LOGINJodieI sit at my desk in silence, staring down at the thick envelope resting in my lap. My name is written across the front in neat, familiar handwriting that I haven't seen in months. It feels completely surreal to hold a letter from Alvin right now. The entire time he was visiting MoonCrown, he didn't try to talk to me even once. In fact, he went out of his way to deliberately avoid me, turning his head or walking down another hallway whenever we happened to cross paths. He couldn't even look me in the eye back then, so seeing his name stamped on this paper makes my chest tighten.My fingers tremble slightly as I break the red wax seal on the back. I pull out two folded sheets of crisp white paper and open them up. The handwriting inside is messy, uneven, and smudged with dried teardrops in several spots."What does it say?" Evelyn asks softly, her eyes filled with concern as she leans forward in her chair, watching my face closely.I don't answer right away because my eyes are alr
JodieThe morning sun spills through the wide glass windows of my private design studio inside MoonCrown, washing over the drawing boards, fabric swatches, and piles of printed pages scattered across my desk. I sit back in my oversized leather chair, rubbing the small of my back as I tilt my head to study the heavy stack of paper resting in front of me. It is the early script draft for the movie adaptation of my first bestseller, written under my pen name Willow Reed.Seeing my words turned into formal dialogue blocks with scene descriptions feels surreal. I was trapped in a dark room in Silver Moon, getting my blood drained week after week while being told I was nothing. Now, major studio executives across the country are bidding on my ideas, begging to turn my stories into feature films.I flip to scene twelve, making a small note in blue ink along the margin about character dialogue. But as my eyes trace the printed words, my hand slows down. A sudden image flashes across my mind,
CaldenA sick wave of disgust washes through my stomach, so strong it makes my mouth taste like pure iron. Her words hang in the heavy air of the living hall, repeating over and over again until my head hurts. She destroyed my wife's life, drained her body until she was a shell of a person, and turned my house into a nightmare just so she could keep my attention. All those years of watching her act so sweet and delicate, all those times I rushed home to check on her while leaving my true mate alone in the dark, it was all built on a disgusting, pathetic lie.My hand feels dirty just touching her neck.I open my fingers and release her throat. Enid drops instantly, collapsing onto the hard stone floor in a sobbing heap of silk fabric. She clutches her bruised neck, wheezing loudly as she tries to suck air back into her lungs, her body trembling with violent sobs. I step back from her, looking down at her like she is a complete stranger, a venomous snake that managed to trick me into h
CaldenMy broad hand stays clamped around Enid’s throat, her face turning a deep, blotchy red while her heels kick uselessly against the central stone wall. I don't loosen my grip on Enid by a single inch. I turn my eyes toward Mrs. Thornwell, glaring down at her with a cold, terrifying gaze that makes the surrounding pack members draw back in fear."Look at you," I snarl, my deep Alpha voice ringing off the high walls of the pack house. "You drop to your knees and cry for your precious daughter now. But where was all this sorrow when Jodie was in that hospital room? How could a mother stand by for years and watch the child she raised get treated like common livestock under this roof?"Mrs. Thornwell breaks down into tears, covering her face with her shaking hands as she rocks back and forth on the stone floor. She doesn't raise her voice. She doesn't even try to offer a single word of denial. The absolute silence from her mouth hits the hall like a heavy weight, exposing her guilt t
CaldenThe hallway leading to Enid’s room blurs past me as the fury in my chest reaches a boiling point. Every step I take echoes off the walls like thunder, the heavy manila file still crushed tight in my right fist. For years, I let this woman play the fragile, fading victim while she helped her father bleed my true mate dry. I let her turn my house into a torture chamber for Jodie while I stood by like a blind fool.I don't bother knocking. I slam my foot straight into the door of her private room, sending it flying back against the wall with a loud bang that rattles the glass windows.Enid is lounging on her plush sofa, wearing a delicate silk robe while sipping tea from a small china cup. She jumps in surprise, her hands shaking so hard the tea spills over her lap, leaving a hot stain on the expensive fabric. Her eyes widen in instant shock as she looks up at me, taking in my dark, lethal expression."Calden!" she gasps, placing a pale hand over her chest as if she is about to
CaldenThe drive back from my grandmother’s estate feels twice as long as the drive there. Her words keep looping inside my head over and over again, repeating with every turn of the steering wheel. Every single word she spoke was a hit to my chest, but that tiny spark of hope she gave me before I left is the only thing keeping my wolf from completely losing his mind. Jodie still loves me. Somewhere deep down under all that hurt, under all the walls she built up against me, she still cares. I just have to figure out how to earn her forgiveness, no matter how long it takes.I pull the SUV onto the main driveway of the Silver Moon pack house and park right near the front steps. Turning off the engine, I sit in the quiet car for a quick second to pull my breathing back into place. The massive house sits on the hill looking as cold and silent as always, but I can't keep running away from it. I need to get inside, get through my work, and figure out my next move.Opening the car door, I s







