Kane’s POVAvery pulled herself from the bed and she kneels before me, her drenched clothes clinging to her shivering frame, her eyes wide with desperation. The fire in the hearth crackles, casting flickering shadows across the room, but she remains unmoving, waiting, pleading.The heavy wooden doors click shut behind my Beta and the guards, leaving only the two of us in the dimly lit study. The storm outside howls against the castle walls, but it’s nothing compared to the storm raging inside me.Her lips part, trembling. "Kane…”I don’t move.I lean back in my chair, arms crossed, jaw tight. I should throw her out. I should let her suffer the way I did. The way I still do. But instead, I find myself watching her, analyzing every flicker of emotion that crosses her face.“You’re asking me to risk my men, my resources… for what?” My voice comes out colder than I intended, but I don’t take it back.She swallows hard, her hands balling into fists on her lap. “For old time’s sake.”A shar
Avery’s POVThe storm outside had passed, but a different one raged inside me.I had barely slept, my mind a relentless battlefield of guilt, desperation, and fear.The chill of the night still clung to my skin, but it wasn’t just the cold keeping me awake. It was him.Kane.His words had been sharp, biting, designed to wound. And they had. But what hurt more was knowing that deep down, despite everything, I still needed him.And that made me weak.I hated that weakness.But my son was out there, alone, possibly terrified. There was no room for pride. No space for the past. I had to focus on what mattered.Taking a deep breath, I pulled on my coat, ignoring the slight tremble in my fingers. I had a long night ahead, and Kane’s conditions still rang in my ears.I should feel disgusted.Angry.Even ashamed.But all I felt was… empty.I had made my choice. And now, I had to follow through.Just as I turned toward the door, a sharp knock made me freeze.My stomach twisted.Who in this pac
Kane’s POVI adjust the cuffs of my black shirt, my movements precise, controlled. Every fiber of my being is focused on tonight, on the moment I will finally have Avery to myself again. I tell myself it’s just a business arrangement, an exchange. But deep down, I know it’s more than that.She agreed to it.That has to mean something.A knock at the door shatters my thoughts.“Come in,” I say, not bothering to look up.The door opens, and my Damien steps inside. His posture is stiff, his expression unreadable. Immediately, I sense it, something is wrong.I finally lift my gaze. “What is it?”Wordlessly, he steps forward and places a sealed letter on my desk. The parchment is rough, unmarked by insignia or scent. That alone is suspicious.“This just arrived,” he says. “No trace of where it came from. We checked for poison, hidden markings, nothing.”Frowning, I reach for the letter and tear it open. My eyes scan the first few lines.Then...... everything stops.The letter was from the
Kane’s POVThe night air is thick with tension as I step into the meeting place. My senses are sharp, every muscle in my body coiled, ready for battle. The damp earth beneath my boots, the distant howl of wolves in the forest.... everything around me screams danger.I expected a trap.And yet, the sight before me still sends a fresh wave of fury through my veins.Avery and the boy are shackled in thick silver chains, their bodies slumped against the cold, hard ground. Avery’s face is pale, her eyes filled with defiance but also something else... fear. My gut twists at the sight of the boy. He’s smaller than I imagined, fragile, his face streaked with dirt and tear stains.He looks at me, just for a second, and my breath catches.But there’s no time to process that.My attention shifts to the rogue leader standing before them. He’s taller than most, his face marked by old scars. His dark eyes gleam with amusement as he watches me, a smug grin curling his lips. Around him, a dozen armed
Avery’s POVMy screams rip through the night, but they do nothing to stop the brutality before me.Kane is down.Blood pools beneath him, dark and endless, soaking into the dirt as if the earth itself is drinking his life away. His golden eyes, always burning, always sharp, are shut.He isn’t moving.“No!” My voice cracks, raw and desperate. I lurch forward, but the chains bite into my wrists, holding me in place like a cruel reminder of my helplessness. “Stop! You’ve done enough!”The rogues don’t listen.Their leader, a tall man with a jagged scar running from his brow to his chin, stands over Kane’s motionless body. He nudges Kane’s side with his boot, as if expecting him to get back up and fight. When Kane doesn’t, a slow, cruel grin spreads across his face.“Not so untouchable now, are you, Alpha?” the rogue sneers, spitting onto the blood-stained ground.A low, strangled sob escapes me. I hate Kane...... don’t I? I should feel nothing but contempt for him after everything he’s d
