
WHEN YOU SEE THE END
jamesakinwale1 · Ongoing · 36.5k Words
Introduction
Rowe is cold, controlled, and the most feared boy at Harken Prep. He doesn't do feelings. He doesn't do questions. And he definitely doesn't do the quiet, damaged boy; his father just moved into the room down the hall.
But when Cael accidentally reads Rowe's death date, and it's closer than anyone could imagine, everything changes. Cael can't leave. Rowe won't let him. And the truth about what Cael can see is only the first secret between them that could destroy everything.
Chapter 1
Cael POV
The first thing I do in a new house is count the exits.
Front door. Back door through the kitchen. Side window in the hallway that drops close enough to the ground that a person could land without breaking anything. Three ways out. I memorize them the way other kids memorize locker combinations. Automatic. Necessary.
I've been doing it since I was eleven, since the night I stood at my family's dinner table and watched the numbers above my parents' heads tick down to zero and didn't understand what it meant until the police showed up four days later.
I understand now.
The Daltry house is big and clean and smells like money and something I can't name. My mom's new husband, Silas, paid for movers. I told her I'd carry my own bag. It's a duffel. Everything I own fits in one duffel. She looked at me like that broke her heart a little, and I looked at the floor so I wouldn't see the number above her head, because I already know it and I'm not ready to think about it today.
Dinner is at seven.
I plan to eat fast and disappear upstairs.
That plan dies the second I walk into the dining room, and Silas is already standing at the head of the table with a glass raised, smiling the way men smile in photographs. My mom is beside him, her hand on his arm, her eyes finding mine with that quiet, desperate hope she's been wearing for six months. Please try. Please be okay. Please let this work.
I sit down. I keep my eyes on my plate.
"To new beginnings," Silas says.
I lift my glass. I look up to find my mom's face so she knows I'm trying.
And then I see him.
Rowe Daltry is sitting directly across from me. Dark hair, jaw set, shoulders back, the kind of still that isn't calm, it's controlled. He's watching me the way you watch something you haven't decided what to do with yet. Seventeen years of keeping my eyes down, and I pick this exact second to forget.
I look at him.
The number appears above his head, the way it always does, white, sharp, impossible to unsee.
87.
Eighty-seven days.
The glass slips. Water hits the table in a cold wave, spreading fast across the white cloth, and everyone moves at once, my mom grabbing napkins, Silas waving it off with a laugh that doesn't reach his eyes, a housekeeper appearing from nowhere. I'm not moving. I'm sitting completely still with my hands in my lap and my stomach somewhere on the floor because eighty-seven days is nothing. Eighty-seven days is the end of October. Eighty-seven days means the boy sitting across from me, eating dinner like it's a normal Sunday, will be dead before the first snow falls.
"It's fine," Silas says warmly. "Cael, no harm done."
I nod. I don't trust my voice.
Rowe hasn't looked away from me once. He watched the glass fall, and he watched me not react to the mess, and now he's looking at me like he's already figured out that something is wrong; he just doesn't know what yet. His expression doesn't change. Not annoyed. Not amused. Just reading me. Cataloguing.
I look back at my plate.
Dinner takes forty minutes. I count every one of them. My mom talks too much because she does that when she's nervous, filling the silence like it's a threat. Silas asks Rowe about school. Rowe answers in three words or fewer each time, polite and flat and completely closed. Nobody asks me anything until dessert, when Silas turns to me with that photograph smile and says, "We're glad you're here, Cael. This is your home now."
I say thank you.
Rowe's chair scrapes back. "Excuse me." He picks up his plate, carries it to the kitchen himself, like the housekeeper doesn't exist, and walks upstairs without looking at anyone.
My mom watches him go and then looks at me with an apology in her eyes. I shake my head slightly. Don't. I don't need him to be friendly. I don't need anything from Rowe Daltry except to stay out of his way for eighty-seven days until
Until.
I go upstairs ten minutes later. My room is the second door on the left. Rowe's is at the end of the hall. The light under his door is on. I walk past it fast and close myself in and sit on the edge of the bed in the dark and press the heels of my hands against my eyes.
Eighty-seven days.
I've seen numbers before. Too many. I know what they mean, and I know there is nothing I have ever been able to do about them. I saw my dad's. I saw my mom's the first one, the real one, and I buried that number so deep I can't breathe when it surfaces. I have spent three years learning that knowing doesn't mean saving. Knowing just means carrying it alone until the day it stops being a countdown and starts being a funeral.
I'm not doing that again.
I pull out my notebook, and I write it down. Not the number. The plan. The exit timeline I've been building for six months, the forged documents, the saved money, the contact two towns over who doesn't ask questions. I have had enough. I could leave before the school year even starts. I could be gone before any of this becomes something I have to survive.
I'm still staring at the page when something slides under my door.
A piece of paper. Folded once.
I don't move for a full ten seconds. Then I cross the room and pick it up.
Four words. Handwriting that's sharp and certain and doesn't waste anything.
Stay out of my way.
I look at the gap under the door. I look at the words. I think about the number above the head of the boy who wrote them, and I think about the last time I knew someone's number and told myself it wasn't my problem.
