h4Chapter 352: Unexpected Guests/h4

strongKatrina~/strong

The world snapped back into existence with a violent lurch.

I stumbled forward as the teleportation finished, mming my shoulder into something hard and polished — a mahogany dresser, maybe. A crash followed as an expensive vase toppled over, shattering into glittering pieces across the marble floor. My knees nearly buckled under the sudden weight of bodiesnding with me — Vincent and Winter still clinging to my hands as if the universe itself had decided to mock me.

The Lawrence estate. Nick’s house. I’d done it.

Except... not exactly gracefully.

The chandelier above us swung dangerously, its crystal pendants chiming against each other like a chorus of angry bells. The shockwave of our arrival still pulsed in the air, thick enough to taste. Shadows red in the corners of the room,shing out instinctively— Vincent’s shadows. My mind named them before I even realized I was holding my breath. They weren’t just tricks of the light; they were alive, sharp and restless, twisting into long, sinuous tendrils that scraped across the walls before slithering back into him as though afraid to linger without permission. My magic still hummed, light sparking faintly around my fingertips before fizzling out.

"Kat!" Nick’s voice ripped through the chaos like a whip.

I looked up and found him at the doorway, tall and sharp in his ck shirt, his dark eyes zing like storm clouds. He strode in fast, his vampire-wolf aura rolling off him like heat, his jaw clenched so hard I thought his fangs might pierce through.

"What the hell was that?" he snapped, his voice low but carrying enough force to make even the shadows around Vincent pause. "If you had just listened to me for once, you wouldn’t have ended up in some filthy alley crawling with rogues and vampires! I told you to stay calm and wait—"

I bristled, ready to fire back with something about saving lives, but then his words cut off abruptly.

Because his gaze shifted.

It slid past me, locking onto Winter.

And in that instant, Nick froze. Absolutely froze. His pupils dted, glowing faintly red under the chandelier’s swaying light. His whole body went rigid like he’d been struck.

I blinked. "Nick?"

No response. His eyes were locked on her. Winter, who stood just a few steps away, her pale face unreadable, her hands pressed close to her sides as if bracing against invisible chains. She looked... startled, but she masked it quickly, lips parting only slightly as her icy blue gaze flickered toward him, then away.

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My stomach dropped.

Oh, no.

No, no, no.

Sapphire howled in my head, practically dancing with gleestrongi. "Mate! He’s found his mate too!" /i/strong

i"What?"/i My thought cracked with disbelief.

strongi"Look at him, Katrina! Look at them! The bond is singing between them, can’t you feel it?" /i/strong

And I could. Even through the fog of my own mess, the air was thick with a new kind of energy — a hum, a pulse, something raw and maic flowing between Nick and Winter. He looked like a predator who had just scented the only thing that could tame him. And Winter, though stiff and guarded, was trembling beneath herposure.

Oh, Goddess. This night was spiraling into madness.

Nick tore his gaze away long enough to shoot me a mental st through our link. i"Kat. That girl... she’s my mate." /i

My breath caught, and my eyes flew wide. Oh, Goddess. Sapphire hadn’t just been guessing—she was actually right. The realization hit me like a stone to the chest, knocking the air out of me.

i"Kat, did you hear me? She’s my mate! What the actual hell is going on?" /i

Before I could respond, Sapphire purred in my chest. strongi"I told you so, Katrina. And that boy over there—" /i/strong

Her words trailed, but I already knew who she meant.

Vincent.

My eyes flicked toward him — and just like before, my pulse betrayed me. His dark stare pinned me, those shadows curling tighter around his form as if they too were tethered to me. The memory of his hand in mine burned fresh, sparks still dancing along my skin like a cruel reminder. Sapphire whimpered with longing, triumphant and insistent all at once.

strongi"He’s so perfect. He’s our mate, Katrina. ept it."/i/strong

i"No. Absolutely not."/i My denial was immediate, sharp as steel. i"This has to be a mistake. The moon’s ying some cruel joke on me."/i My pulse hammered in my ears, every instinct screaming to run. i"How am I supposed to ept him? Handsome or not, just look at him. There’s something wrong—something dark. It clings to him, coils around him like living shadows. I’ve never seen a wolf bend darkness like that. Never."/i

strongi"Tell that to your heartbeat,"/i/strong Sapphire teased, smug.

