Novels by Najaatu

Ivy’s POV The bar smelled like whiskey and smoke. I slid onto a stool near the back, away from the handful of people scattered around the room. A basketball game played on the TV above the bar, but nobody seemed to be watching it. Everyone here looked like they were running from something, yeah the cruelty of life i guess. Welcome to the club. “What can I get you?” The bartender was older, maybe fifty, with tired eyes that had seen too much. “Something strong.” He nodded like he understood exactly what kind of night I was having and poured me a double shot of whiskey. I downed it in one gulp, barely tasting it, just wanting the burn. “Another.” He poured again without comment. The second one went down easier. So did the third. When I downed the fourth, the sharp edges of my pain had started to blur. The constant loop in my head of yesternight. I was reaching for my fifth shot when someone slid onto the stool next to mine. “Rough day?” I turned and found myself lo

Ivy’s POV I didn’t sleep. How could I? Every time I close my eyes, I see those pictures haunting me. And the fact that nobody was on my side…that made it worse. I stayed curled up on our bed, still wearing my birthday dress, my mascara had dried in crusty streaks down my cheeks. The house was so quiet I could hear the refrigerator humming downstairs. Usually that sound annoyed me, but tonight it was the only thing keeping me company. So sad. I kept listening for Ethan’s movement, hoping he would walk through the bedroom door and tell me he believed me. That he knew me better than some fake photos. But he didn’t show up, not even his shadow. But before you knew it, the sun was up already, and I was still alone with my thoughts and bawling eyes. I picked my phone that sat on the night stand up with shaking hands. 3:47 AM was the last time I checked the time, and now it was already 8:23 AM.There were no missed calls or texts from anyone, not that i was expecting considering how t

Ivy’s POV“Make a wish, Ivy!” I stared at the candles flickering on the chocolate cake, their warm glow reflecting off the wine glasses scattered across our dining table. My cheeks hurt from smiling, but I didn’t care. Ethan’s hand rested on my lower back, his thumb drawing lazy circles through the fabric of my dress. “Come on, baby,” he whispered against my ear. “Blow them out before the fire alarm goes off.” I laughed and leaned forward, aware of everyone watching. Mom, Dad, Ethan’s mother sitting with her usual perfect posture, and Natalie bouncing on her heels with her phone out. This is how Thirty years feels like, married to the man i absolutely love. In our home, surrounded by everyone who mattered. I closed my eyes and wished for more moments exactly like this one. The candles went out to cheers and applause. Ethan kissed my temple, and I felt his lips curve into a smile against my skin. That smile that had made me fall in love with him seven years ago and still made

Sophie’s POV The black dress felt like armor. I’d chosen it carefully, it was elegant but not expensive, modest but not mousy, the kind of thing that would help me blend into the background at Richard’s funeral. But as I zipped it up and stared at my reflection in the hotel bathroom mirror, I knew that blending in was impossible.Camille had seen Ethan. By now, the entire pack probably knew.“Mama, do I have to wear the tie?” Ethan appeared in the doorway, tugging at the navy blue tie I’d insisted on. He looked so grown up in his little suit, so heartbreakingly handsome with his grey eyes serious and his dark hair combed back.He looked like a Steele.“Yes, baby. Just for today.” I crouched down, adjusting the tie and smoothing his collar. “Remember what we talked about? We’re going to say goodbye to my stepfather. There will be lots of people there, and some of them might want to talk to us. Just be polite and stay close to me, okay?”“Will that mean lady be there? The one from the

Sophie’s POV Central Park in October was breathtaking. The leaves were turning, painting the trees in shades of gold and crimson, and the air had that crisp quality that I’d forgotten existed in California’s endless summer. We walked along the paths, Ethan running ahead to examine every interesting rock and leaf, and for a moment, I let myself pretend we were just tourists. Just a mother and son on vacation, with no complicated past and no terrifying future.My wolf wasn’t fooled. She was on high alert, sensing the pack boundaries we were crossing, the territorial markers that saturated the air. We were in the heart of Steele territory now, and every instinct I had was screaming at me that we were exposed, vulnerable.That he might be near.“Mama, look!” Ethan had found a hot dog cart and was staring at it with the intensity of someone who’d discovered buried treasure. “Can we get one? Please?”I laughed despite myself. “Yes, we can get one.”The vendor was human—I could tell by the

Sophie’s POV The plane descended through grey clouds, and my Soso stirred uneasily in my chest. She could sense it as we were entering Steele pack territory. Even at thirty thousand feet, the change in the air was palpable and thick with the scent of established power and old dominance.I had forgotten how suffocating it felt to be in another Alpha’s domain.“Mama, look! I can see the buildings!” Ethan pressed his face against the window, his breath fogging the glass. His excitement was pure, untainted by the dread coiling in my stomach like a living thing.He had no idea what we were flying into.I had spent the entire flight trying to prepare him, to find words that would explain without explaining too much. Your grandmother can be… difficult. The people we’re going to see, they’re complicated. Just stay close to me, okay?But how did I explain that we were walking into a pack that had cast us out? That his father didn’t know he existed? That every instinct in my body was screaming

Sophie’s POVThe words punched the air from my lungs. Soso whimpered, wanting to tell our pup the truth, to howl our grief and rage and longing to the Moon Goddess who gave us a fated mate we couldn’t have.“Lots of people have grey eyes,” I said, taking the magazine and setting it aside with hands that shook. “Come on, let’s get you dinner. I promised we’d try that new taco place, remember?”I’d gotten good at deflecting over the years, at building walls around the truth and at pretending the bond didn’t still sing in my blood, calling me back to a mate who’d rejected everything we could have been.The taco place was cheerful and loud, and Ethan chattered about his day while I nodded and smiled and tried not to think about grey eyes and broken bonds. But my dear Soso was restless, pacing beneath my skin like she could sense something coming.I saw a letter immediately we git home waiting for me. Cream-colored, with a return address that made my wolf snarl and my human heart stutter.

Sophie’s POVTell me you don’t feel it, Sophie. Tell me the bond means nothing to you.”I jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged animal. His voice still echoed in my ears, rough and demanding, even as the afternoon light streaming through my studio windows dragged me back to reality. My cheek was stuck to my forearm, a fabric swatch pressed into my skin leaving little indentations, and my body hummed with a heat that had nothing to do with the Los Angeles sunshine.“Mama? I’m hungry.”I sucked in a sharp breath, my wolf stirring restlessly beneath my skin as I straight“ened too quickly. Ethan stood in the doorway, his small hands gripping the frame, and those grey eyes—those damn grey eyes that were a mirror of his father’s—watched me with concern that no six-year-old should have to feel.“I’m fine, sweetheart,” I managed to say, my voice rough from sleep and dreams I had no business having. Dreams that felt more like memories of my fated mate, the one bond I sh