I didn't sleep for a year after that.
I fold the note carefully and set it on the nightstand.
Then I sit back down on the bed and start doing the math I swore I would never do again.
Because here's the thing about eighty-seven days.
Rowe Daltry doesn't know he's dying.
And I just moved into his house.
Last Chapters
#33 Chapter 33 How Did She Die
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#32 Chapter 32 Eighty-Four
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#31 Chapter 31 Not a Crime, Yet
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#30 Chapter 30 The Man in the Lot
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#29 Chapter 29 Sixty Days
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#28 Chapter 28 The Skim
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#27 Chapter 27 I Have Help Now
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#26 Chapter 26 DAY SEVEN
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#25 Chapter 25 THE CAMERA
Last Updated: 7/22/2026#24 Chapter 24 HELENA AT THE DOOR
Last Updated: 7/22/2026
You Might Like 😍
Omega Bound
Thane Knight is the alpha of the Midnight Pack of the La Plata Mountain Range, the largest wolf shifter pack in the world. He is an alpha by day and hunts the shifter trafficking ring with his group of mercenaries by night. His hunt for vengeance leads to one raid that changes his life.
Tropes:
Touch her and die/Slow burn romance/Fated Mates/Found family twist/Close circle betrayal/Cinnamon roll for only her/Traumatized heroine/Rare wolf/Hidden powers/Knotting/Nesting/Heats/Luna/Attempted assassination
A Queen Among Tides (Book 5 in the Gods' Saga)
Shocked to find he's been bound in more ways than one to Sebastian, the future King to the Kingdom of Atlesper, Lemuel resists Sebastian's advances at every turn, believing this may be one pairing Goddess Zarseti got wrong.
Lemuel will have to face his past in hopes of starting a new future, but an overly flirtatious King is the least of his worries when he learns Sebastian's parents are convinced that a conniving usurper disguised as a curvy blonde, is the future king's true soulmate.
A Queen Among Tides is the 5th book in the Queen Among Series/The Gods' Saga. This is an interconnected series. To see how it ends, I recommend reading the full series.
Books in the series order:
A Queen Among Alphas - Book 1
Bite-Size Luna - A Queen Among Alphas Prequel (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Snakes - Book 2
A Queen Among Blood - Book 3
A Queen Among Darkness - Book 4
Whole Again - A Queen Among Alpha's spin-off (available under book 1)
A Queen Among Tides - Book 5
Valor, Virtue, and Verve - Tides Prequel Spin-off (will be available under book 5)
A Queen Among Gods - Book 6
Runaway Empress - A Queen Among Snakes Prequel (will be available under book 2)
A Queen Among Tempests - Book 7
Dark Vocation - Darkness spin-off (will be available under book 4)
A Court of Arcane Souls Anthology (side character short stories exclusive to Ream)
Royal Shadow Series (Next Gen Coming Soon)
The Spy Who Left
"I still can't believe she actually did it. Aria Hart, filing for divorce. Who saw that coming?"
"How long do we think it'll take before she comes crawling back?" Another voice joins the conversation.
"Three days," Victoria declares. "Five at most. She has no money, no skills, no family. Where's she going to go?"
When Aria Chen divorced billionaire Leon Hart, New York's elite sneered, betting she'd crawl back within days. She never did.
Three years later, the world is rocked when Dr. Aria Vale, CEO of a revolutionary cybersecurity empire, steps into the spotlight. The mysterious genius who built a billion-dollar company from nothing is none other than Leon's discarded wife, the woman everyone thought was just a pretty ornament.
Now, every powerful man wants the queen Leon threw away a renowned scientist seeking partnership, a financial titan proposing an empire, and an actor offering devotion. Each sees the brilliance Leon ignored.
Then Leon discovers the truth: Aria's sacrifices, her secret double life, and the daughter she's been raising without him. For the first time, the man who once took her for granted must fight for her love. But can he compete with men who valued her from the beginning?
A story of love, betrayal, and power where the king must kneel before the queen who never needed saving.
King of the Underworld
However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”
But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”
Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.
She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Tempted By The Enemy
She escapes to Preston Island to attend the wedding without informing him only to collide with Lucas’s hot, fiery and arrogant brother, the twenty-three-year-old, Nicholas Donnelly. Sparks immediately fly between them but Alyssa refuses to acknowledge them fearing her brother's wrath.
The wedding is over and Alyssa tries hard to forget the mysterious Nicholas Donnelly but can he forget her? Can he ignore the attraction he feels for her, feelings that have resurfaced after ten years?
What will Allyssa do when she is stalked by the man who has been invading her dreams since the day she met him? What will she do when she is whisked away to a deserted island by the unpredictable Nicholas Donnelly? Can she tame her heart or surrender to sinful temptations? Read to find out!
Part of the Temptation Series. Can be read as a standalone.
The CEO's Unspoken Love
Before I could answer, he moved closer, suddenly looming over me, his face inches from mine. I felt my breath caught, my lips parting in surprise.