And then Nick’s panicked voice flooded back into me.i "Kat. She’s my mate. What the hell are we supposed to do?" /i

i"Oh, don’t look at me—I’m just as confused as you are."/i I threw up my hands, exasperation bubbling into a halfugh through the mind link. i"But, FYI? That boy is my mate too."/i

i"What?!"/i

i"You heard me! We’re both caught in this disaster!"/i

i"Disaster? Hardly. My mate is gorgeous." /iA slow grin tugged at his lips as he folded his arms.i "And let’s get one thing straight—there’s not a chance in the world she’s rejecting me. Not happening."/i

i"Please. Like I’d let some stranger walk in and reject me either. I’m the daughter of the Lycan King. The Celestial Queen. No one rejects me." /i

i"Ha! There it is—the ego. Honestly, Kat, we are so doomed. Of all times, it had to happen now? While we were sneaking out, no less? This is a nightmare."/i He shot me a helpless look, his voice dropping.i "What do we even do? March straight to our parents and drop the bomb, or... keep quiet and watch them first?"/i

i"I don’t know!"/i I snapped across the mind-link, the words hissing out sharper than I intended. i"But something’s wrong. Why aren’t they reacting like us? No happiness, no shock—just confusion."/i My chest tightened as I nced at them again. i"Tell me I’m not crazy... are their wolves not screaming inside their heads the way ours are?"/i

Nick went silent for a beat. Then, grimly: i"What if they’re thinking of rejecting us?" /i

I gritted my teeth. i"Hell no. They wouldn’t dare." /i

Meanwhile, in the real world, silence stretched ufortably.

Winter finally spoke, her voice clipped, carefully even. "Vincent," she said, turning slightly toward him. "What... just happened here?"

Her words were innocent enough, but her gaze darted back to Nick like she couldn’t help herself.

Vincent moved closer, cing himself subtly between her and Nick, protective in a way that made my wolf bristle. His expression was unreadable, smooth and calcting, though his eyes flickered with something strange when theynded on me again. "That depends," he murmured. "Who exactly are our... rescuers?"

I swallowed hard, forcing my features into neutrality. Names. Keep it simple. Don’t give away too much.

"I’m Kat," I said quickly, my voice firmer than I felt. "And this is Nick. That’s all you need to know."

Vincent tilted his head, studying me with unnerving intensity. "Vincent," he said atst, his voice velvet over steel. He gestured lightly to Winter. "And my sister, Winter."

Nost names. Just like us.

The silence after that was heavy, packed with suspicion and unspoken questions. Each of us was hiding, masking the weight of what we really were. My celestial glow dimmed, Vincent’s shadows retreated, Nick cloaked his hybrid aura, and Winter tucked her trembling fingers behind her back. None of us were ready to bare the truth.

Nick broke the tension first. He dragged a hand through his ck hair, forcing his cocky smirk back onto his face though his eyes still burned red. "Well," he muttered, his voice too casual. "This is... interesting. But you can’t stay here."

Winter flinched, her jaw tightening, like the rejection had cut deeper than she wanted anyone to see.

Nick caught it instantly, his expression shifting as he scrambled to soften the blow. "I didn’t mean it like that," he said quickly, voice gentler now.

Then his gaze flicked to me through the link, a sh of urgency in his eyes. i"My parents are home. If Dad or Mom catches sight of them, we’re dead meat. You know they’ll never let us live it down. And besides—weren’t we supposed to sneak out tonight anyway...?"/i

I caught his thought and blinked at him in horror.i "Nick. Don’t you dare—" /i

He grinned wolfishly, a spark of mischief shing through our bond. i"Oh, I dare." /i

"You’re alling with us. To the party."

"What party?" Winter asked sharply, her voice defensive, though something about the way she leaned toward him betrayed her curiosity.

Nick spread his hands, all arrogance and charm. "Neutral ground. No questions asked. You’ll blend in. Unless, of course, you prefer to exin yourselves to my father. He’s not exactly... patient with strangers appearing in his house."

Vincent’s shadows twitched, but his smirk matched Nick’s almost too perfectly. "A party, then," he said smoothly, ncing at me. "Why not? We could use a little... fun."

The word dripped with double meaning, and my pulse skipped before I forced myself to look away.

Nick moved toward the door, gesturing for us to follow. His posture was confident, but through the link I caught the flicker of nerves. i"Kat. What the hell are we doing?" /i

i"Walking straight into chaos," /iI muttered back, even as my feet betrayed me, moving after him.

Behind me, Vincent’s presence pressed like gravity, impossible to ignore. Ahead, Nick’s gaze flicked too often toward Winter, his jaw tightening each time.

I didn’t know who they were, why the universe had decided to knot our lives together in this funny way, or what secrets they carried.

All I knew was this: my mate was a stranger cloaked in shadows, Nick’s mate was a girl who looked like winter itself, and together we were walking into a night that would change everything.

And maybe I’d regret every step.

Sapphire hummed like a songbird in the back of my mind.strongi "And doesn’t chaos make the best stories?" /i/strong

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