LOGINElijah:I found Brenda exactly where I had left her, curled into one of the waiting room chairs with her gaze fixed on the floor and the world around her reduced to a dull, distant hum.She looked exhausted in a way I had never seen before; her eyes were swollen from crying and her shoulders slumped as if the strength she usually wore like armor had been stripped away.I walked toward her quietly, not wanting to startle her, and when she did not notice me at first I let the silence stretch for a moment so she could gather whatever thread of composure she had left.“Hey,” I said softly, because there was nothing else to say that would make the ache in her voice go away. “How are you feeling?”Her lower lip trembled and she whispered, “She almost died,” the words barely audible, as if saying them louder would make them more real. “How am I supposed to feel, Elijah?”“She’s still here,” I said, and she shook her head, the motion small and desperate. “And she is going to be okay. The doct
Nathan:I should have left the hospital wing.That was the lie I kept repeating to myself as I stood outside Mia’s hospital room long after the doctors had finished speaking to me.“Her surgery went well, Alpha. She lost a lot of blood, she is strong, but she will recover, Alpha.” The pack doctor said, looking at me. “She is going to need to rest to be able to fully recover, but she is okay.”Those words should have been enough to calm me, but they did nothing. And worst of all, I remembered the way she had looked at me right before it happened, as if she had wanted to say something, as if there had been words trapped inside her that I would never hear.I scrubbed a hand over my face. I hated seeing her lying in that bed, pale and still, because Mia had never been weak. She had always been the strongest person I knew, and seeing her like this felt wrong in a way I could not put into words.A soft knock pulled me from my thoughts.“Alpha…” the nurse said slowly. “I am so sorry to bothe
Brenda:It should have been me.The thought would not stop repeating itself, circling through my mind like a punishment I deserved, like a curse I had earned. I sat outside the operating room with Mia’s blood still staining my hands. And every time I closed my eyes, I found myself seeing her throwing herself in front of me, taking the bullet that should have hit me…My stomach twisted so violently I thought I might be sick. And what made it worse was the way that I spoke to her.“I am tired of all of it.” “Everything is wolves.” “You always get it all.”I didn’t mean those words… I was angry, and I threw that anger out on her… I am so sorry…The waiting room doors burst open, and I watched as Nathan stepped out. For a second the entire room went quiet, well, more quiet than it already was.His shirt was soaked in Mia’s blood, his hands were covered in it. He didn’t even look like the human that we’ve grown used to seeing; he was the Alpha, the mate, the man whose entire world was curr
Nathan:Something was wrong, and I felt it before I heard anything, before anyone spoke, and before a single alarm was raised. I was in my office reviewing patrol reports when my wolf surged forward with such violent force that the papers on my desk scattered across the floor. A growl tore from my chest, not out of anger but out of something far worse. It was fear, raw and immediate, the kind that hollowed out the lungs before the mind could catch up.Then I heard her.It was not Mia’s voice. It was Sylvia’s, her wolf, calling out through the bond in a way that was not physical or audible. It was deeper, older, and unmistakable. It was a mate’s cry, a sound that carried pain and desperation and a plea for help that struck straight through my spine.My chair crashed backward as I shot to my feet, frowning as my wolf grew more alert than I knew he already was.“Nathan?”Elijah barely had time to react before I was already moving. My heart hammered against my ribs with a force that felt
Mia:I knew that something was wrong the second I saw Brenda walking out of the pack. But when she refused to look at me despite me calling her, now that was when I knew that something bad happened.“Brenda,” I called out, but she did not stop walking. I hurried after her, trying again. “Brenda, wait. For God’s sake, running away from whatever it is that is bothering you is not going to change it. At least let me be there for you!”That was all it took for her to spin around so quickly that I almost collided with her. Her eyes were red, not from crying but from frustration and anger, and somehow that worried me far more than tears ever could.“Did you know?” she demanded.“Excuse me?”“Did you fucking know that Elijah and I were mates?”“I had my doubts.” I answered honestly. “When you told me about a spark that you felt, I had speculated, yes.”Brenda laughed, a sharp and bitter sound that made my stomach twist. “My God.”“Brenda…”“And you did not tell me?” Her voice rose, the hurt
Nathan:“Is everything okay with Brenda?” I asked, noticing how she was walking toward the pack door.“I don’t know,” Mia said, frowning in confusion.I was standing near the entrance with Mia and Rosalyn when we spotted her. And when she walked right past us the way she did, I knew that something was wrong. To say the least, she would have stopped to at least say hi to Mia or tease Rosalyn…Today? Nothing.She just kept walking like she was on a mission to run.Mia immediately frowned. “Something happened.”“I can tell,” I said, and she looked at Rosalyn who was playing. She nodded at her nanny, and the woman took a step forward to watch her before Mia spoke again.“I am going to after her.”I caught her wrist gently. “Mia.”She stopped and looked back at me. I already knew what I was about to say. I didn’t want her leaving the territory right now, not with Vladimir moving.My wolf immediately disliked the idea, and I could tell that she understood. But I could also tell that she was
Nathan:The second I saw fear in Mia’s eyes, something inside me snapped into place.A brutal, merciless part of me rose up at once. I turned cold, sharp, and lethal in a heartbeat, and I was no longer the man she had kissed beside the pool or the man who had held her under the moonlight. That man
Vladimir:There she was, standing in front of me after all these years, so real and devastating that for a second I could hardly breathe. The same woman that tore almost everything and broke through, breaking all the laws for her own selfishness.For a moment, the noise around me faded completely.
Mia:The water shimmered softly beneath the afternoon sun, tiny ripples dancing across the surface of the kids’ pool while Rosalyn splashed around happily like the world held nothing dangerous in it at all.I envied that innocence sometimes. The way children could laugh with their whole hearts, tru
Mia:I couldn’t sit still, no matter how hard I tried.The moment I stopped moving, my thoughts caught up with me, and the image of Vladimir standing beside that pool came rushing back like a nightmare that refused to loosen its grip. I could still see his eyes, still hear his voice, and worst of al







