LOGINTHIRD PERSON’S POV Cigar smoke hung thick and heavy inside the soundproof VIP room.Sitting in a red leather booth, Celeste checked the gold watch on her wrist. It was a quarter past midnight. Tapping her perfectly manicured nails against the dark wooden table, irritation burned hot in her chest. She hated waiting. At twenty-one, she had clawed her way out of poverty to become Aiden’s personal assistant, his secret lover, and the real brains behind his pathetic pack.She did not achieve all that by being patient.Heavy footsteps finally echoed in the narrow hallway outside. The brass doorknob turned.Three men walked into the dim room. They did not wear suits. Leather jackets, combat boots, and heavily scarred faces marked them instantly as high-level mercenaries. The man in the middle, a massive Lycan with a graying beard and a missing left eye, pulled out a chair and sat directly across from her."You're late, Garret," Celeste stated coldly, not offering a handshake.Garret leaned
NORATucking the heavy quilt around Kaelen’s shoulders, a soft sigh escaped my lips.He squirmed instantly, kicking the thick fabric away with a frustrated grunt."Too hot, Mama," my son grumbled. His golden eyes glared at the blanket like it had personally insulted him."It’s freezing outside, little wolf," I countered, pulling it firmly back up to his chest. "Keep it on. Just for tonight. The heaters in this wing are struggling."Sitting up perfectly straight in the opposite bed, Hayes watched the exchange with serious, dark eyes. "Kaelen doesn't like the quilt because it smells like the warehouse."Frowning, I leaned over and sniffed the fabric. It smelled like lavender detergent and fresh cotton, completely normal to my human nose. But Lycan senses were incredibly sharp, even at two years old. The trauma of the ambush was clearly lingering in their minds."It smells like home," I promised, brushing a dark curl away from Hayes's forehead. "Not the warehouse. There is no gunpowder h
NORA"I was trying... to save... the pack," Liam gasped, his face turning a deep, ugly shade of purple."You were trying to save your own fragile ego," I corrected, walking slowly around the edge of the desk.Stopping right next to them, I looked into Liam’s terrified eyes. He was suffocating. Silas was fully prepared to crush his windpipe and drop his corpse right onto the rug."Silas," I said quietly, placing my hand gently on the old Alpha’s tense arm. "Put him down.""He committed treason, Nora," Silas growled, not loosening his iron grip. "The punishment is death. I will execute him myself.""No," I insisted, squeezing his arm slightly. "You are an honorable man. I will not let you stain your own soul by murdering your biological son. He isn't worth the guilt you will carry."Silas breathed heavily through his nose. He glared at Liam for ten agonizing seconds. Finally, disgusted, Silas tossed him aside.Liam crashed onto the floorboards, coughing violently and clutching his deepl
NORATires crunched loudly over the fresh snow as the SUV pulled through the main gates of the estate.Staring down at the silver pistol resting in my lap, the metal felt heavy and freezing against my skin. My finger traced the trigger guard slowly. Thirty minutes ago, I fully intended to walk straight into the east wing and put a bullet directly into Liam’s chest. He absolutely earned it. Hiring mercenaries to slaughter my two-year-old sons crossed a line that demanded blood.However, the blinding rage slowly started to cool.Killing Liam would be incredibly easy. Dealing with the fallout would destroy everything. Alpha Silas took me in when I was nothing. He gave me a home, a name, and absolute protection. If I murdered his only biological son, it would completely break the old man’s heart. I couldn't repay his kindness by putting him in a grave of grief.There was a much better way to handle a traitor. Death was quick. Stripping a proud, power-hungry Lycan of his rank and wealth wa
NORA"We'll see about that." Maddox smirked, picking up his glass. "Your brother seemed very eager to make this union happen. He basically begged me to take you off his hands.""Liam is stressed," I lied smoothly, keeping my face blank. "He thinks your army can protect us from the northern packs.""My army?" Maddox laughed out loud. It was a harsh, grating sound. "Is that what he told you? He said he needed my soldiers?""Yes.""Wow. Liam really is a coward." Maddox shook his head, looking highly amused. "He didn't come to me for soldiers, Nora. He came to me for silence."My heart skipped a painful beat."Silence about what?" I asked, keeping my voice dangerously low.Maddox leaned forward. His dark eyes glittered with malicious, arrogant triumph."Those mercenaries who ambushed you last week," Maddox whispered. "The ones who nearly killed you and your pups in the warehouse. You thought Alpha Vance hired them, didn't you?""Intelligence confirmed Vance signed the contract.""Vance pr
NORA’S POVMy desk phone buzzed sharply, shattering the quiet of my office.Snatching the receiver, Liam’s voice barked through the line. He demanded I come to his study immediately. He sounded frantic, breathless, and angry. Before I could even ask what was wrong, the line clicked dead.I dropped the phone back into its cradle. A bad feeling twisted my stomach. Liam and I hadn't spoken properly in days. Ever since the bloody badge showed up on my desk, my adopted brother had become a paranoid, hostile stranger.Stepping out into the hallway, my heels sank into the thick carpet of the east wing. Guards nodded respectfully as I passed. Reaching his heavy oak door, I pushed it open without bothering to knock.Inside, Liam paced near the window. A half-empty bottle of whiskey sat on his desk. It was barely noon."You look like hell," I noted, closing the door behind me."Sit down, Nora." He refused to look at me, keeping his eyes fixed on the snowy courtyard outside."I have a trade meet
KAI’S POV You’ve got to be kidding me. A stray. A fucking stray that had tinges of rejection all over her. To make it worse, she was wolfless. My eyes hovered all over her, and my heart boiled with a mixture of disgust. Why on earth would the moon goddess think she could link us to a stray as a s
HALIL’S POV I clenched my hand around the edge of the Ebony table, as surges of electric current splintered through my chest. Fucking hell! A devilish smirk lined the corner of my lips. “This might just be our chance at easing the grief.” I spat. Kai grunted, and didn’t say a word. My Gamma Chi
NORA’S POV I was stunned to my bones, too stunned to move. I gaped as the drama unfolded around me. My heart bled like someone was ripping it out of its cage. For a few minutes, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening. The world was spinning around me, and everyone seemed to be okay. I
NORA’S POV “Don’t worry, there’ll be no need for that anyway.” I pulled away, as the maid tried to cover the scar on my face with makeup. The maid didn’t say anything, yet the glaring question was all over her face. A soft knock sounded against the door, “I’ll take it up from here, you may leav







