Bronx’s POV The portal closed. Kas is gone. She left with them. She chose the Mavri Magea over our pack. I look back at Lenora in my arms. I feel myself rocking back and forth. It isn’t for her comfort. Lenora can never be comforted ever again. I take the hem of my shirt and try to clean the blood away from her face. All it does is smear it down her chin. “Leni. Come back. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave us. I need you. So do Milo and Codi and the pack. Please Lenora, come back to us,” my lip trembles, pleading with her. Tears drip down from my chin onto her forehead as she looks blankly at me. I look into her green eyes one last time before I run my hand over and close her eyelids. Now she looks like she’s sleeping. I pull my shirt off and lay it over her, trying to hide the gaping wound on her neck and chest. I can't bear to look at her that way. When the searing pain of our family bond and pack bond breaking at the same time hits me, I pull her closer. I cry out in an Earth-sha

Bronx’s POV Halloween comes and goes. Thanksgiving comes and goes. Winter Solstice is only a couple of weeks away. The frigid Montana winter trudges on. The world keeps turning as if Kas never existed. Last week, I heard Katherine Santoro’s abandoned estate in Greece burned down to the ground. No fatalities and no signs of the other residents and staff who lived there several days prior. A few days later, hunters found Katherine’s naked body, along with an unidentified woman, both mauled by wild animals in a wooded area of Mongolia. The artist's sketch of the other woman is clearly Cora. As soon as they confirmed Katherine was dead, I had my people get to work on acquiring Santoro Enterprises. Within several months, I will be the CEO, absorb the company into MasonCo and create a logistics division. If there are any Manae hiding among Santoro Enterprises staff, I will flush them out and throw them into the dungeon to rot. It’s what they deserve. If Kas ever dares show her face aga

Milo’s POV Marco had told us to find her binder before Bronx ordered us to lock him in solitary confinement. He said Kas kept note cards and binders for everything. We just had to find the correct binder to figure out what she was up to. He couldn’t tell us anymore because of some sort of potion he had swallowed. He was right. We rifled through dozens of binders in her office until we found one in her desk drawer that had a sticker labeled ‘Manae Notes’. It detailed everything, complete with cute pictures of rooms and furniture she wanted to use magic to create so her sisters would be comfortable in the home she was building for them. Some of the note cards were actually thin sheets of parchment that looked like they were hundreds of years old. Others were thick handmade papers that were crumbling on the edges. There were at least six different languages among the cards. Musu helped us translate most of them, but a few she said were in dead languages she wasn’t familiar with. Regardl

“She’s pregnant?” I ask out loud, no one in particular. “Twins,” Reggie says dully. “Based on how big she is and comparing her to when Musu was pregnant, we think she’s due any day. Since she hasn’t eaten, her babies are basically using her body for nutrition. For lack of a better term, they’re eating her alive,” Milo says, as he brushes his hand against her cheek. He sits back on his heels and looks at her with tears in his eyes, “We don’t know what happened to Lex. She hasn’t been able to heal her for over three weeks now.” “What did the doctor say?” I gulp hard. I plant my feet to the ground, afraid to move. “You said no fucking doctors,” Reggie hisses at me through gritted teeth, “or have you forgotten?” “LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HER YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Saint’s first words in weeks are pure rage against me. He tries to claw his way forward to take control and get to Kas, still protective of her. I take a step forward. A small piece of me, a deep down part that has been hidden awa

The smell of pine needles and lavender fills the room. I keep my eyes closed and hide my smile as the giggles get closer. “Mommy? Are you awake?” Maya’s little voice whispers loudly. I can feel her weight climbing onto the bed. “Shhh, Maya, Mommy gets to sleep, because it’s her birfday,” Andreas giggles at her while he climbs onto the bed as well. I roll over and pretend to yawn with a big growl and stretch my arms out wide, grabbing them both and bringing them toward me. Their happy squeals fill my heart with joy. “Hello, darlings,” I squeeze them tightly in my arms. “Mommy, happy birfday!” Andreas says happily and gives me a wet kiss on the cheek. “Mommy, Auntie Delilah said she’s made a cake for you,” Maya says with big gray eyes. She lays in my arms and plays with my white hair. She gives a sly little smile, “I think she made chocolate.” “Oh, she did, did she?” I smile back. The twins talk excitedly at the same time, telling me about all the things they want to do with me to