I came home from college expecting to deal with my emotionally unavailable father, an empty fridge, and a summer full of boredom.

What I didn’t expect was to walk into the kitchen and find a barefoot, stunning woman in my dad’s shirt stirring eggs like she owned the place.

Spoiler: She does.

Her name is Elena, and apparently, she’s my brand-new stepmother—seven years older than me, way too cheerful, and totally off-limits.

But try telling that to my brain when she’s bending over to grab orange juice or accidentally falling on top of me in the laundry room. Try telling that to my heart when she’s laughing at my jokes, defending me at dinner, or wearing my hoodie because “it smells like comfort.”

My dad doesn’t see her. Not really.
But I do.
And that’s the problem.

Now I’m stuck in a house full of tension, sarcasm, and slow-burn chaos.
She’s married to my father.
I’m supposed to be focusing on my future.
But somehow, I’m falling for the one woman I absolutely, definitely, 100% should not be falling for.

Oops.

Aaron's strange connection to the forest deepened as he faced the predator stalking them. In an impossible moment of strength, he stopped the creature's strike with his bare hands, awakening a power that shook the mist itself. But his defiance only summoned something greater—the true guardian of the forest, a towering beast wreathed in fog and ancient whispers. Now Aaron must face a trial that will decide not only his survival, but the fate of everyone trapped in the woods.


The mist thickened until the world felt carved from smoke. Kael's lungs burned as he tried to breathe, each inhalation heavy with the taste of iron. Beside him, Elena's dagger trembled at her side, her knuckles white. Milo clung to Kael's arm now, too terrified to even hide behind Aaron.


Chapter 61 - Chapter 61: The Beast’s Trial