جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 160

Ashlyn Curt and the others had turned in hours ago, no one wanting to mention what happened tonight. The rain had eased into a soft drizzle that clung to the valley like a breath that wouldn’t leave. I stood by the window in the wooden room, staring out at the stretch of mist that swallowed the forest edge. The place was dim, lit only by the small lamp near the couch. It smelled like cedar, steel, and him that tonka warmth that always wrapped around my chest until I couldn’t tell if I was breathing air or memory. He walked out of the shower, a towel loose at his hips, his hair still damp and pushed back. The sight of him like that, bare, effortless, calm, hit harder than I’d ever admit. “You’re thinking again,” he said, voice low. I didn’t turn. “You make that sound like a bad thing.” “It is when you’re planning how to disappear.” I sighed, pressing my hand against the cold glass. “I’m not planning anything.” He came up behind me, close enough that I could feel his heat throu

AshlynThe Den was alive again, the kind of chaos that only came with pups. They ran wild through the front yard, chasing each other with sticks that were supposed to be swords, laughter splitting through the morning air like birdsong. It should’ve felt normal. Comforting. But it didn’t.Krav stood in the middle of them, and nothing about him looked normal anymore.He crouched to help a pup untangle his shoelace, the movement easy, almost human, but his presence was something else entirely. The light hit his skin in a way it hadn’t before... a faint blue shimmer under the surface, subtle but there. His eyes still carried that storm blue I loved, but now there was gold threaded inside, like sunlight caught under water. And his voice, when he laughed with the pups, it was deeper, carrying a weight that turned heads without him meaning to.The dragons in him, the god in him, the man he’d been before — they were all there. All one.I stood by the porch steps, arms folded, pretending to wa

Haden The sun had barely started dipping behind the valley line when Krav and I found ourselves at Benny’s Tap, the only bar close enough to the Den that didn’t smell like old fur and regret.It was half full. the usual crowd of sentinels, traders, and workers blowing off steam before patrols. Music played from a busted old speaker in the corner, something with too much bass and not enough sense.Krav sat across from me at a corner table, bottle in hand, blue light from the neon sign outside washing over him. He looked almost normal , almost.“So,” I said, tipping my beer his way, “you laugh once and suddenly I’m supposed to drink with you?”He smirked. “You invited me.”“I said ‘beer,’ not ‘therapy session with a half god.’”He took a long pull from the bottle, unbothered. “Same thing, if you drink enough.”I grunted, leaning back in my chair. “You always this confident?”He shrugged, eyes scanning the room. “Not always. Just when I know I’m right.”“About what?”“A lot of things,”

Keiral The lab in Questorian Valley still smelled like burnt ozone. I’d spent the last hour recalibrating the spectrometer because Krav’s blood had fried the first one. Literally fried it.The new sample glowed faint blue under the glass, a faint hum running through the counter. Even sealed, I could feel it buzzing through my bones.I leaned close, adjusting the reader. The needle climbed—past normal shifter energy, past dragon signatures, straight into a range the machine wasn’t supposed to hit.“Holy shit,” I muttered.The display blinked red, warning: ENERGY ANOMALY DETECTED.I hit save and pulled off my gloves. “Well, that’s new.”From behind me, Ellan’s voice was calm, curious. “You found something.”I turned to see him leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, his black shirt rolled to the elbows. His usual smirk softened under the low lab lights, but it was still there—like he knew every reaction before I did.“Yeah,” I said. “And I’m not sure if it’s genius or suicide.”He w

Ashlyn We left the Den without talking. The sky sat heavy and quiet. The trees held the last light. I walked ahead and he followed, both of us listening for anything that wanted to interrupt us and hoping nothing would. The path dipped into the old pines. The ground was soft under my boots. I heard him breathe behind me, steady, controlled. When I stopped at the ridge where the valley opened, he stopped too. No one could see us from here. Wind moved through the needles. The air smelled clean. Krav waited, hands loose at his sides, eyes on me. No rush. No act. Just him and the low sound of night coming on. “You good?” he asked. “I will be,” I said, and I meant it. “If you are.” His mouth tilted. “I am.” I stepped closer and set my palm on his chest. Warmth under my hand. A slow pulse. No sudden frost, no flare that burned the skin. His control sat right there with his breath. “You still afraid?” he asked. “I am not afraid of you,” I said. He nodded, like he needed th