FAZER LOGINMICHAELA'S POVI've been on edge the entire day, but I can't pinpoint why exactly.I don't even bother changing out of the sweat-dampened clothes I wore during training. Instead, I head straight to the kitchen.I spend the next few hours chatting with Georgia and playing Scrabble with Coby before finally giving up on delaying the inevitable.I heas upstairs toward Damon's study with a thousand words already waiting at the tip of my tongue.When he sees me, he slowly sets his phone down on the desk and shifts his attention to me.Good.“Why are you avoiding me, Carylon?”Damon doesn't try to deny it.In fact, he doesn't say anything at all.Then—“Michaela.”“No,” I say, my annoyance already boiling over.One brow lifts.“No?”“No,” I repeat, pointing a finger at him. “You don't get to do that.”“Do what?”“That thing where you say my name like it's a complete answer.”For a moment, Damon looks as though he's about to respond.Then he thinks better of it.I fold my arms and glare at hi
DAMON'S POV It has been proving very difficult to accomplish, but I try not to let my thoughts dwell on anything else as I bury myself in work. There has been no shortage of it since news of the wolf plague was made public.Though calling it an outbreak feels increasingly inaccurate.After returning to the pack, I gained access to documents that had previously been kept under Father's authority. Only then did I begin to understand the true scale of the crisis.The plague had spread much further than most people realized.Far enough that "outbreak" no longer seemed like the right word.For reasons I still don't fully understand, Father had chosen to withhold much of that information during his reign.The result is that I am now responsible for building containment measures almost from the ground up while researchers continue searching for a cure.Hence the endless meetings with Alphas from neighboring packs.As if that wasn't enough, the human rebels have become more active with ever
COLE'S POV I glance over my shoulder to find Sandy seated by the side of the room. I could tell her gaze had been trained on me the entire time. She doesn’t say a word though. She’d already done enough of that before we arrived. She had made her position on my idea very clear. She didn’t like that I was meeting with my uncle. She didn’t like that I was so intent on finding a way around Mia doing the trials when Mia would probably see it as me undermining her ability to survive them. She didn’t like that I was trying to find a way to pull Mia out of the pack house and out of her deal when, again, Mia seemed to have accepted it. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Mia couldn’t handle herself. It was just that I knew very well the kind of minds that populated the council. They weren’t above brutality when they believed their cause was righteous. And honestly, I didn’t care what Sandy did or didn’t like. Unfortunately, Sandy had never been one to stay quiet about her opinions. Especia
COLE'S POV The message should have been delivered three days ago. And it probably had. Yet I only received a reply this morning. The intent behind my uncle's delayed response was clear: he had the upper hand, and he wasn't above flaunting it. I would have preferred a more direct approach to his peacocking though. It might have saved us both some time. Unfortunately, my uncle had never been known for efficiency when intimidation was an option. So instead of having this meeting three days ago, I was standing in the middle of a poorly decorated office with even worse ventilation. Again. Though, to be fair, the temperature in the room wasn't entirely the ventilation's fault. My nerves were making a significant contribution to the sweat gathering at my brow. Was there any way to casually approach a reunion-slash-business meeting with the last known member of your family after years of being treated like you didn't exist? Probably not. I thought back to all the times we'd occupi
MICHAELA'S POV Mason just stares at Damon for a moment. Speechless. The sight is so strange I almost don't recognize it. Mason is never still. Ever. Yet somehow he's standing there looking completely frozen. "Damon?" he repeats. "You're getting repetitive." Nothing happens. Then suddenly Mason crosses the room in three strides. I expect a punch. Or a hug. Possibly both. I'm not sure. All I know is that I expect a very Mason reaction and Mason does not disappoint. He grabs Damon's face with both hands. Damon immediately looks offended. "What are you doing?" "Checking." "For what?" "I don't know." Mason squints. "Maybe you're a ghost." Damon removes Mason's hands from his face. "I'm not a ghost." "That sounds exactly like something a ghost would say." "Mason." "I'm just being thorough." For the first time since barging into the room, something in Mason's face loosens. Relief. Gone so quickly it would have easily been missed. "Don't tell me you still belie
MICHAELA'S POVDamon sets me back down so I'm standing again.It takes a moment for feeling to return to my legs as I wobble slightly. He steadies me with a hand on my arm.When I'm finally standing properly, he lets go.Then picks up my shirt from the floor and slowly, carefully, pulls it over my head.For some reason, the action is so intimate it makes something unfurl in my chest.I barely manage to get my arms through the sleeves when he brushes a few wayward curls behind my ears before stepping back to look at me.I avoid his eyes entirely.Unsure of what to say.Unsure of what to do.Because looking at Damon right now feels like a terrible idea.What we'd just done...It had crossed a line we hadn't crossed before.A very large line.A line that had been rapidly approaching for weeks and had finally sprinted right past us.And the worst part was...My common sense had completely abandoned me because if Moon offered me a chance to rewind the last ten minutes, I'd probably make th
The door shuts behind me.The sound is soft.I don’t know how I stop myself from slamming it.I also don’t know how my feet found the strength to manage to carry me from the dining room to this glorified prison cell without collapsing.A few minutes after Damon left the dinning room, the red-haired
After drawing all these conclusions, I had already rehearsed his next words in my head. Prepared what I'd say even.That is why I never expected him to say what he said next.“You can’t be serious,” I say, incredulous. “You can’t possibly mean that.”“I do.”I laugh, dry and sharp. “Is this a joke?
He doesn’t speak for so long that I begin to fear he will deny me this information altogether and I will have no idea how to get answers.But at the last second, he surprises me.He answers.“The Gamma is in one of the holding cells underneath this building.”For a second, I do not understand the w
I smile. Saccharine. “I’ll stand, thank you.” He watches me for a second. Then another. He nods. “The seat will be there whenever you’re done standing.” His gaze flicks to the side. He gestures to the servants, and they begin bringing in trays. And more trays. And then even more.







