LOGINELAINAMarcus’s screams tore through the clearing like a dying animal. His body convulsed. His skin started to crack like old pottery. Purple light poured from the cracks, burning him from the inside out.“Raven!” I screamed. “Stop! You will kill him!”But my daughter did not hear me. Her eyes glowed brighter. The purple magic swirled faster around her tiny body. Her black hair whipped around her face like she was standing in a storm.“He tried to hurt you, Mama,” Raven said. Her voice sounded wrong. Deeper. Older. Like someone else was speaking through her. “Bad people must be punished.”“Baby, please!” I stumbled toward her, ignoring the pain in my burned hands. “You have to stop! This is not you!”Ryker crawled out of the broken cage. His green eyes were wide with fear as he watched his sister.“Raven?” he called softly. “Raven, you are scaring me.”That made Raven blink. The purple glow in her eyes flickered. Her head turned slowly toward her brother.“Ryker?” she whispered. Her v
ELAINAThe dagger never reached Monica’s heart.Troy burst free from the warriors holding him down. His body exploded into his wolf form mid-leap. Bones cracked. Fur sprouted. His massive gray wolf slammed into Marcus like a boulder.They crashed to the ground in a tangle of teeth and claws. The silver dagger flew from Marcus’s hand and landed in the dirt near my feet.I grabbed it without thinking. The silver burned my already wounded palms but I held it tight. The pain helped me focus. Helped me push through the shock of everything I just learned.Melissa was Aiden’s mother. Which meant my pups were her grandchildren. Which meant this whole twisted mess was even worse than I thought.“Stop them!” Melissa shouted to her Creekwood warriors. “Kill the beta! Kill them all!”The clearing erupted into chaos again. Wolves crashed into each other. Blood sprayed across the grass. The metallic smell filled the air, mixing with the scent of dirt and sweat and fear.I crawled toward Aiden. He w
ELAINA“NO!” I screamed.My body moved before my brain could think. I threw myself in front of Aiden just as the dark magic spear shot through the air.The magic hit me square in the chest.Pain exploded through my entire body. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing me at once. Like fire and ice mixing together inside my veins. I screamed so loud my throat felt like it would tear apart.I flew backward and crashed into a tree. The bark cracked under the force. My head smacked against the wood. Stars danced in my vision.Everything hurt. Everything burned.But I was alive.I looked down at my chest, expecting to see a huge hole. But there was nothing. Just a black mark on my skin that glowed faintly.“Impossible,” Melissa hissed. Her green eyes were wide with shock. “That spell should have killed you instantly.”I tried to stand but my legs shook like leaves in the wind. My whole body felt wrong. Weak. Like something inside me had broken.Through blurry eyes, I saw Aiden crawling towa
ELAINA The alarm bells screamed across Creekwood territory like angry ghosts. The sound pierced through my wolf ears so loudly I wanted to howl in pain. But I kept running. My paws hit the ground hard and fast. Dirt flew up behind me. The smell of pine trees and wet earth filled my nose.Troy ran beside me, his massive gray wolf almost twice my size. Behind us, twenty warriors followed in perfect formation. Their growls mixed with the sound of our paws thundering against the forest floor.We had maybe ten minutes before Creekwood warriors surrounded us. Ten minutes to find my babies and get out.Ten minutes that would decide if my pups lived or died.My wolf pushed harder. Faster. The trees became a blur of green and brown. The morning sun felt hot on my fur. My tongue hung out as I panted, but I did not slow down.Then suddenly, through the mind link that connected me to Aiden, I felt something.Pain.Sharp, terrible pain that made my legs stumble. I crashed into a tree trunk and ye
ElainaThe name burned in my mouth like hot coal. Melissa. My stepmother. The woman who pretended to care about me while sleeping with the man I was supposed to marry. The woman who probably helped plan my exile. The woman who ruined everything.“Melissa,” I repeated, staring at the blue fabric in my trembling hands. “That witch has my babies.”Aiden’s face went hard like stone. “Who is Melissa?”I looked up at him. “My stepmother. The Luna of Creekwood pack. She married my father after my mother died.”Something flashed in Aiden’s eyes. Something dark and dangerous. His jaw clenched so tight I heard his teeth grind together.“Melissa from Creekwood,” he said slowly, like he was tasting each word. “Describe her.”“Why does that matter?” I snapped. “We are wasting time!”“Just tell me!” His voice was sharp. Commanding.I wanted to argue, but something in his face made me stop. He looked almost scared. No, not scared. Haunted.“She has long black hair,” I said quickly. “Green eyes. Pale
ElainaMy legs moved before my brain could think. I was running. Running so fast that the wind slapped my face hard. My bare feet pounded against the cold floor. I did not care that I was still wearing the bloodstained dress from Aiden’s surgery. I did not care that healers were shouting behind me. I did not care about anything except finding my babies.“Raven! Ryker!” I screamed their names so loud my throat burned.Monica ran beside me, her face red and wet with tears. “I am sorry, Elaina. I am so sorry. I only left them for a few minutes. Just a few minutes to get them food and—”“Where?” I cut her off. My voice was sharp like a knife. “Where were they last?”“The west wing. Near the servant quarters. I hid them in a storage room because I thought no one would look there.”We burst through a door and into a hallway that smelled like old wood and dust. My wolf was clawing inside me. She wanted out. She wanted blood. She wanted to rip apart whoever took our pups.I could feel her pus







