as he stared at the live feed with eerie calm.“They’re cloaked,” he said, still standing at the center of the war room. “Using that shadow tech from the Blight Wars. But it’s old. I can see through it.”Cassian muttered a curse and typed faster at the console. “He’s not wrong. I’ve got heat signatures now—seven confirmed. That’s an assassination squad.”Link growled behind me, already halfway to the weapons wall.But Logan’s eyes never left the screen. “I’ll go.”“No,” I snapped, stepping in front of him. “You’re three.”“I’m more than three.”He didn’t say it with arrogance. He said it with truth.I crouched to his level, putting both hands on his tiny shoulders. “You are not a weapon. You are not their prophecy. You are my son.”His gold eyes met mine.“But they made the mistake of thinking I woul

LinkLogan was with Calla—our fiercely loyal, no-nonsense backup nanny with a shotgun under every cabinet and a master’s in childcare. Ember’s cousin, sharp as steel and steady as a mountain, who handled Logan like she was born to keep fire in check.Which meant Lilly and I were finally, blessedly, alone.The second the door clicked shut, the air shifted—electric, heavy, charged. Her eyes met mine from across the room, glowing like embers in the low light, her chest rising in slow, shallow breaths.I stalked toward her, slowly, letting the tension build between every step. Her dress clung to her like it knew what was coming, like it didn’t want to leave her body—too bad. I tore it from her, piece by piece, until she was bare and breathless, backed against the bedroom wall.“You’ve been holding back,” she whispered.My voice came out rough. “Not anymore.”My mouth was on hers—hungry, deep, desperate. I devoured every sound she made, fingers curling under her thighs to lift her as she w

LillyThe flames on the training dummies were controlled—barely. Logan’s small hands were outstretched, brows furrowed in intense concentration as his fire flickered through the air like molten silk. He was getting stronger. More focused. But the way the ground trembled beneath his bare feet every time he exhaled had my spine tingling.Beside me, Link watched in silence, arms folded, jaw set tight. I could feel his thoughts through the bond—pride, awe... and that gnawing whisper of fear.“Should it be this strong already?” I asked softly, not taking my eyes off Logan.Link exhaled through his nose. “He’s three, and he just melted reinforced steel. So... no. But he’s ours. Fire was always going to run deep.”“And wide,” I muttered. “The earth cracked when he sneezed yesterday.”Calla stood at the edge of the training field, holding her tablet like a war report. “I’ve run his vitals five times. He’s not unstable. Just... evolved.”Link muttered, “That’s exactly what unstable sounds like

LillyThe tires crunched over gravel as we pulled onto the long winding drive that curved like a ribbon through dense pine trees and wild blackberry thickets. We were deep in the outskirts of Bald Knob, Arkansas now, far from the quaint brick storefronts of Main Street or the whistle of the Union Pacific freight line. This was old land—untouched and humming with memory.Link’s ancestral home sat atop a wide hill that overlooked low-lying fields and the edge of the White River bottoms. The house wasn’t large, but it stood proud—weathered cedar siding, a sagging porch swing that creaked like it remembered every family secret, and a smokehouse behind it that still reeked of mesquite.“This is it,” Link said quietly. “Where I shifted the first time. Where my father taught me to run. Where my mother called down lightning the night she died.”I felt the weight in his voice and reached across the console, threading my fingers with his. Logan stirred in the backseat, already waking.“Smells l

LinkThe howl came just after midnight.It wasn’t close. It wasn’t far. It wasn’t even in this world, not fully. It rang in my bones, in the marrow, in the fire-etched corners of my soul. I bolted upright in bed, heart racing, Logan’s tiny frame curled beside me between me and Lilly.She stirred, breath catching. “Did you hear that?”I nodded, slipping from the sheets. I was already shifting, halfway between man and wolf before I hit the floor.Lilly sat up, her hair tangled and wild around her shoulders. “That wasn’t one of ours.”“No,” I growled. “That was old blood.”By the time I got outside, the wind had changed. The night air, thick with summer humidity and southern decay, tasted of memory and ashes. The trees were still, too still. Even the insects held their breath.Calla met me on the porch, dressed in combat sweats, her eyes glowing faintly.“That wasn’t a warning,” she said.“No. It was a summons.”Lilly emerged behind us, Logan sleepily tugging on her shirt. He blinked up