ログインIRIS POV:The car rolled to a silent stop in front of the mansion. Tall iron gates, floodlights, and two rows of guards in black uniforms stood at attention along the driveway. Aurelian pulled his white shirt back over his shoulders but left it hanging open, the fabric clinging to his sweat-damp chest. He stepped out first, and spoke to the nearest guard in low voice.“All of you, to the front gate. Now. No one comes near the house until I say.”The guards moved without question, boots crunching on gravel as they filed away. The moment the last man disappeared around the corner, I shoved the rear door open. I was completely naked, my dress and torn panties left somewhere on the car floor, skin still flushed and slick from everything we’d done on the way here. The cool night air hit my bare body like a shock. I didn’t care. I ran.Bare feet slapped across the stone steps and through the open front doors. Behind me I heard Aurelian’s low laugh and the heavy thud of his shoes as he fol
IRIS POV:I didn’t get to answer.Aurelian’s mouth was on mine before the last word left his lips, no hesitation. His hand cupped the back of my neck, pulling me into him as he walked me backward through the quiet corridor. My spine hit the cool marble edge of the wide sink counter, the white porcelain smooth and cold against my skin through the thin emerald dress. He kept kissing me, deeper, tongue sliding against mine like he was claiming every inch of my mouth, his one hand fisting my hair while the other gripped my waist.He lifted me effortlessly and set me on the edge of the sink, my legs parting around his hips. The marble was icy under my thighs. His mouth left mine only to trail hot, open kisses down my neck, his teeth grazing, and his tongue soothing, sucking my neck. I tilted my head back, my fingers digging into his white suit, breathing ragged.“Have you forgiven yet?” he murmured against my throat, voice low and rough.I was trembling, wet already, but I still managed
IRIS POV:The transfer of power was done in less time than I expected.The Elder spoke some words, Nicholas knelt down, the ceremonial blade was raised, the bloodline acknowledgment was made, and when Nicholas stood back up, he was the Alpha of Dark Moon Pack.His father stepped aside and inclined his head in the way that meant it was finished and permanent.The hall applauded.I put my hands together with everyone else and looked straight ahead.Then the Elder's voice changed. It was time for the mating ceremony, it was time for the Elder to say the words, the ones I had stood at an altar and refused to finish not so long ago.I had told myself I was ready for this part.I wasn't entirely ready for this part.Diane moved to stand beside Nicholas, and the Elder began, and I watched it, keeping my face completely still and my hands flat on my lap, and I breathed.Then, without warning, without permission, something warm slid down my left cheek.One tear.I reached up and pressed one fi
IRIS POV:My hands were shaking, but I put them flat on my lap, and I breathed, and I looked at the Alpha, Nicholas's father, who was seated in the front row on the opposite side of the hall.He was already looking away.Deliberately. Like he had found something fascinating on the far wall at exactly the right moment.So he knew. He had known all of it, and he had let it happen, and he was sitting there pretending not to see.I looked back at the altar and breathed.The Elder's voice continued over everything, reading from the old words, the transfer of power, the bloodline acknowledgment, the binding of the new Alpha to his pack.And then the hall changed.Not loudly, not all at once.A shift. The kind I had learned to recognise.It started at the back. Heads turning, people's voices dropping. The kind of silence that arrives when something enters a space and everyone is shocked.I turned around.The doors at the far end of the hall were open, and my eyes opened wider.Aurelian walke
IRIS POV:My mother was dressed neatly, bag on her arm, her good shoes on.She looked at me properly, then crossed the room and kissed me once on the cheek."Hold your head up in there," she said quietly.Then she picked up her keys and walked out the door, and I heard her car start and pull away faster than she normally drove.I stood in the doorway for a moment, then I walked down the steps and got in.The door closed behind me, and the car pulled away from the house, and I sat back and looked out the window at the streets moving past in the dark and said nothing the whole way there.We reached the hall.The hall was enormous.I saw it before the car even stopped, lit up against the night sky from every angle, the kind of lighting that was meant to be seen from a distance. Dark blue and gold everywhere, on the banners, on the flags lining the entrance, on the archway above the main doors where Nicholas and Diane's names were written in letters large enough to read from the road.The
IRIS POV:We were still upstairs going through my wardrobe when I heard the front door open downstairs.My mother's voice called out from the hallway."Iris? Sarah's car is outside, are you both home?""Upstairs, Mum," I called back.Her footsteps came up the stairs, and she appeared at the bedroom door, still in her work clothes, bag on her shoulder, looking between me and Sarah and the dresses spread across the bed."What's happening?" she asked.I picked up the second envelope from the bedside table and held it out to her.She looked at it, then at me, then took it and opened it.I watched her face as she read it.She finished, folded the card carefully, and put it back in the envelope."Well," she said quietly. "At least I know what to wear tomorrow." She set her bag down on the chair. "I am a certified nurse assistant. If Diane Castellan wants me standing beside her all day, that's her business. I've handled more difficult people in a hospital ward before breakfast.""Mum…""I'm