Avery’s POVNight drapes the pack’s territory in eerie silence, broken only by the distant howl of a lone wolf. Cold seeps through the damp stone walls of my prison cell, wrapping around me like an unforgiving embrace. My body aches, exhaustion settling deep into my bones, but the weight in my chest is heavier.I had come here for help.And instead, I was locked away like a criminal.But worse than my imprisonment is the thought of my son, alone, afraid, possibly crying for me in some dark corner of this territory. The image guts me, igniting a fire in my chest, but I am helpless. The iron bars before me stand as an unyielding reminder of my reality.I rest my forehead against the cold metal, swallowing down the lump in my throat. Think, Avery. I cannot afford to break. My son needs me.Footsteps echo down the corridor and my body tensesA shadow moves beyond thee bars, and then, Kane’s Beta, Damien, steps into the dim torchlight."Get up," he murmurs, voice low.I blink at him, my he
Avery’s POVWeeks pass, but the ache in my chest never fades. The grief is a constant weight, pressing down on me, suffocating me in ways I never imagined. Kane is is gone. Dead. And no matter how many times I tell myself to move on, I can’t erase the memories that haunt me.The sound of his voice.The way his golden eyes burned with determination.The moment he fell, broken and bloody, because of me.Most nights, I barely sleep. When I do, nightmares drag me back to the past, back to the rogues, the betrayal, the warning that still lingers in my mind.I have to keep moving.With the help of my close human friend, I relocate to a new city, assuming a different name. No more Avery Lane once again. No more ties to my old life.Here, I am just a woman with a son, trying to survive.Hoping, praying, that one day, we will finally be free.And slowly, life settles into a delicate routine.Each morning, I wake before dawn, preparing breakfast in our tiny apartment. My son, he smiles more now
Avery’s POVThe evening air is crisp, the scent of rain lingering as I walk hand in hand with my son. Lisa walks beside us, chatting about work, laughing at a story about a clumsy customer spilling coffee everywhere.For a moment, I allow myself to believe that this is my life now, normal, safe, free.But the feeling doesn’t last.A familiar unease curls in my stomach, growing heavier with each step toward my apartment. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, but I force myself to smile as Lisa turns to me.“You okay?” she asks, eyes filled with concern.I nod quickly. “Yeah, just tired.”She hesitates, studying me like she knows I’m lying, but finally offers a small smile. “Get some rest, okay? Call me if you need anything.”“Thanks, Lisa. Goodnight.”Somehow I am always lucky enough to meet good people wherever I go.I push open my door, guiding my son inside. The second the door clicks shut behind me, I freeze.Something is wrong.The apartment feels too quiet. Not the usual comfort
Avery's POV The whispers caame like the wind, soft, but impossible to ignore. Everywhere I walked, they trailed behind me like shadows, brushing against my ears. “Did you hear?” “The Alpha has cast Selene out.” "She begged.” "He showed no mercy.” “She was with another.” The rumors spread faster than wildfire. And I kept my head high. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t speak. I didn’t feed the flames. I had no need to. Dignity had become my armor. Silence, my sharpest weapon. I had spent too many years defending myself, biting back pain with grace. This time, I let the world talk while I simply walked through it. Selene, the name that once held weight in this pack, once dripped with entitlement and venom, was gone. Disgraced. Stripped of every illusion of power she once paraded in front of me. The same women who used to
Kane's POV The air in the packhouse was thick, tense with something I couldn’t quite name until I heard her voice echoing down the hall. Selene Her sharp, clipped tone lanced through the silence like a blade. “You clumsy little thing!” she snapped, voice shrill and soaked in entitlement. “Do you even know what this is worth? Or is your brain too small to understand luxury?” I turned the corner just in time to see the young servant girl flinch, eyes wide and terrified, tea dripping down her wrists and onto the marble floor. Selene loomed over her like a wolf over a rabbit, proud and cruel, forgetting her place entirely. I stepped in before I realized I was moving. “You will treat her with respect,” I said, voice low and cold. I didn’t shout. I didn’t need to. Selena turned, mouth already open to defend herself, probably with some pathetic reminder of who she once wa
Avery's POVI woke wrapped in Kane’s arms, his heartbeat a steady rhythm against my back. It was a feeling I hadn't known in years, warmth without fear, closeness without control. For a long time, I just lay there, eyes closed, letting the silence between us speak. Not the silence of estrangement, but something softer. Restful. Healing.He murmured something in his sleep, his fingers twitching slightly as if reaching for me even in his dreams. A smalll smile tugged at my lips, but I knew I couldn’t stay here all morning. I needed a moment. To breathe. To think. To remember who I was outside of him, tooI carefully slipped from his grasp, easing off the bed so as not to wake him. He shifted slightly but didn’t stir.My feet carried me to the my room. The moment I stepped inside, the air felt different, still scented faintly with lavender from an old satchel tucked into a drawer, and the cool morning light poured through the window like a familiar f
