LOGINJenn’s POV “You know,” I said, “I used to be afraid of you.” His lip curled. “You should still be afraid of me, little Alpha.” “No.” I stepped forward. The dark wolf pressed so close to the surface that my voice came out layered and strange, echoing against the ancient stone. “I was afraid of you when I didn’t know what I was. When I thought you were the monster under my bed, the reason my parents died, the shadow that would hunt me forever.” My boots scuffed against the stone as I halted at the base of the platform. The heirloom’s light washed over my face, cold as a dead hand against my skin. “But you’re not a monster. You’re just a man who spent his whole life chasing power that was never his to hold.” His hands shook harder. The heirloom’s pulse quickened, the colors swirling faster. “I held this realm in my fist for decades –” “You held nothing.” I tilted my head. “You killed my parents because you couldn’t have what you wanted. You sent your daughter into my husband’s bed
Jenn’s POV Liam’s hand found the small of my back as he appeared at my side. The mate bond hummed between us, and where I’d felt his fear coiled tight the night before, there was only stillness now. I didn’t say anything. I reached back and pressed my palm against his chest, right over his heart, and felt the steady thump of it against my fingers. Vicktor caught my eye from across the space. His fingers drummed once against the desk before he pushed himself to his feet. Behind him, Osiris stood apart from the others, his dark eyes fixed on the mountains. He’d been silent since the council ended. The dark wolf uncoiled beneath my ribs, a slow stretch of heat. “I guess it’s time to end this.” The convoy rolled out as the first pale light of dawn bled over the mountains. I rode in the lead vehicle with Liam at the wheel and Vicktor in the seat behind us, his blade across his knees. Behind us, the Fox soldiers followed in tight formation, their green and silver armor catching the mo
Jenn’s POV I swallowed the burning ache in my throat. “Nothing will happen to me.” I said with a confidence I didn’t feel. “I promise.” Alice pulled me into a hug then, and her arms wrapped around me with a fierce, desperate strength that reminded me of every time she had held me as a child after my parents died. I buried my face in her shoulder and breathed in the scent of her. When I finally pulled back, her cheeks were wet but her jaw was set. “I love you,” I whispered. “I love you too.” She cupped my face in both hands – the same gesture Liam used, I realized suddenly, the same tenderness – and her thumbs brushed the tears from my cheeks. “Now go. End this. And come back to me.” The estate was quiet when I finally made my way back to our quarters. The moon hung heavy in the sky, nearly full, and its pale light spilled through the window and pooled silver on the bed where Liam was waiting for me. He'd shed his jacket and kicked off his boots by the door. He was sitting on th
Jenn’s POV I didn't see Morgan arrive so much as feel her – a sudden, sharp tug of emotion that rippled through the courtyard like a stone dropped into still water. A strangled sound escaped her throat, and when I turned, the tears were already streaming down her cheeks in waves. Someone had taken the baby from her arms. A wise decision, as it turned out, because it gave her enough space to wring her hands together as she bit down on her bottom lip until I was certain it would bruise. “T – Tristan...” Her voice came out as a choked sob, barely recognizable. Tristan crossed the threshold in four long strides and engulfed her in his arms, pulling her against his chest with a desperation that spoke of months of separation and the kind of fear that only faded when you could finally touch the person you'd been terrified of losing. Morgan's fingers clutched at the torn fabric of his shirt, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs, and he held her like she was the only solid th
Jenn’s POV “Grant,” she gasped. “His name is Grant. He’s been on the Council for three hundred years. He’s worn a dozen bodies. But this one… he’s been waiting for this body for centuries. A vessel strong enough to hold an ancient power.” “And the heirloom?” I pressed. “What does it have to do with this ancient power? Why do you guys want it?” “It – it’s the key. Your blood – not the ancient power that lives inside you – activates it. Without you, the heirloom is just a stone.” Her fingers clawed at my wrist. “Please. I’ve told you everything.” I released her, watching as she collapsed onto the rocks, gasping, her body shuddering with silent sobs. Liam shifted back to his human form and stood beside me, his chest still heaving from the fight. Blood streaked his skin, but none of it was his. “Is she dead?” he asked. “No. But her power is broken.” I bent and picked up the silver ring. The obsidian stone was cold in my palm, as cold as the woman who had worn it. “And she’s going to
Jenn’s POV Liam’s hand caught my arm. His grip was gentle but his eyes were blazing. “No.” he ran a hand through his hair. “Why do you always feel the need to sacrifice yourself for us? You have nothing to prove, Jenn. There’s no need to prove anything to us!” The anger that seeped out of him provoked something inside me, but I pushed it down along with my Alpha aura which was fighting to burst out of me. “It’s the only way – ” “I said no.” He pulled me aside, away from the others, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper. “You’re not offering yourself up as bait. Not now. Not when you’re carrying our child. Not when I too promised not to do anything careless.” I reached up and cupped his face in both hands. His jaw was tight under my palms, the muscle jumping. Through the mate bond, I could feel the full weight of his fear – the fear of losing me. The same fear that had nearly swallowed him when the Mad Alpha’s venom had almost taken me from him. The same fear I had felt when I tho
Jenn’s POV The Mad Alpha definitely wasn’t bluffing when he said I could roam freely around his compound. But he forgot to mention that two guards would be following me wherever I went. I sighed. What did I think would happen? I was his prisoner after all. Having them follow me everywhere I went
Liam’s POV The tension in the room was so thick that I could feel it crackling even from where I stood. Morgan trembles with unrestrained and barely concealed fury, her eyes boring holes into Wade who didn’t look the least but affected by her. “Shift,” he repeated, his voice like stone. “I can’t
Liam’s POV A few of my soldiers had gone to the direction Morgan told us.My heart was in my head as I waited for their feedback to know if Morgan had indeed been lying or not. For her sake, I hope she wasn’t. I was just about to reach out to the captain of our elite soldiers who was leading the
Liam’s POV We hadn’t found Jenn, as much as I would have liked for that to happen, we’d found Morgan instead. And no matter what means I had to use, I was going to get the truth out of her. I was pacing outside the interrogation room, my knuckles still raw from the last unsuccessful round of que







