Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 51 - Chapitre 60

The next morning, we’re up before the sun.Caden and I slip outside while the sky’s still yawning, the air thick with salt and silence. The waves crash lazily beyond the trees, but the tension beneath our skin never rests—not with threats still circling. We won’t let it ruin the trip, though. Not today.Especially not today.May’s official birthday.Which means, if everything goes the way I saw, she’ll walk into the kitchen, see Ryan… and finally realise he’s her mate.Caden stretches beside me, shirtless and smug, cracking his neck like the day owes him something.I toss him a grin. “Think she’ll scream? Or cry? Or just… faint?”“Knowing our sister?” He smirks, stepping into a fighting stance. “All three. In that order.”We start sparring—light, playful, mostly to warm up. The crack of palm against palm echoes off the trees, and inside my head, I feel Ailm stir restlessly, growling low and protective. Not because of Caden, but because she still sense

I sigh, already regretting everything about this, and lace my fingers with Caden’s as we head to the door.The second we open it, the energy in the air sours.Craig steps in first. He hasn’t trained in a while—that much is obvious. The soft edges around his gut and the way his shoulders slump say more than his smug little smirk ever could. He’s half a foot shorter than Caden and Ryan, and his presence feels… slimy. He tries to compensate with hair gel and a too-tight button-up that strains around his stomach, but it’s no use. He’s still just Craig.His eyes are a dull brown, and they sweep over me like I’m something he once tasted and didn’t enjoy, but likes to remind people he could have had.Clinging to his arm is Tanya—his mate, and a walking, talking stereotype of mean-girl energy. Her chin-length bob makes her face look even longer, almost horselike, and her sharp black eyes scan the room like she’s judging everything. And everyone. She’s wearing heels she can b

I hear a scream behind me—sharp, broken.Then a sob—choked, strangled.My body whirls before my mind can even catch up, but it’s too late.May is on the ground.No, crumpled.Her body is twisted in a way it should never be—spine arched unnaturally, legs unmoving. An arrow juts from her side, deep and deadly, soaked with so much blood I can barely breathe. It’s spreading across the sand like it’s trying to drown her.She looks so small.So fragile.“NO!” I scream, louder than I ever have, the word ripped straight from my soul. “EVERY ROGUE STOP!”The command blasts from me like a supernatural wave. My power crashes into the battlefield, and the world actually freezes.They stop. All of them.Even the wind holds its breath.My legs give out beneath me and I collapse beside her, skidding through blood-stained sand. My hands shake as I press down on the wound, but it’s not enough. She’s slipping.She looks up at me with wide, unblinkin

Mark’s men are finally leaving. They’ve searched every room, every inch of the surrounding forest. Cleared traps. Checked windows. Cleansed the space of blood—Jena’s blood. They took her body away on a stretcher, covered in white linen. Something about that simple sheet makes the ache in my chest worse. Like she’s just… a body now. Gone. I stand in the doorway as they say their goodbyes. One of them places a hand on my shoulder gently, respectfully, but I barely hear what he says. My ears are ringing. Caden thanks them quietly. Ryan nods stiffly, arms crossed, his eyes red but dry. He hasn’t said much since Jena was found. None of us have. As the last of Mark’s men disappear into the trees, I finally let myself exhale. Then I hear it—soft paws on hardwood, a faint scrape like nails dragging across the floor. I turn, heart stuttering. May. She limps into view, her brown fur dulled and matted with dried bl

When we make it to the room, I collapse onto the sofa, completely drained. Aspen, my giant fluffy white shadow, immediately hops up and flops on top of me like I’m a mattress built just for him. His head lands on my shoulder with a soft huff that makes Caden chuckle beside me. I grin, even as my lungs are crushed under the weight of a one-hundred-pound arctic wolf who thinks he’s a lapdog.I just wrap my arms around his thick fur and hug him, burying my face into his neck as he licks my cheek. He doesn’t leave my side—not even my knee. He seems to know that my body hasn’t caught up with my soul yet, that I still feel cracked open from everything we’ve survived. Aspen is the glue, soft and quiet and ever-present.Dad walks in and just shakes his head like he always does when he sees me tangled in wolf fur. His eyes are tired, but there’s pride there too. He’s never once questioned my bond with the wild wolves. He loves them almost as much as I do. Maybe more now that Aspen’s