"Then this is the price for speaking ill of me to others," he murmured, nipping my lower lip before claiming my mouth in a real kiss. It began as punishment but quickly transformed into something else entirely as I responded, my initial rigidity melting into compliance, then active participation.
My breathing accelerated, small sounds escaping my throat as he explored my body. His touches were both punishment and pleasure, drawing shudders from me that I thought he felt reverberating through his own body.
My nightgown had ridden up, his hands discovering more of mine with each caress. We were both lost in sensation, rational thought receding with each passing second...
Three years ago, to fulfill the wish of his grandmother, I was forced to marry Derek Wells, the second son of the family that had adopted me for ten years. He didn't love me, but I had secretly loved him all along.
Now, the three-year contractual marriage is about to end, but I feel that some kind of sentiment has developed between Derek and me that neither of us is willing to admit. I'm not sure if my feelings are right, but I know that we can't resist each other physically...
After One Night with the Alpha
I thought I was waiting for love. Instead, I got fucked by a beast.
My world was supposed to bloom at the Moonshade Bay Full Moon Festival—champagne buzzing in my veins, a hotel room booked for Jason and me to finally cross that line after two years. I’d slipped into lacy lingerie, left the door unlocked, and lay on the bed, heart pounding with nervous excitement.
But the man who climbed into my bed wasn’t Jason.
In the pitch-black room, drowned in a heady, spicy scent that made my head spin, I felt hands—urgent, scorching—searing my skin. His thick, pulsing cock pressed against my dripping cunt, and before I could gasp, he thrust hard, tearing through my innocence with ruthless force. Pain burned, my walls clenching as I clawed at his iron shoulders, stifling sobs. Wet, slick sounds echoed with every brutal stroke, his body unrelenting until he shuddered, spilling hot and deep inside me.
"That was amazing, Jason," I managed to say.
"Who the fuck is Jason?"
My blood turned to ice. Light slashed across his face—Brad Rayne, Alpha of Moonshade Pack, a werewolf, not my boyfriend. Horror choked me as I realized what I’d done.
I ran away for my life!
But weeks later, I woke up pregnant with his heir!
They say my heterochromatic eyes mark me as a rare true mate. But I’m no wolf. I’m just Elle, a nobody from the human district, now trapped in Brad's world.
Brad’s cold gaze pins me: “You carry my blood. You’re mine.”
There is no other choice for me but to chose this cage. My body also betrays me, craving the beast who ruined me.
WARNING: Mature Readers Only
Rebirth Of The HighSchool Villain
When he chose Jane Sinclair over her, Aurora lost control and on graduation night, she died after drinking a poisoned wine, not knowing who poisoned her. With her last breath, she wished for a second chance and woke up one year before her death.
This time, Aurora refuses to be the villain. She breaks off her engagement, stops chasing Adrian, and walks away with her pride intact. But the more she ignores him, the more Adrian wants her back.
And when his cold, mysterious half-brother Marcel, the one who was supposed to die, returns and begins to fall for Aurora after she saves him. Now the brothers are at war.
One wants the girl who stopped loving him. The other wants the girl who saved him. But Aurora isn’t chasing anyone anymore. She’s rewriting her fate.
Will Aurora be able to change her fate? Will she return back to Adrian or choose Marcel? Or will fate turn her into the villain again? There is only one way to find out.
Take note, that names, characters, location are all fictional.
The Last Tribrid: Hunted & Hollow
That’s what the blood in the woods says.
That’s what Astrid saw with her own eyes.
And that’s what should have ended it.
But it didn’t.
Because her death wasn’t the beginning of justice.
It was the beginning of the hunt.
As grief fractures their world, Astrid and her friends are forced to confront a terrifying truth—someone isn’t just killing.
They’re choosing.
Marking.
Watching.
And now, the circle is closing.
What started as a single investigation quickly unravels into something far more dangerous, pulling them into a web of ancient forces that have been waiting… watching… and are no longer willing to stay buried.
Enemies rise from places they never thought to look.
Allies become something else entirely.
And survival begins to demand impossible choices.
Because some lives can only be saved by sacrificing others.
As power awakens inside Astrid—wild, unstable, and willing to burn everything in its path—she’s pushed to the edge of what she can control… and what she’s willing to lose.
Even if it costs her everything.
Even if it costs them.
Because this time, they aren’t just being hunted.
They’ve already been marked.
(this is a continuation of 'the last tribrid')
LOVING MY BILLIONAIRE STEPSON
There was also a twenty-year age gap between them, Michelle didn't care because their relationship was the only ray of sunshine in her rather bleak world. And when he popped the question she was more than happy to say yes. Michelle thought she had found her happily ever after, but she couldn't have been more wrong. With each year that passed Elliot became more of a stranger and less of the man she had fallen for, neglecting her and looking the other way when his mother treated her poorly, that was until the day their 5th anniversary rolled around, she caught him in bed with her sister.
Her love is replaced by hate, a swooning affection now burning rage. Well, two could play that game. That night, she dials her stepson's number with a single text that will change their lives forever.
‘I need you tonight’












