LOGINKAEL"Alpha Kael," One of the Alphas said, laughter rumbling through his chest as he ran his eyes shamelessly over Lyria. "If the Moon Goddess ever decides to make mistakes and turn me to a different man, I pray she turns me to you. Tell me, Lady..." "Lyria.""Lyria," he said rather wistfully. "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. Would you rather marry me instead?"A round of laughter followed the request, very loud and rather annoying. The men all raised their glasses, their teasing barely masked by their polite smiles. Only the young Alpha, the one who had spoken of my mate, remained silent, those eyes of his as sharp as a knife and fixed on me in ways I did not want.Almost like he was trying to read me or something equally stupid.I offered the others a thin smile. My wolf bristled under the surface.We did not need this.Lyria, of course, basked in the attention she got from the Alphas. Her laughter cane easily here, even with her hand still looped possessively around my arm
KAEL"She couldn't believe it..."The music here was played in a soft, and rather elegant way... the kind that made people forget they were surrounded by the apex predators in their packs.I stood near the edge of the hall, a glass of amber liquid in my hand, as I pretended to listen to the group of Alphas debated about their border security and the recent marriage activities in the area.The Silverridge pack knew how to throw a party... chandeliers hung from their vaulted ceilings, candles flickered in tall glass cylinders, and the scent of honeyed wine and polished wood clung to the air.Laughter rippled across the room, mingling with the sound of clinking glasses and their flirtatious whispers.I hated every second of it."... one would never believe.""... it truly doesn't matter..."Rogue problems, resource shortages, alliances... this was the kind of talk I preferred. Not this. Not pretending to be cordial with people who would gladly stab me in the back if they knew it would gi
RIVERSo Kael remained mad at me.We had just arrived at the Silverridge pack after what felt like a whole day's journey but was just half a day. Torture. I could not wait to be as far away from him and his gloomy moods as possible.Even the gammas who had come with us had noticed the storm clouds sitting permanently over his head. They kept their distance, offering him short, clipped responses whenever he spoke, as though they were afraid that his temper might snap at any second.Why was he even mad?I was here, wasn't I? I had followed his order to the end and came with their party of four, didn't I? What gave Kael the audacity the remain mad at me after what he did?Hypocrite.Lyria, of course, wasn’t that smart.She clung to him the entire way... all soft laughter and touches that made my skin crawl. Every chance she got, she would slide her hand along his arm, of tiptoe to press a kiss against his jaw, like she owned the man."Here you go, Kael." She had said at one point, raisi
RIVERI slammed the door behind me without a care, letting it echo faintly through the apartment. I kicked off his boots, rubbing at the back of my neck, too tired to even care where they landed.I was fucking exhausted. And Kael was standing in the middle of my living room, with his arms folded, jaws tight, and eyes darker than the storm clouds that had gathered earlier this evening.He hadn't even bothered to take off his jacket.My heart, the threaterous little thing, gave a small, involuntary jolt before I smothered the reaction beneath irritation."Why the fuck are you here at this time?" I asked, keeping my voice flat. "It's late, and you don't usually come here this late so what is up?"Kael didn’t answer that.Instead, his gaze sharpened. “Why did you come home so late?”I blinked. "Seriously?"I brushed past him, ignoring the whole Alpha’s heavy presence that followed ne like a second skin. In the kitchen, I poured myself a cup of water, letting the sound of the faucet filli
KAELLyria didn't bother knocking.My office door swung open with a soft thud against the wall, letting the sunlight spill in through the hall behind her. She walked in like she owned the damn place, chin up, hair gleaming, and thay smile... the one that always made my temples start to ache... stretched wide across her face.Why was she so happy?"Hey, Kael," she practically sang, stepping right up to my desk. "I come baring gifts"Gifts?From Lyria? I knew it couldn't be anything other than some news, or gossip, or maybe even a dagger she had hidden somewhere because there was nothing worth celebrating come up.I looked up from the book in front of me, brows lifted. "What are you doing here?""Business." She dropped a thick envelope on the table in front of me, then pulled another, rather smaller one from her own pocket. "That one's yours, and this is mine."What was this?I stared at the envelope like it was about to develop two legs and run out. "What is this?"“Just open it.”Her
RIVER.Zach’s blood continued to hit the floor with a soft, wet sound.For a second, I couldn't breathe. I just stood there, calm as ever, holding his bleeding hand up between us like he hadn't just sliced himself open with that fucking scalpel.Laced with poison.What a psycho."What the hell are you doing?" I barked, staring at every drop of blood falling. "You've lost your damn mind."Zach’s smile didn't waver. "Pain and urgency, River," He murmured. "That's what brings instinct forward. Heal me, River.""You've lost your goddamn mind. That's what's up." I snapped. "You're fucking bleeding out, and it's not stopping.""That's the point of using poison." His tone was soft, maddeningly calm, like he was explaining something to a child. "Now, show me what you can do."He extended the wounded palm toward me again. Blood ran in thin streams down his wrist, staining the white sleeve of his coat. The smell of iron filled the air, all shades of wrongness.We shouldn't be doing this. We sh







