eyes narrowing, her whol

he said, voice

he hallway. Juliet lay frozen on the bed, every muscle locked in place, her breath coming in shallow gasps while her ears strained to catch

reaked open with

edged with the kind of urgency that made Juliet's blood r

n months, a voice she had desperately hoped never to

she, Dr.

trolled.

w she's

a Wa

est like a freight train. Her hands twisted into the sheets until her knuckles w

sible-she'd been so careful, so hidde

termination. "There's no one here but me. This is my personal re

se cutting through Lucy's words

snapped, each word dripping with mali

back arch off the bed. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she bit down on her knuckle

mper echoed fro

fe-sharp with sudden int

eized as panic surged through her veins like wildfire. They were coming for her-Sofia would find her help

N

ewhere primal and fierce, somewhere de

un

like electricity. Her fingers trembled as her skin felt electric and alive, her spine a

to shift as Ro

swollen stomach protectively. "T

with fierce determination.

nd reformed while muscles stretched and rebuilt themselves, skin tearing and rec

osive force, the bed was empty except for

uncing a war that had already begun. Outside, a wolf with piercing blue eyes melted into th

ckwaves of pain that threatened to tear them both apart. Juliet floated inside the wolf's consciousness, f

hile her bones jarred with each stride, as

reached the one place that might truly be safe. She was heading for the storm cellar behind Lucy's clinic-the only place Sofia would never think t

ng as her mind dimmed like dying embers, while Ros

whispered urgentl

ing down into the consuming darkness of their childhood refuge. The a

sed in complete exhaustion, rel

weat and trembling while her belly contracted violently. Another wave of pain slammed through her with mer

termined. He had a head full of black hair and eyes the c

ith chestnut hair that gleamed even in the dim light. When his eyes opened, they

he same piercing blue eyes as her second brother, but this one was a girl-tiny and abso

overwhelming emotion. The world had narrowed to four perfect, fragile cries that filled the darknes

wrong-deep in her

e trauma, but something fundamental unraveling

ered with infinite sa

er like a blade, sha

n't leave me al

distant.* The shift shattered something inside us that can't be repair

every word, becoming nothing m

ronger than you knew. Love them, keep them safe-that's your desti

ed the pups to her chest one by one. Their hearts fluttered against her ribs like four precious,

r wolf was gone, leaving behind

ve you. I lo

complete it took

Her body surrendered before her mind could fully process what had happened, and she co

iful darkness claimed her, carrying her away from pain and loss into drea