Brandon's POV.Sleeping with Ivy should have satisfied something inside me. Should have burned out the obsession, sated the hunger. But it only made it worse. Now, I wanted her more, needed her more. It was maddening, the way she filled every damn thought, every moment of silence, like she had carved herself into my bones.And worse, I had to watch her cozy up to Aaron Vaughn like he was the best thing to ever happen to her.I hated him.Hated the way he made her laugh, the way she leaned into him like he was her safe place. Hated the way everyone else seemed to think he was perfect, that he was the best match for Ivy. Hated the way he was always near her in school, drawing attention with his grand gestures, making sure everyone saw how much he wanted her. His name was on every student’s lips."Aaron did this," "Aaron did that," "Aaron is so romantic."And Ivy?She was warming up to him. Smiling more. Looking comfortable.It made my blood fucking boil.Lunch was unbearable. The four
Ivy's POV.The announcement had caught me off guard. Lunch was already over when the speakers crackled to life, calling my name and instructing me to report to the principal’s office.I didn’t understand why. I hadn’t done anything, at least, nothing that would warrant a trip to the office. My heart pounded as I made my way through the hallway, my mind racing through every possibility. Maybe it was about my grades? No, that didn’t make sense. Maybe it was about Aaron? But why would the principal care about that?By the time I reached the office, my palms were slightly clammy. Taking a breath, I knocked once before pushing the door open.Principal Gladstone was seated at her desk, but she wasn’t alone.Two unfamiliar figures sat across from her. A man and a woman, both dressed sharply in dark suits. There was something official about them, something that immediately put me on edge. The woman had her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, and the man had the kind of expression that ma
HERAThe rogue wolf’s claws were mere inches from my face when I thrust my hand forward, my magic in a surge of golden light that exploded from my palm. It slammed into the creature, halting its attack mid-air and throwing it against the wall. The rogue growled, snapping its jagged teeth as it struggled against the invisible force holding it at bay. “You won’t escape me, Luna. I’ll rip you apart!”“Bold words coming from an animal that is about to eat the book shelves,” With a flick of my wrist, I hurled the wolf across the room, crashing it into the towering shelves, breaking it in the process. Wood and books rained down as the rogue tumbled to the ground in a heap.The door burst open, and Atticus, along with Kai, the Alphas of other packs, and the Elders. Their eyes darted to the wreckage and then to me.“Hera!”Atticus made to lunge forward but I created a barrier between us“Stay back!” I commanded. “I’ve got this.”The rogue staggered to its feet, its green eyes blazing with
Ivy's POV I didn’t want to go. Every part of me resisted, a heavy weight settling in my chest at the thought of spending the day pretending everything was fine, especially around Amari. After what happened with Brandon again, I could barely look at her without heavy guilt twisting inside me.But when Amari showed up at my house, practically glowing with excitement, I knew I had no way out.She hugged me the second I stepped outside, squeezing my arm like we were best friends. “Come on, Ivy! You look like you’re heading to your execution, not a fun date.”I forced a smile, my jaw tight. “I’m just tired.”“Well, this will wake you up.” She grinned, bouncing on her heels. “Treasure hunt at the fun park. It’s gonna be amazing.”Amazing. Right.With no excuse strong enough to get me out of it, I found myself in the backseat of Brandon’s car as we drove toward the fun park.The place was massive, a mix of carnival rides, neon-lit game booths, and themed escape rooms scattered throughout.
Brandon's POVIvy had been quiet since we left the room, her gaze distant, her expression unreadable. She walked a few steps ahead of me, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, like she was trying to hold herself together.And I didn’t know what to do about it.I told myself to walk away. To leave Ivy alone. To focus on Amari, my mate. The girl I was supposed to be bound to for life. The one fate had supposedly chosen for me. It should have been simple. Natural.But it wasn’t.No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.Nothing about Amari stirred anything in me. Not her scent, not her touch, not the bond that was supposed to make her the most desirable person in the world to me. Instead, all I felt was… nothing.And yet, Ivy, fuck, Ivy consumed me.Her scent got under my skin, her voice lingered in my head long after she was gone, she drove me insane in a way nothing else ever had. I could feel her, even when she wasn’t near. She was like an itch I couldn’t scratc
Brandon's POV.The moment we stepped into the house, Ivy and her mom started gushing about Aaron like he was the greatest thing to ever happen to her.I barely had one foot through the door before her mom’s eyes landed on the massive teddy bear in Ivy’s arms. Her reaction was instant, her face lit up, and she practically squealed, clapping her hands together like an overly excited schoolgirl.“Oh my God, Ivy, this is adorable! He won this for you?”Ivy nodded, shifting the bear slightly in her arms, a small, almost shy smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah, he’s actually really sweet.”Sweet.I tightened my grip around my keys, the metal digging into my palm as my jaw locked in place.Her mom wasn’t done. “I like him already,” she continued, her voice full of genuine excitement. “And he likes you, too. You can see it all over his face. This boy is head over heels.”Ivy hummed softly, trailing her fingers absentmindedly through the teddy bear’s fur. There was a pause, just long enough for s
Ivy's POV The week had me and Aaron getting closer in ways I hadn’t really anticipated.We started doing assignments together, bouncing ideas off each other, explaining things when the other didn’t understand. It was easy with him, lighter. He had this way of making even the most boring subjects seem interesting, spinning facts into jokes, turning late-night study sessions into something I actually looked forward to.One free period, we ended up in the biology lab, going over notes for an upcoming test. It started with a playful argument over the classification of some species, with Aaron being annoyingly smug about his answer.“I’m telling you, Ivy, I’m right,” he said, leaning forward on the desk, his grin infuriatingly confident.I scoffed. “You’re not.”“I literally just proved it.”“You think you proved it.”“I did.” He tapped the textbook between us, eyes glinting with amusement. “And do you know why?” He paused dramatically. “Because I’m brilliant.”I rolled my eyes. “That’s d
