ADAM
I woke up with a shout lodged in my throat.
The dream clung to like rot.
Sage stood before , cloaked in darkness so thick it swallowed the world. She pointed at , her mouth stretching into a laugh that echoed too loudly, too wrong.
Then she was Maya—bleeding, broken, slipping through my fingers as I begged her to stay. Then Dora. Always Dora. Her eyes wide with betrayal as my hands closed around a blade already buried in her chest.
They all died in my hands. Again.
I jolted upright, breath tearing out of , my heart slamming against my ribs like it wanted out. Sweat slicked my skin. My fingers dug into the sheets as I tried to orient myself, tried to rember where I was, when I was.
I dragged a hand through my hair, tugging hard enough to ground myself. That was when I realized that I was alone. Where was she?
The space beside was cold. Empty. No warmth. No scent. Like we hadn’t even happened. How... Did she erase the scents with magic? Why?
Did she not want the matebond?
But she kissed ...
I hated how I felt stupid.
"Sage?" I breathed, already knowing she wouldn’t answer.
Panic stirred low in my chest as I reached through the bond, wanting to know her location. But magic slamd back at like a wall.
I gasped, stumbling off the bed as raw power crackled along my nerves, violent and unmistakable. My wolf surged forward, howling a single truth.
She was casting the do already... without being there.
My heart leapt into my throat. "She’s going to collapse," I muttered, already moving, rembering when Dora had casted the do the first ti. "She’s going to push herself too far."
I didn’t bother dressing properly. I didn’t stop to think. I bolted from the room, the bond tugging forward even as the magic kept at arm’s length.
I burst into the common room—and skidded to a halt.
Claire, Naomi, and Rachel were frozen mid-movent, suspended in shimring cages of magic. Their faces were pale, eyes wide, mouths open in silent screams. Power humd thickly in the air, draining them slowly, relentlessly.
I didn’t need to be told what had happened.
They had co for Sage. And she hadn’t had ti for their nonsense.
My jaw clenched as I took them in. They could see now, their gazes snapping toward with desperate intensity, but no sound ca from them. No plea. No accusation.
The clock on the wall caught my eye. Six p.m.
My chest tightened. How long had she been gone? Where were my brothers?
I turned to leave—but a sound stopped . A croak.
"Adam..."
Claire’s voice was wrecked, scraped raw by terror and magic alike.
I exhaled sharply and turned back, irritation warring with sothing darker. I didn’t want to waste ti. Every second Sage was out there was a risk.
But I wasn’t willing to gamble with a life either.
"Damn it," I muttered.
Without overthinking it, I stepped closer and thrust my hand into the cage.
The magic resisted for half a heartbeat, then yielded. I yanked Claire free and dumped her unceremoniously onto the floor. She collapsed in a heap, gasping, too weak to stand.
"Next ti, you think before attacking one stronger than you," I snarled under my breath.
I repeated the motion for Naomi and Rachel, pulling them free and letting them crumple where they fell. None of them could even muster the strength to scream now.
As I turned away, Claire rasped, "How?"
I paused, but didn’t look back. She knew what she was asking. The magic should have been impervious to .
Only my brothers and my mother knew the truth—that I was gifted. Even then, I didn’t fully understand it myself. I only knew that when instinct took over, the world sotis bent.
I gave her no answer. I was already moving. The pull of the bond sharpened as I crossed the grounds, dragging toward the edge of the pack lands, where the air itself seed to vibrate.
And then I saw her.
Sage hovered between earth and sky, suspended in raw power, her body arched as if the magic itself held her aloft. Light rippled outward from her in great shimring waves, colliding with the already-ford do that shielded my pack.
She wasn’t just reinforcing it. She was extending it, as promised.
Another do spread over the outer colonies, weaving protection layer by layer, her power stitching the land closed against whatever threats lurked beyond.
Awe rooted in place. The first do shimred like liquid glass, alive with energy, responding to her will. She was doing this alone. Carrying it. Holding it.
My chest swelled painfully. She was magnificent. My mate.
Pride blood fierce, eclipsing fear for just a mont. After all, interrupting her now could kill her.
Then she scread.
The sound tore through , sharp and raw, snapping sothing deep in my chest. My hands clenched helplessly at my sides as the scream cut off abruptly, leaving a ringing silence behind.
"Sage," I whispered.
I would give anything—anything—when she was done. The crown. The pack. My life. I would make her my queen the mont her feet touched the ground. I wouldn’t hesitate. Wouldn’t wait. Wouldn’t let doubt poison this.
The goddess herself could not have made it clearer. She was ant for .
Footsteps approached behind . I didn’t turn as Noah and Daniel ca to stand at my sides, their presence unmistakable even without looking.
"Magnificent, isn’t she?" Noah murmured.
Sothing in his tone scraped wrong. I forced myself to nod. "Yes."
Daniel chuckled softly and nudged my shoulder. "Looks like you won, brother. First to bed her."
I allowed myself a small smile, tension easing just a fraction. Maybe they had finally backed off. Maybe they understood now.
Then Noah spoke again. "She promised us our turns when she’s done."
The words hit like a blade between my ribs.
My smile shattered. My heart fractured.
But it took second place when Sage’s body finally dropped from the sky, power snapping into place, the do complete.
I sped toward her, determined to catch her before she touched the ground.
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