Chapter: Chapter 46: The Walk of ShameMaraThe apartment felt offensively quiet after Kieran left. I sat in bed for a full minute staring at the closed door. Then at the sheets. Then at the ceiling. Then back at the sheets."Well."That was apparently all my brain had. Well. I had gone on one date with Kieran. One. Then somehow one date had turned into dinner, laughter, a kiss at my front door, and I looked at the disaster around me."Fantastic."My clothes were scattered across the floor. His shirt had somehow ended up near the tiny kitchen. One pillow was on the ground. The blanket was half twisted around my legs. And the poppies he had brought me last night were sitting in a jar on my counter looking far too innocent considering the events they had witnessed.I covered my face. "Oh my God."The worst part? I wasn't horrified. I wasn't embarrassed. Okay. I was a little embarrassed. But mostly? I felt good. Annoyingly good. Warm. Relaxed. Happy. My body hurt in that very specific I made decisions last night kind of way,
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Chapter: Chapter 45: Apparently I Was MissingKieranI woke to footsteps on the stairs.Mara was still completely unconscious against me.For half a second, I didn't move. I just looked down at her. She was curled into my chest beneath the blankets, one leg tangled with mine, her cheek pressed against my shoulder like she had decided sometime during the night that I was a pillow. Her hair was everywhere. Across my chest. Across her face. Half beneath my arm.My wolf was unbearably pleased. Mate. I couldn't even argue with him. There was something about waking up with Mara tucked against me that settled something deep inside my chest. No ceremony. No elders. No expectations. She had chosen this. Chosen me.The footsteps came closer. My wolf immediately went alert. I carefully slid my arm from beneath Mara. She made a quiet sound and rolled toward the warm spot I'd left behind. I froze. She didn't wake. Good.I climbed out of bed, grabbed my jeans from the floor, and pulled them on as quietly as possible. Another step outside. The
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: Chapter 44: A FirstMaraThe first wave crested before I'd even registered it building. It wasn't the familiar, manageable curl of pleasure. This was tectonic. It started at the base of my spine and detonated outward, white-hot and obliterating.My mouth opened, and the sound that came out was foreign, a high, keening thing I'd never heard myself make, that I didn't know my body could produce.The orgasm had me by the throat. Not the polite little sighs I'd taught myself to fake, not the silent tightening I managed alone. It rolled through me in waves, each one punishing, each one dragged out by the steady rhythm of his hips, and I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but sob against his shoulder.My nails raked down his back. I heard it through the fog... the sharp hiss of his breath, the way his rhythm stuttered and regained itself. My body clenched around him, again and again, and with each pulse, another aftershock burst through me, until I wasn't sure where the orgasm ended and I b
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 43: GentleMaraI opened my mouth to respond, but his hand was already at the button of my jeans, and whatever clever retort I'd been constructing dissolved into nothing. He popped it open. The zipper followed. Then he was peeling the denim down my legs, his eyes never leaving mine, and I was losing the ability to think."Tell me if I need to stop," he said softly as my jeans joined the growing pile on the floor.I nodded."Out loud, Mara."The sound of my name in that voice, rough around the edges, did things to me I couldn't explain. "I'll tell you."He kissed me again. Not desperate... worse, far worse, it was tender. His lips moved over mine with a patience that felt like a promise, and I sank into it, into him, until the world narrowed to the heat of his mouth and the press of his body.Somewhere beneath the haze, an old fear scratched at the back of my mind. I'd had sex before. I'd never had an orgasm. Not from another person. Only ever alone, with my toy, when no one was watching, when th
