Novels by bayonettadrame19

Ryder POVShe was still asleep when I left her room.The argument lingered in my mind. Not the words, but the way she’d looked at me when she realized she couldn’t leave. When she understood her brother had already decided her fate.She didn’t know everything.And if I had my way, she never would.I knew something was wrong the instant the noise around her shifted.Not because she stumbled. Emerson had learned how to mask weakness long before I met her. But fear changes the air. It sharpens it. Turns pleasure sour. Her fear cut through the gathering like a blade, precise and unmistakable.By the time I reached her, the damage was already done.I didn’t need to examine her closely to know she’d been drugged. I didn’t need witnesses or confessions. The room told me everything I needed to know. The way conversations died too quickly. The way bodies subtly angled away. The way guilt always tried to hide behind indifference.Silence fell when I lifted her.Good.They needed to understand w

Emerson POVI woke to silence.Not the hollow quiet of abandonment, but the kind that pressed gently against my senses—measured, restrained. The bed beneath me was warm, the sheets impossibly soft against my skin.For a moment, I didn’t move.Then memory returned in sharp fragments—the drink, the spinning lights, Ryder’s voice cutting through the noise, his arms around me as the world fell apart.I pushed myself upright slowly, my head throbbing but clear enough to think.This wasn’t my room.Sunlight filtered through tall windows, catching on dark wooden beams and stone walls etched with subtle carvings. Everything about the space felt deliberate. Controlled.Safe, my wolf murmured, surprisingly certain.I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, grounding myself against the cool floor.The door opened quietly.Monaco stepped inside, his expression carefully neutral. He paused when he saw me awake.“You’re up earlier than expected,” he said.“What happened?” I asked immediately.His j

Emerson POVThe music reached me before the lights did.Low and rhythmic, threaded with laughter that felt too loud, too careless for the hour. It spilled from the neighboring estate like an invitation I knew I shouldn’t accept.I paused at the threshold, my fingers curling into the fabric of the borrowed dress Mia had given me. It fit well enough, but it wasn’t mine. Nothing here was.You don’t belong here, my wolf murmured, uneasy. And they know it.I should have turned back.But the silence of the mansion had pressed too hard against my chest, and the ache of it—of being alone in a place full of people—had driven me out.Across the poolside, Alpha Ryder stood beneath the lights.He wasn’t participating in the revelry. He didn’t need to. The crowd curved subtly around him, orbiting without being invited. Women hovered close, their laughter too bright, their movements deliberately careless.He barely touched anyone.And yet they leaned in anyway.Something tight coiled in my chest.I

Emerson POVThe mansion loomed before me like a silent judge.It rose from the earth in dark stone and glass, sharp angles cutting into the night sky as if it had been carved to intimidate rather than welcome. Warm light glowed behind tall windows, but it didn’t soften the place—it only made the shadows deeper.Alpha Ryder stepped inside without hesitation.I followed more slowly, my feet dragging as though the marble beneath them had turned to ice. The doors closed behind us with a low, final sound, and my chest tightened.Everywhere I looked, I felt eyes on me.My skin prickled, dread crawling up my spine, my pulse hammering in my ears.I swallowed hard.Then I realized it wasn't eyes.Statues lined the walls on both sides of the corridor, carved wolves frozen mid-snarl and mid-howl, their stone gazes sharp and merciless. They were massive, ancient, each one different, as if they had once been alive and captured in the moment of their rage.My breath left me in a rush.They’re judgi

Emerson POVThe words sliced through the murmurs around me.They weren’t the worst ones.“Don’t look at her,” someone whispered urgently, too close to my ear.“Snake-eyes bring bad luck.”Another voice followed, lower, fearful.“That’s why the Alpha hates her. You don’t stare at things like that and survive.”My stomach twisted.Several pack members turned, their glares sharpening. Some looked away quickly, like my eyes might infect them if they lingered too long. One of them bared his fangs and lunged forward, his steps heavy and deliberate.Instinct screamed at me to shrink back.If he reached me before the duel began, no one would stop him.My heart thundered violently as I clamped my hands over my ears, my breath coming apart in uneven gasps. My wolf recoiled, curling in on herself.Don’t let them see, she whispered. Don’t let them win.“Enough.”The command cracked through the tension like a whip.“Step aside and prepare the field,” the stranger continued coldly. “Nicholas can’t

Emerson POV“Pack weirdo,” Nicholas barked. “Get me a glass of water.”The command echoed through the enormous lounge, bouncing off marble floors and gilded walls polished to a shine I would never belong to.Nicholas — our Alpha — didn’t look at me like a brother. He looked at me like something unpleasant he’d scraped off his boot and forgotten to clean.I lifted my head from my palm, where it had been buried for hours, my thoughts heavy and unmoving like stone. My legs ached from running errands for him all morning. Small tasks. Meaningless tasks. The kind given to remind someone of their place.I moved anyway.Hesitation only made things worse. It always had.As I crossed the room, my heart slammed violently against my ribs, instinct screaming before my mind could catch up. I had learned long ago to listen to that instinct. It had kept me alive this long.I poured the water carefully, hands steady despite the tight knot in my chest. When I turned back, Nicholas’s gaze was already on