Split Second Novels & Stories

He hung up before I could refuse. I stared at a new text. My heart stayed calm. The man wearing our wedding ring cut a cake with Clarisse. [Antonio is so bossy, making me eat cake and shrimp tacos this late. I'm gonna gain weight. Next time, he's working out with me all night.] In the photo's corner was a half-eaten plate of shrimp tacos. The sight of it sent a pang of resentment through me. I was his wife. Yet Antonio split everything in two, even his time.

I immediately place a steadying hand against her lower back before turning back toward the Elder. “What exactly happened?” I ask. The Elder walks slowly toward the window before speaking again. “The first pair triggered a civil war after rival Alphas attempted to separate them,” she says. “The second pair disappeared mysteriously before the prophecy fully awakened.” “And the third?” I ask carefully. Her silence alone is enough to make my blood run cold. Finally, she answers. “The third pair slaughtered hundreds.” Jasmine gasps softly beside me. Selene’s confident expression finally cracks slightly. But Elder Miriam quickly continues before panic fully settles.

I saved it under the letter R. I dug into my pocket, where I took out my second phone. I swapped the SIM card, ensuring that the number I will dial could not be traced back to my usual phone. After doing so, I dialed the number. No response. I redialed the number. Still nothing. I glared at the phone. "Ronan Vale would certainly not answer calls from an unknown number." I laid down my phone and looked out of the windshield. For a moment, I just sat there.

Vittorio received the message just as he had finally coaxed his childhood sweetheart back to sleep. At the first chime of his phone, his brow furrowed, terrified that the sound would wake Elara. Still, when he saw the caller ID, he picked up the phone as quietly as possible. [Vittorio, we break up.]

Neither worked. Because Luke held his ground. And that— That was new. Nyra’s eyes narrowed. “…you’re anchoring yourself.” Luke didn’t respond. He stepped forward again. This time— The fragment didn’t reject him. It split. Two overlapping versions forming at once— Trying to exist side by side. Nyra’s voice dropped. “…that’s not possible.” Luke stepped fully inside. And the world— Didn’t settle. It duplicated. Two skies. Two grounds. Two versions of the same moment—

I bowed my head as tears fell without warning, mixing with the blood. “Carter, you… b*st*rd.” My voice broke as I said it. Two days later, Carter woke up in the ICU. I stood in front of him and handed him a divorce agreement. He stared at it, stunned, pain written all over his face. I turned away, refusing to look at him. “I know… I know I was wrong and don’t deserve your forgiveness. But can you give me one more chance? Breaking the mate bond would be painful, so… could we not get divorced?”

He had no right to make me feel anything. I returned home to find Mira asleep on the couch with her teddy bear. I carried her to bed gently and sat beside her, brushing her forehead. “I am staying,” I whispered. “I will not run. Not this time.” Because staying meant watching them crumble. Staying meant seeing the truth unfold. Staying meant getting justice for the girl who died and came back as someone else. The one who was living her second life. Revenge was not a quick thing. It needed patience. And having Aiden near made everything easier. He would not break me again.

Ronan She’d finally said the thing I’d been too much of a coward to put into words. Not about the bond trying to “decide” for us—I didn’t know if I believed that—but the part about wanting to stay and wanting to run at the same time. About not knowing which impulse belonged to who. “I get it,” I said, because I did. More than I liked. “You’re not the only one who feels split down the middle.” Selene looked at me like she wasn’t sure if she believed that. I took a step closer, hands open at my sides so I didn’t clench them. “You remember, during the ritual, that moment when everything almost slipped?” I asked. “When the Veil buckled and I nearly lost hold of the current?”

CHAPTER 128 — WHEN THE TWO BEGIN TO MEET The room felt quieter after Sienna spoke. Not because the danger was gone, but because something inside her had shifted again. Damien noticed it immediately. Elias did too. Sienna lowered her hand from her temple slowly. Her breathing steadied, but her expression stayed distant, like she was not fully inside the room anymore. “I think I felt it,” she said quietly. Damien stepped closer. “Felt what?” “The split,” she replied. Her voice was calm, but something unsettled stayed underneath it. “It is not just memory coming back. It feels like two versions of me trying to exist at the same time.”

She was speaking but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. The moment came suddenly, like a bolt of lightning. Her eyes flew open, her back arching off the bed as she screamed my name, her orgasm washing over her like a tidal wave. Her body convulsed around me, her muscles gripping me in a vice-like grip that had e fighting for control. My own orgasm followed swiftly, a hot rush that left me trembling.