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 42: Sorry In AdvanceMaraThe drive back to the clinic was quieter than dinner had been. It was not an awkward silence, but rather a gentle one, the kind that settles when two people do not feel the need to fill every moment with words. Kieran drove with one hand on the wheel, his eyes focused ahead. I watched the familiar streets slide past outside the window and tried not to think too hard about how easy the night had been.That was the dangerous part. I had expected tension, awkward pauses, maybe even some strange Alpha dating ritual involving blood vows or livestock. Instead, I had laughed... again and again. When he pulled into the small lot beside the clinic, I unbuckled my seat belt and turned to him. “Thanks.”Kieran looked at me. “For what?”“The date,” I said.“You’re welcome,” he replied.I reached for the door, but his opened first. I glanced over at him.“You do not have to walk me in.”“I know,” he replied simply.Of course he did. I climbed out and he followed. The clinic was dark except f
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 41: One Date, No GrowlingMaraI found myself staring at Kieran for longer than I probably should have. He shifted, looking uncertain.“What?” he asked.“You look weird,” I admitted.He raised his eyebrows. “I wore what you told me to wear.”“I know,” I said, stepping back to take him in. Jeans and a dark button-down shirt, no jacket, no intimidating Alpha uniform, no suit that seemed to declare he could buy the entire neighborhood if he wanted. Just Kieran. Which was somehow worse, because he looked really, truly good.“I’m adjusting,” I said.“To what?” he asked.“You looking normal.”His lips twitched. “I am normal.”I laughed.He frowned at me. “That was rude.”“That was accurate,” I replied.I took the poppies upstairs to find something to put them in. There was no actual vase, so I made do with an old jar, and then came back down. Kieran was waiting exactly where I had left him, hands in his pockets, looking almost... nervous.“You ready?” I asked.He nodded. “I think so.”"I’ve never been on a date with
Last Updated: 2026-09-04
The Mate Hunt
Maeve Cross has but one reason to enter the Blood Hunt... to be brought down by the most feared Alpha alive.
For three years, she has been searching for her missing sister, Mara, whose secret letters describe starvation, torture, and imprisonment beneath the pack house of Alpha Ronan Caine. Maeve knows the rules of the Hunt: get to the sanctuary before sunrise and win protection, wealth or a favor from each Alpha who hunted her.
If they get caught the one who lays claim to her gets to mate her.
Maeve has no intention of fleeing.
She means to let Ronan take her, get into his area, save Mara and kill him before he can finish the bonding.
But Ronan is waiting for her.
Years ago, Mara betrayed his family, opened the gates to enemy wolves, and murdered the Luna chosen to save him from the deadly Sovereign Hunger. Ronan's wolf was starving, violent, and dangerously close to overriding the interrupted ritual.
Then Maeve comes into his woods.
Her smell soothes the beast inside him.
It is her hate that rouses it.
And once Ronan has her, he has no intention of letting her go.
Maeve is trapped in his estate, looking for her sister and battling a dangerous attraction to the ruthless Alpha she came to destroy. But the more she digs the clearer the truth becomes.
Maybe Ronan isn’t the monster who destroyed Mara’s life.
Ronan went into the Hunt for revenge. Now he wants Maeve.
And whether she hates him or not, his starving wolf has already chosen her.
