All Chapters of SHADOW HEIRS: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

Aria ran until her lungs burned and her bare feet bled. The forest tore at her like the pack had,branches whipping her face, roots tripping her, cold mud sucking at her ankles. Kael’s rejection echoed in every heartbeat, a jagged wound where the mate bond used to sing.Weak human filth.The words sliced deeper than the bite on her neck. His seed still dripped down her thighs, sticky and mocking, as she stumbled deeper into the human territories beyond Shadowthorn land. No wolf would follow her here. They despised the cities,too loud, too weak, too human.She didn’t stop until the trees thinned and city lights stabbed her sensitive eyes. A dingy motel on the outskirts took her last twenty dollars. The clerk, a tired woman with nicotine stained fingers, didn’t ask questions when she saw the torn dress and bloody neck.Room 17 smelled of mold and old cigarettes. Aria locked the door, slid to the floor, and finally let the sobs tear free. She curled around the pain in her chest, rocking,

Aria slammed the phone down, heart hammering. Shadows exploded from her hands, cracking the concrete walls. She forced them back under control, breathing through the rage.Five years. Five years of hiding, training, bleeding, and building something safe. And now that bastard wanted them back? She will never allow that to happen.She moved to the weapons wall and began loading up,silver daggers, spelled bullets, a garrote made from Crimsonfang alpha hair. The twins would need to be ready. She would teach them more tonight. Harder drills. No more gentle stories.“Mommy?”Lila stood in the doorway in her black pajamas, rubbing her eyes. Luka was right behind her, shadows already curling around his feet.“Bad men coming?” Luka asked.Aria knelt and pulled them both into her arms, inhaling their scent,wild pine, shadow, and that unmistakable trace of Kael that made her want to both protect and destroy.“Yes,” she whispered. “But we’re stronger. Remember what I taught you?”“Never bow,” the