The quintuplet Alphas

ong the narrow road seemed to lean closer with every passing mile, their skeletal branches scraping against the sides of her b

ions from her late grandmother's lawyer. "Follow the north road through the forest," he had said, his voice tinged with s

eemed to churn like a living thing. Her stomach twisted as the road curved sharply, the edge of

pieces of her life, to find something-anything-that might inspire her agai

ed wooden sign half-hidden by moss and ivy.

settled on her ch

eys puffing lazy spirals of smoke into the chill air. A small bookstore sat beside a café, where a handful of peo

ed didn't fade as she navigated through the narrow streets and o

owth. The house itself was larger than she'd imagined, a two-story Victorian with a wraparound porch an

f. The air was colder here, carrying the faint scent of damp earth and pine. She

ior was dim, dust motes dancing in the beams of light that slipped through the heavy curtains. Furnit

uttered to herself, drop

ors. Every creak and groan of the old structure set her nerves on edge, b

eached the

l froze he

the shadows. At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but then she saw

emanded, her voice s

and the figure ste

its body covered in sleek black fur, its shoulders impossibly broad. Its

breath catching in her thr

as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone-vanishing

in her ears. She pressed a hand to her

red. "You're just tired.

wn, she kne

art racing again. She spun toward the door, her

was firm,

?" a deep v

tood on the porch, tall and broad-shouldered, his dark hair slightly tousled. He wa

tiously, keeping her ha

lm but carrying an edge of authori

uestion or a

le tugged at hi

d her eyes. "C

id, stepping closer. "This house... it'

e p

ment, she thought she saw something f

o a world you don't understand," h

ond, another voice cu

don't sc

tures strikingly similar to Rowan's but softer, more playful. H

at Selene. "You're not going t

growled, his tone

Hollow. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but judging by the look on your

g his hand. It was warm, his

asked, glanci

lan said with a wink. "But don

him a glare

ed, but his sm

ar: whatever she had stepped into, it was far more compl