The cottage is exactly as I left it yesterday—laptop closed on the table, research notes scattered across every surface. I head straight for the bedroom, pulling out a bag and stuffing it with clothes, toiletries, anything I might need for an extended stay at the tower.
Because that's what this is becoming, isn't it? Not just one night of passion but the beginning of something permanent. Something that will change everything about who I am and what my life looks like.
The pendant pulses against my chest, its rhythm matching my heartbeat. I pause to pull it out, studying the intricate knotwork in the morning light. Gran gave this to me and told me it came from the sea and would protect me when I needed it most. I never understood what she meant until now.
Glass shatters in the main room. The sound is sharp and immediate, followed by heavy boots on wooden floors. Multiple sets. Moving with coordinated precision that speaks of training and purpose.
Jax's warning growl carries through the cottage walls, cut off mid-sound by something that cracks like thunder.
I drop the bag and look around wildly for anything that could serve as a weapon. My hand closes around a heavy bookend—solid brass shaped like a lighthouse—and I move toward the bedroom door with my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Get out here, Dr. Calder." The voice is male, flat, carrying the kind of boredom that comes from doing violence for a living. "We're taking you to our employer whether you cooperate or not. How much it hurts is up to you."
Like hell.
I edge toward the door, trying to see into the main room without exposing myself. Three men in dark tactical gear, faces covered, moving through my cottage with practiced efficiency. The one holding Jax has him pinned against the wall with what looks like a silver chain wrapped around his throat. Jax's skin is smoking where the metal touches, and his struggles are growing weaker.
Silver chain. Supernatural knowledge. Professional execution.
These men know exactly what they're hunting and how to contain it.
"Your friend has about thirty seconds before the silver burns through to bone." The speaker moves closer, and I catch a glimpse of eyes that reflect light like an animal's. "You can stop that. Just come with us quietly."
The pendant is burning hot now, practically vibrating against my skin. Energy builds under my ribs, foreign and familiar at once. The ocean's voice whispers through my thoughts, offering power if I'll just reach for it.
I've spent my whole life running from what I don't understand. Explaining away the inexplicable. Choosing science over instinct every single time.
Not today.
I step into the doorway with the bookend raised and my other hand extended toward the kitchen sink. The water responds before I consciously call it. Pipes groan and shriek, pressure building to impossible levels. Then the faucet explodes outward in a geyser that fills the cottage with spray.
But I don't want spray. I want a weapon.
The water obeys like it's been waiting for this moment. It coalesces into a solid column, dense and heavy, and slams into the nearest attacker with the force of a battering ram. He flies backward through my front door, taking it off its hinges.
The other two freeze, reassessing. One of them speaks into a radio in a language I don't recognize. The one holding Jax releases the silver chain and steps back, giving himself space. Mist erupts around him, and thunder cracks through the cottage. Gold light flares, and where the man stood, a massive panther now crouches, eyes locked on me.
Jax doesn't hesitate. The moment the chain falls away, he drops to all fours. Grey mist swirls as thunder rumbles, silver light blazing. Human one second, massive grey wolf the next. The wolf launches at the other attacker, hitting him from behind. They go down in a tangle of teeth and tactical gear, Jax's snarls mixing with very human screams.
The one with claws is faster. He closes the distance between us in two strides, moving with supernatural speed my human reflexes can't match. But the water is still mine to command. I pull it from the air itself, condensing moisture into ice that coats the floor beneath his feet.
He goes down hard, skull cracking against the wooden boards. The sound is sickening, final, but I don't have time to process it. More figures are emerging from the tree line beyond my cottage, too many to count, and probably more in reserve.
"Run!" Jax's voice is rough, barely human as he shifts momentarily. "Get to the water!"
The pendant agrees, pulling me toward the cliffs with magnetic insistence. I don't question it. I just run, bursting through the destroyed front door and leaping over the attacker's body that I sent through it moments ago, sprinting toward thecliff path with my lungs burning and power sizzling under my skin.
Behind me, Jax's wolf is buying time with teeth and fury. But even his strength has limits, and there are too many of them.
I hit the cliff path at full speed, stones sliding under my bare feet. At the curve, I risk a glance back. The grey wolf breaks away from the fight, bounding after me with powerful strides. Jax is following, making sure I reach the water. Relief floods through me even as I keep running.
The ocean below is no longer calm. It's churning, responding to something. To me. Waves crash against the rocks with renewed violence, and spray reaches halfway up the cliff face.
Footsteps pound behind me. Close. Too close. A hand catches my shoulder, spinning me around. One of them got between us, cutting off Jax's pursuit. I get a glimpse of a masked face and those reflective eyes before instinct takes over. I'm on my own.
I shove him. Hard. Not with my hands but with something deeper. The air itself pushes back, and he stumbles toward the cliff edge. His arms windmill for balance, and for a heartbeat we're both frozen. Him teetering on the brink. Me with my hand extended and power I don't understand crackling around my fingers.
Then he falls.