Read
Chapter: Chapter 156: Get Off Your KneesMaeveFor several seconds after the last Silver Crown wolf disappeared beyond the western markers, nobody moved. Not them. Not us. Not me. The clearing had gone so quiet that I could hear my own breathing.Then I turned around. And realized every person behind me was still on their knees.Cassian. Torin. Theron. Tyson. Corina. Lyra. Caine warriors. Trackers. Even Soren had one hand braced against the ground as if she had tried to fight whatever I had done and lost.Only Ronan remained standing. My stomach dropped."Oh."Cassian slowly lifted his head. His expression was flat. "Excellent observation, Luna.""Shut up.""I would love to." He glanced pointedly at his knees. "Unfortunately, I'm apparently awaiting royal permission."Fuck. I immediately reached for whatever part of me had pressed them down. The power was still there. Huge. Cold. Waiting. I pulled it back."Get up."The pressure vanished. Everyone moved at once. Some stood quickly. Others staggered. Theron rolled one shoulde
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Chapter: Chapter 155: The Queen They FoundMaeveI stared at my mother, words gathering inside me that I knew better than to voice. None of them would have been polite. Behind me, Ronan’s anger pressed against our bond, hot and immediate, but I hardly noticed it anymore. Exhaustion had settled into my bones, a deep and bitter fatigue from years of others telling me what I thought, what I felt, and why I made the choices I did.My mother shifted her attention to Ronan, perhaps realizing she would get nowhere with me and hoping for a different outcome with him instead.“Alpha Caine,” she addressed him.Ronan’s expression became unreadable. “I would not,” he replied.“This does not have to end in blood,” she tried.“You crossed my border with an armed force,” he reminded her.“We came for our Queen.”“You found her,” he said, his voice growing cold. “She said no.”I felt something warm flicker inside me at that. He never claimed me. He never said I belonged to him. Just that I had said no.Isolde studied him carefully. “If you tr
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: Chapter 154: The King Gideon KilledMaeveThe words hung between us, heavy and foul, as if something rotten had been placed in the space that separated me from my mother.Ronan remained motionless, and so did I, but the tension behind me was palpable. Every Caine wolf could feel his anger, and so could the Silver Crown. My mother looked at Ronan with a wary, simmering hatred, as if he were some threat she had spent years preparing herself to despise.I shifted, stepping into her direct line of sight. “Stop looking at him,” I told her.
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: Chapter 153: The Silver Crown ReturnsMaeveThey came for their queen.Those words echoed in my mind as I walked across the western grounds, each step drawing me closer to the unknown. I had no idea what the words meant, nor was I sure I wanted to know. Ronan kept close, silent and steady beside me. Ahead, Cassian and Torin led the way with warriors fanning out through the thick brush. Theron, Tyson, Corina, and Lyra followed behind us, their presence a quiet reassurance.Not a single person spoke. The horns had gone silent, and somehow, that was more unsettling than their call.The trees thinned, branches falling away like a curtain opening, and I stopped in my tracks. My heart stuttered.The clearing beyond the Caine markers was filled with wolves... so many that I lost count. Not ten. Not twenty. Nearly a hundred, all standing in ordered ranks, some in wolf form, others shaped as humans, every one of them armed. Black and silver banners rose behind them, barely shifting in the night breeze, each one emblazoned with a c
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: Chapter 152: The Horns of WarRonanThe moon crept over the horizon, its pale light casting long shadows across the judgment ground. Hundreds of Caine wolves stood in a silent circle, shoulders squared, eyes fixed on the center. The air was thick with anticipation and something colder, an old grief that lingered in every breath.Maeve stood beside me, refusing to be anywhere else. Fresh stitches cut angrily across her cheek, catching the torchlight like a badge of survival. She'd argued against staying inside, of course. She always did.Falon and Axel were brought forward, their wrists trapped in silver restraints. There was no fight left in them, not tonight.I stepped forward, letting the weight of the moment settle over us all. "For five years, these men sold Caine from inside its own borders," I said. No one moved. Their betrayal was an open wound."They gave Cross our patrol schedules. Our weaknesses. Our leadership movements. Our messenger routes." My eyes locked on Falon. "They continued after the massacre.
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 151: What He Left BehindMaeveElowen’s patience finally snapped, and I was her target.Apparently, watching an Alpha die, exposing five traitors, reorganizing the pack, and narrowly avoiding war did not, in her eyes, excuse bleeding all over her floors.“Sit,” she ordered.“I am sitting,” I said, glancing down at the edge of the examination table. “I don’t know how much more seated I can be.”She ignored my protest, grabbed my chin with a practiced hand. “Keep talking, and I’ll stitch your lips while I’m here.”I shut my mouth. Mostly.Ronan stood at the wall, arms crossed, his presence as heavy as unresolved thunder. Watching. Brooding. Generally being unpleasant.Outside the healer’s house, Caine was a flurry of motion, a constant pulse against my nerves, even with my focus narrowed. I could feel the pack’s hum through the bond: tables carried into the central commons, kitchen staff hauling enough food for hundreds, Torin overseeing the judgment ground, Cassian checking the guards, Soren organizing the re
Last Updated: 2026-09-04
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