Rhea Nyx was supposed to have her forever. A mate bond. A pack. A future. But forever shattered the day he walked away, leaving her broken, pregnant, and alone in a sterile hospital room that didn’t care if she lived or died.

Now, she’s just surviving. Barely. Until a little girl with too-big eyes and too much hope drags her into something like a second chance. Rhea doesn't believe in second chances. Not anymore.

But when the people she's grown to protect are threatened, Rhea does what wolves do best—she fights back. Hard. And just when she thinks she's got nothing left to lose, she meets him. Her second chance mate.

Only… he’s not just a man. He’s a hybrid. A set toy. Built in a lab, owned by monsters, trained to obey. And yet—he looks at her like she’s the only real thing in the world.

Now Rhea has to make a choice. Burn it all down, or become the very thing that could break her mate.

This is a story about found family, the soft ache of grief, the sharp edge of survival—and the kind of love that doesn’t ask for permission.

I made it back to my room before my stomach gave out again.


The walls were too white. Too clean. Sterile like the rest of this place, like they'd bleached away anything human. The bed was untouched. I hadn't sat on it since they gave me the key. Couldn't. I didn't want to sleep here. I didn't want to sleep at all.


I stumbled into the bathroom and collapsed in front of the sink. No warning this time—just the burn of acid rising and the dry, helpless cough that followed.


There was nothing left to vomit. Just the bitter taste of guilt crawling up the back of my throat.


I braced my hands on the edge of the sink and looked at myself.


Pale. Hollow-eyed. My lips were cracked. My skin looked like it didn't belong to me. A walking, breathing shell dressed in someone else's body.


That girl. Lina. Her voice still echoed, naive and sweet.


I sat down hard on the bathroom floor, legs drawn in, arms braced over my knees. Not crying. Just still.


Still enough to hear my own pulse thudding in my ears.


I had seen a lot of things. Done worse, maybe. Maybe.


But that girl's voice—her wonder—it broke something I hadn't realized I'd been trying so hard to protect.


My mind kept replaying the shift. That moment when curiosity turned into confusion. When a child's imagination shattered under something real. Brutal. Unforgiving.


I should've said something. I should've—


The footsteps were slow, deliberate. He didn't step into the bathroom. Just leaned against the doorframe, arms folded casually.


"Didn't think the delivery girl would break this fast," he said. "You were supposed to be tougher."


My head lifted just enough to see the outline of him through my tangled hair—tall, wiry. Sleeves rolled up to the elbows, shirt too crisp to be cheap. Dark eyes. Cold smile.


He didn't reek of power the way some of the others did. His kind didn't need to. The quiet ones were always worse.


"Sure. That's why I found you curled around a toilet."


He stepped further in now, not enough to close the distance, just enough to block the only exit. "They wanted to see how you'd handle it. First assignment always says the most about a recruit."


"Everything is a test." He shrugged. "Some fail quietly. Some run. A few lean in."


"Mm." He tilted his head. "You didn't stop her. You didn't run with her. You didn't even scream."


There was a pause between us, thick and heavy.


He turned, then, as if satisfied. Paused in the doorway.


"One more thing," he said without looking back. "The boss heard. About your… reaction. He finds it interesting."


I stood there a moment longer, gripping the edge of the sink until my knuckles went white.


Chapter 18 - 18