Lucian Dyok There are things I wanted more than love. Not fame. Not sex. Not even freedom. I wanted belonging - the kind that doesn't shake when you do. I wanted people who'd see me in my ugliest moments and still call me brother. I wanted a we in a world of I, I, I. A brotherhood. Something solid. Something loud and rowdy and impossible to lose. Maybe that's why I laughed a little too loud at parties. Why I touched shoulders when I spoke. Why I listened more than I talked. Not because I was fake - I just wanted to be the kind of person you didn't forget. The kind people leaned on. But that morning, none of those things felt heavy yet. That morning, we were just a family in a car, windows rolled halfway down, the air thick with salt and the kind of music you don't admit you like.

Tara shifted slightly in his lap, her arms still wrapped around Lucien's broad shoulders, cheek pressed against the curve of his neck. The silence of her room was a kind of lullaby, warm and full. "You're such a dirty dog," she mumbled against his skin, voice lazy and teasing. Lucien's body rumbled with a laugh - low and pleased - before he pulled back slightly to look down at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing." She squinted at him playfully. "It is. You sneak into my room, bite me, sniff me like some possessed bloodhound..." He smirked. "Don't forget carry you around like a princess." Tara flicked his chest with her finger. "A princess who's seriously considering buying a leash. Maybe even one with spikes." Lucien's eyes sparked with mischief as he leaned in closer, their noses nearly touching. "Promise?" She rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the grin tugging at her lips. "You are incorrigible." "You're the one who keeps letting me in," he whispered, voice feather-light. "Maybe you like your bad dog after all." ____ "Say it," he commanded. She glared, blood trickling from the bite, her body shaking with defiance. "You want me to call you Alpha?" she spat. "Fine." Gothic. Haunted. Disappearing people. And a mansion that breathes. When Tara Lumin's parents buy a forgotten Gothic mansion in the eerie town of Atmani, she and her three boys-Dorian Vexley, Milo Ashbourne, and Pete Thornefield-move in expecting a fresh start. What they get is something... else. Something is wrong with Atmani. The townspeople act like they've seen ghosts. Some deny ever knowing people who vanished just weeks ago. There are names scratched out of yearbooks, family photos with missing faces, and screams in the woods no one investigates. She leaned forward, eyes blazing. "Alpha of assholes. King of mutts. God of rabid mongrels." His grin widened - like her fight only made her more perfect. "That's my girl," he purred. ---