Kane's POVThe night was quiet, the kind of quiet that settled deep into your bones. The sky stretched above with stars scattered like forgotten wishes. I sat on the porch steps, elbows resting on my knees, fingers tangled together as I stared at the horizon. The cool wind carried the scent of lavender and pine, and for the first time in a long time, I let myself feel still.The door behind me creaked, soft and hesitant.I didn’t turned around.But I knew it was herAvery.Her presence was like a ripple,gentle, but impossible to ignore. She stepped closer, the wooden porch boards groaning beneath her weight until she lowered herself beside me. Her shoulder brushed mine. Light, barely there. But enough.Enough to remind me I wasn’t alone.We sat in silence, our breaths syncing with the rhythm of the night. I didn’t want to scare her off with words. She hadn’t been this close in weeks, this close. And I would’ve s
Avery's POVI couldn’t look away from themFrom the moment Kane learned he was a father, something in him shifted. It wasn’t dramatic, there was no grand declaration or overwhelming display of emotion after that first, raw encounter. No, the change was quieter. Deeper. Like the slow turn of the earth beneath your feet, steady, inevitable.The Alpha I had known, ruthless, calculated, commanding, was gone. In his place stood a man with paint-streaked jeans, tangled hair, and a voice several notes higher than necessary while reading stories about dragons, moon bears, and magical wolves who saved the day.He’d never held a toddler before that day in the nursery, but now he carried our son with a confidence that didn’t come from experience, itt came from love.Kane took to fatherhood with a kind of wide eyed eagerness that almost made me laugh. Almost. Because sometimes it hurt to watch, like something in my chest didn’t quite know what to do with
Kane's POV I wasn’t expecting her to reach for me that day Not tonight. Not after the way she’s kept her distance, like she’s been building invisible walls around herself just to survive being under the same roof as me. But then, in the silence of the corridor, she turned to me. Her hand found mine, not firm, not certain, but deliberate. I froze, afraid even a a breath would make her retreat She didn’t say a word. Just led me forward, past portraits on the walls. Her fingers trembled slightly, her pace cautious. I followed her, heart thudding like a war drum in my chest, unsure of what this meant, until she stopped in front of a door. Sky blue. Small. Innocent. The kind of door that had no place in the life I used to live. "I hand painted the door myself after we arrived" She said, then she hesitated for half a heartbeat, then pushed it open. My breath l
Avery's POVTime moves strangely in Kane’s packhouse. The days blend together, soft and slow, like fog creeping over familiar ground. Each morning, I wake in a room that used to feel like a prison. Now, it just feels.... quiet.Not safe. Not yet.But its not dangerous either.In the days that followed, I noticed something had changed. Not in Kane, he’s already change, hopefully, but in the air around us. The silence that once screamed now hums with something else. Something hesitant. Unspoken.I start to notice the little things.He sets out a second plate at every meal, never asking if I’ll join but always hoping I will. He adjusts the thermostat back to the exact warmth I always liked, the one that made me feel held without being touched. He doesn’t knock on my door. Doesn’t ask for talks. Doesn’t ask for anything, really. He just…. shows up.When I do come down to eat, he doesn’t stare or smile or try to fill the silence.
Kane's POVI find her in the garden again early in the morningHer figure framed by the soft sway of lavender that brushes against her dress. She always loved this place, said the scent reminded her of peace. Now, I wonder if it only reminds her of what I destroyed.Avery kneels beside the blossoms, her fingers brushing the petals like they’re more fragile than she feels. She hasn’t spoken to me more than a few words since she returned. She walks with purpose, keeps her distance, and when she looks at me, it’s like I’m a stranger standing in the ruins of the life she once tried to build.But I can’t keep letting her run. I won’t.“Don’t run from me anymore, Avery.” My voice is low, steady. No Alpha command. No anger. Just truth.She stiffens but doesn’t look up. Her silence wraps around her like armor, tight, defensive, and heavy. I step closer, not enough to crowd her, but enough to make her feel me there. I won’t let her face t
Avery’s POVThe ceremony was silent, somber even. No grand cheers. No joy. Just the quiet rustle of the wind and the heavy breath of a pack unsure how to process what they’d witnessedKane stood beside me, barely able to stay upright. His arm was bandaged, his face bruised and bloodied. Yet there was a gleam in his eye, a victorious gleam. One that reminded me of the old Kane. The ruthless one. The conqueror who always took what he wanted no matter what.He reached for me, his fingers brushing my arm. “You’re mine again,” he whispered, not as a question, but as a declaration.And I nodded.What else could I do?The fight had been issued. The outcome determined. The pack had no more words to say.I was his again, claimed by blood, by dominance, by the archaic laws we still obeyed.But as his hand wrapped around mine, something inside me twisted. It should’ve been relief. It should’ve been … something. A reunion.