LOGINRAYNEAn elderly woman grabbed my arm, her grip surprisingly strong for someone who looked like she could die at any second, and shoved me toward a stone shower.Before I could protest, she twisted a rusted handle. Ice-cold water erupted from the pipe overhead. I gasped, all the air leaving my lungs as the cold water drenched my tactical gear and soaked through to my skin."Wash," she commanded, her voice thin and sharp. "You will satisfy our Alpha. You will repay us for what your mate stole from us."I shivered, my teeth clattering so hard I thought they might crack. I tried to step out of the shower, but she shoved me back in with a heavy wooden brush."You will give us a pup, an heir," she continued, her eyes devoid of any emotion. "We will become a pack again under the laws of the Moon Goddess. No one will look down on us for being rogues anymore."I wiped the water from my burning eyes, staring at the woman in utter disbelief. "You're willing to let those men in there, men
RAYNE"Alpha Rogan, at your service."Those words were on a loop playing in the back of my mind. They echoed over and over until they lost all meaning. I remembered the pain I felt when the arrow struck me, the black veins of the poison as it crawled up my arm.The darkness that came afterward. When my eyes finally burst open, I was met with more darkness. I was lying on a cold stone floor.The air smelled of damp earth and stale minerals. I tried to sit upright, but my arms wouldn't move more than a few inches. A sharp hiss erupted from my wrists as the skin met silver.I looked up, my eyes finally adjusting to the dark. My hands were shackled in silver chains, bolted to a rock wall high above my head. The silver was burning into my flesh like acid."Mia?" I called out into the void inside my head. "Mia, please answer me."Then, silence. My wolf was gone. The wolfsbane had buried her deep, leaving me alone inside my body. I wasn't the Silver Luna anymore. I wasn't the chosen da
REIDThe wind felt sharp against my face. Every mile we covered felt like an eternity, the galloping sound of our horses drumming a dull rhythm against the dirt that matched the pulsing inside my head.Someone was trying to connect to me through the mind-link.Then, it hit me.It wasn't a mind-link. It wasn't the telepathic connection of an Alpha to his Luna. It was a desperate scream that tore through our broken bond."Reid! Save me!"I gasped, my lungs seizing as I nearly fell over my paws. It was her voice. My Rayne. My beautiful mate. But her voice sounded distant, fading like a radio signal losing power. She had rejected me. She had severed the threads that bound our souls together. By all the laws of the Moon Goddess, I shouldn't have heard a thing. But the desperation in that cry was so sharp it pierced through the emptiness, leaving a ringing in my ears.I reached out, clawing at the darkness in my mind, screaming her name into the void. "Rayne! Talk to me, Little Wolf."N
RAYNESomething felt wrong about the Blood Moon Pack today. But I couldn't sit still while Reid was out there doing goddess knows what.After talking to Ava, I went searching for Elder John. I found him in his study, surrounded by maps and old scrolls."I want the security tightened," I said, cutting straight to the chase. "Triple the guards at the borders. I want eyes on every entrance to the pack house and the Alpha mansion. No one goes in or out without being vetted," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument. Elder John slowly looked up from the papers on his desk, a smug smirk spreading across his face. It was the look of a man who thought he was humoring a child playing queen. He stood, bowing his head in my direction. However, the gesture felt more like a mockery than respect. "Your wish is my command, Luna," he uttered, the title tasting like an insult coming from his mouth.I didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. I didn't tell him where I was going, either.
RAYNEA week had passed since the night the world fell apart in the foyer. A week of heavy, suffocating silence seemed to have soaked into the very floorboards of the Alpha mansion.I was sitting on the edge of Mira’s bed, the springs creaking under my weight. The room was dark, the curtains drawn tight against the afternoon sun. It still smelled like grief and unwashed linens in here. I wanted so badly to lean over and whisper the truth, to tell her that Silas wasn’t a ghost, that he was still breathing and healing in a cellar not far from here. But Reid’s parting words burned in my mind: "Not a word to anyone, Rayne. If the council finds out that he’s alive, they’ll finish the job."And Reid… Reid had been a ghost for four days. Aaron had sent a cryptic mind-link three days ago; all he said was: "Found him. Safe. Don’t worry." I worried anyway."Have they found her yet?" Mira asked, her voice raspy. She lifted her head from my lap, her blonde hair matted and dull."No," I murm
REIDThe heavy iron door of the diner was still swinging as I lunged out of the diner. I finally caught up to Mira in a narrow, shadow-drenched alleyway near the pack bridge. "Reid, let me go or I’ll fucking scream for help!" she yelled, her voice high and filled with a panic I’d never seen from her before."Just tell me the fucking truth!" I growled, my hands slamming onto her shoulders, pinning her against the cold brick wall. "You were going to say something about my mother. Say it."Mira didn't scream. Instead, she broke. A sob ripped from her throat, and she slumped against the bricks, her legs barely holding her up. "I saw your fucking mom fleeing the scene," she sobbed, the words tumbling out in a rush of terror. "Her dress... it was covered in something red. At first, I thought it was wine. I thought she was just running to get help. But then I saw Rayne. She was kneeling there in front of your dad with a knife in her hand... and I wanted it to be her. It had to be her!"
RAYNEThe darkness wasn't empty. It was heavy, pressing against my skin like cold lead. Every inch of my body throbbed with a rhythmic, pulsing fire that made me want to scream, but I had no voice."It’s the rejection, Rayne," my wolf whispered. She sounded distant, her voice echoing as if from th
REIDThe first rogue didn't even have time to growl before I tore his throat out.I wasn't fighting like an Alpha. I wasn't leading. I was a butcher. Every time a claw managed to graze my skin, I leaned into the sting.I welcomed the sharp, hot distraction. Physical pain was a gift. It was a flick
REIDI desperately clutched my throat as it felt like all the air had suddenly escaped my lungs. She had rejected me as her mate. She had ripped my heart out and trampled on it. And I watched as the mark on her neck slowly turned to an ashy grey. The warriors surrounding us had dropped to their k
REIDI entered the Great Hall, and the whispers dissipated into nothing. The pack members bowed their heads, acknowledging my presence. General Silas was chained, hanging from the ceiling. I stopped in front of him, my hand landing on the hilt of my sword. "Reid?" Mira whispered from the crowd. "







