LOGINPresent momentMarissa POVIt is full daylight and I don't stop running. Even though I know I'm far from the River Howl.The memories of the past two weeks keeps me strongly motivated to keep going. When I think of how Caden stayed away and let his father handle my family... how he left me waiting for him, for an explanation, for reassurance that I was his mate and not legal property... He would never come and he would never say the things I'd hoped so much to hear from him. That realization keeps me running.Until my legs start to shake and every breath starts to burn. Every root on the ground suddenly seems determined to trip me. Tanya starts to slow down, too weak to keep us moving. I've been running for hours, but it shouldn't be this difficult for a werewolf.The distance between the pack and the port is supposed to be no more than four hours. Maybe that number applies to a regular wolf. Not a small, frail omega.I used to think having a wolf makes me better than the average
(Still two weeks earlier...)Marissa POVThe grand gardens of the River Howl shimmer beneath hundreds of lanterns even from a distance. Music drifts through the crisp February air.Highborn girls laugh while young males gather in groups pretending not to stare.The Choosing Full Moon feast happens regularly. But for those who have just come of age, tonight matters more than anything.Some will publicly choose the she-wolves they wish to court. Others?The Moon Goddess will choose for them.I reach the gardens and remain close to the edges of the crowd. It's where I belong. Among servers, landscapers, clerks and other pack workers. The lower class.My gaze moves about, secretly searching for him. My breath catches in my throat when I finally do.He's standing far across the garden, perfectly still among a group of highborn young warriors.Morgan nods in my direction, but I can't even pay attention enough to respond to the brief greeting. Everything else seems to vanish. The music. Our
Marissa POV I think they're finally giving up. That the search is finally over, and it's time to move. I'm just about to rise from where I'm crouched when my wolf announces him. Her soft whimpers echo through my soul. Caden Hyde. Or Caden Stone. Whatever last name he goes by these days. Soon everyone would call him by the powerful one. Stone. After all, that's who he truly is. Not the bãstard kid everyone whispered about. Not anymore. He carries Alpha blood. The future ruler of a pack. Possibly River Howl. A male important enough to have a Luna and a breeder. The thought hollows something inside me. My mouth turns bitter again. Maybe he'll be relieved when he finds out I'm dead. I rest my forehead against the rough bark of the tree and close my eyes for a moment. His presence drifts closer, and my wolf protests the hiding, wanting to go to him. For two weeks, he'd stayed away from his own fancy house because I now live in it. Now he's searching for me
Caden POVAt the mention of my mate, I turn away and motion for Mom to move.If I stay another second and Gareth says one more word about Marissa, I might attack him. I don't trust myself.Thankfully, mom doesn't argue. Neither does Gareth. He simply follows behind, keeping a respectable distance as Mom and I make our way back to River Howl.The journey is excruciatingly slow. The older male's presence alone is enough to suffocate me.From the moment I turned twelve, Gareth Stone poisoned my friendship with Marissa Blue. He trimmed my circle of friends, telling me I was no ordinary kid and it was time I chose my friends carefully."As an Alpha male, the people you surround yourself with are like arrows in your quiver. A weak, frail arrow is useless, and can only weigh you down."A few days after the infuriating heart to heart, I learned he had given the same speech to Marissa, her parents, and even the two low class Gamma boys in my group of friends.I'd refused to let him win.I insi
Caden POVIs someone chasing her?I rushed forward, looking beyond her, extending my senses in search of any troublemaker. The wolves I detect aren't close, but they're near enough for me to tell they aren't ordinary guards."What the hell, Mom?" I bark under my breath."Caden," she says breathlessly. Her cheeks are flushed. "What are you doing beyond River Howl's border?""That's what I should be asking you." I march over until I'm standing directly in front of her, then switch to mindlink.'It's the middle of the night. You can't shift until the full moon. Did you forget? What if you'd run into trouble?'‘Were you sneaking over to the Alpha King's house too?' she links back. 'Mehn! You won't believe what I just saw!'Only now do I notice the excitement beneath the anxiety in her eyes.I brush past her, stretching my senses again to check. No one is approaching."Don't go that way!" She grabs my arm.Too late.The sound of the distant waterfall reaches my ears. Followed by the scent
01: The Father's HopeGareth (Third-Person POV)The image of the White Wolf refuses to leave Gareth. Magnificent. Beautiful. Standing beside Zach.Not Tyrel.Even as Gareth race through the dense and dark forest, he can still see the girl who should have been his daughter in law. She'd walked beside the Alpha King as though she has always belonged to him. His Luna Queen.Gareth's anger from the last few days have finally settled, especially after seeing the truth with his own eyes. The only thing left to deal with is the resentment.Deep down, he knows exactly who should be blamed, and it's not his little brother. The blame lies with him Gareth. Not Zach.Tyrel did not become that male overnight. Every error Gareth overlooked. All the punishment he softened. All those times he chose sympathy over discipline... These mistakes turned his son into the male he'd become.Gareth had always told himself to go easy. That the child already buried his mother when he was barely two years old.He
Kerris POV For a split second after Zach gives me the horrible news, I consider falling on my knees in front of him. To beg him to buy me for the night, anyway. It's at the tip of my tongue to say I'll do whatever he asks if he'll just keep me from going to the Den like he has done the past week.
Kerris POV"Where's the temp?" Zach catches sight of me as soon as he asks the question.“Here she is,” Mary replies.This is it. Time for the meeting I've been dreading and waiting for this past two days. I enter the reception and greet, "Good afternoon, your majesty.""Sure is," he responds, the
Kerris POVI grip the paper tight with both hands as the horrifying words stare back at me. The Council's emblem sits proudly at the top left side of the Order, indicating its authenticity. "It's a fake," I mumble. “Please, let it be fake.”I run my thumb carelessly across the surface of the Counc
Kerris POV I don't feel right. The strangeness began after I waved goodbye to Zach and his Beta. My stomach feels like it is tied in knots. Like I'm afraid. Even though the moment has passed and Zach didn't ask any question about my birthmark. He did not recognize me. That would be impossible.