77.Brandon's POV.Burning the damn teddy bear had been stupid and petty. But after watching Aaron kiss her, after seeing the way she let him, I had lost every rational bone in my body.I barely remembered getting home. Barely remembered storming toward the incinerator, shoving that ridiculous stuffed thing into the flames, and watching it disintegrate into nothing but blackened scraps and rising smoke.The satisfaction had been fleeting.Now, all I had left was Ivy standing in my room, fuming, her eyes blazing with fury as she stared at me like she wanted to strangle me.All this over a stupid teddy bear.I exhaled sharply, leaning against the weight rack, my expression impassive. “It was ugly. Hurting my eyes just sitting there.” I glanced at her, completely unbothered. “I’ll buy you a better one. More expensive.”Her nostrils flared, her entire body vibrating with anger. “It’s not about the price, Brandon!” Her voice shook, raw with frustration. “It was a gift. From someone who act
Ivy’s POV Five years ago, everything I knew was ripped out from under me. And not in some slow, creeping way you have time to prepare for. No, it happened in one cruel, brutal instant.My mom was gone, just like that.The one person who had always stood by me, who had never once let me down or left me to face the world alone was murdered by the boy I had trusted. The one I thought would protect me. The one I thought loved me.He killed her.That night, I lost everything. My mother, my trust, my home, my future. And honestly, I think I lost myself too.I died that night too. And not just physically. In all ways one could think of.But a good Samaritan saved me. She took me away from the city, nursed me back to health and she gave me a name.Chloe.To keep me from the people that might still have wanted me dead at that time.So I became Chloe.I stayed far from the cities and the noise and the people. Always kept my head down. Tried to fight the nightmares that never really stopped.Bu
Brandon’s POV The longest, most arduous five years of my life.Every second of it, I had to play dumb. I had to act broken, let them see what they wanted to see, a shattered shell of an Alpha who had nothing left to fight for. I played stupid. I played drunk. I let them think they had crushed me, chained me, molded me into their puppet. Let them think they had won.But now?Now, it was finally over.And it was worth it. Every minute. Every second of swallowing my pride, and being humiliated.I found out all their plans, thanks to Amari. And killed Helga, the only sorceress that could do the black ritual.And now, the army Liam and I had been gathering in secret, hunted down the Beta and his loyalists like prey, and dragged them down into the underground cells, stripped of their power, rotting in the dark where no magic, and no one could save them.For those five long years, I had been searching secretly for the sorceress who could undo the black bond forced onto me.Until we finally
Amari's POVI panted softly, trying to catch my breath as Brandon rolled off me, his arm flopping down beside mine on the bed. The sheets were tangled around our legs, sticking to our damp skin. This was the first time after the last time we had sex, but all I felt was a strange, hollow feeling amidst the pleasure.It felt like I wasn’t fully there. Like I was watching myself from somewhere outside of my body, detached and floating. The whole thing had felt so distant, as if my body was going through the motions without my heart being anywhere in it.Still, I clung to the tiny thread of hope inside me.It didn’t matter how it felt. What mattered was that it happened. After all these years of chasing him, begging for scraps of his attention, humiliating myself again and again just to get a fraction of what he used to give her, this meant something more now.He was finally starting to see me.Brandon’s breathing was steady against the back of my neck, his arm thrown lazily over my wais
Amari's POVArlena kept begging.Her voice was raw from too many screams, too many desperate cries. She clawed at the filthy floor with shaking hands, her tears leaving streaks across her hollow cheeks.“Please,” she sobbed, her whole body trembling, “please. Not them. Please, not them.”She sounded broken. Shattered into pieces so small she couldn’t even gather herself anymore.But my father stood there, unmoved. His arms folded neatly across his chest. His face didn’t so much as twitch at her cries.“Do it,” he said again, his voice sharp enough to cut through steel. “Now.”There was no emotion in it. Just a cold, demanding order.Arlena shook so hard I thought she might collapse again. But somehow, she forced herself to move. She wiped the back of her shaking hand across her face, smearing dirt and tears across her skin, and pushed herself up onto her knees.Her mouth opened, and a low, broken chant spilled out.The very air around us shifted. The walls seemed to pulse in rhythm wi
Amari's POVI wasn’t even sure when things started to change between us. It had been slow and gradual. But it was there now, clear as day. He treated me differently. He spoke to me not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He listened, and I mean really listened. He laughed when I told a joke and even remembered little things I said, things I didn’t think he cared about. And it was all starting to make me feel something I didn’t expect.Hope.I stood by the window, arms folded lightly over my chest, eyes fixed on Brandon down in the courtyard. He was practicing archery again. His stance was solid and his movements were smooth.Every arrow he shot sliced through the air and each one landed dead center which made him look ten times more attractive than he already was.I think I was starting to get lucky.“Are you falling in love with him now?”I turned sharply at the voice, and all the warmth drained out of me in an instant.My father stood in the doorway. Arms crossed, jaw tig
Amari's POVDays passed, and little by little, I started to notice a change in Brandon. It wasn’t anything dramatic or obvious, not at first. But it was there, subtle, and almost easy to miss if you weren’t looking closely. But I was. I always was.I saw it in how he started being with Bella.It used to be that he barely acknowledged her, only offering her the occasional distracted nod or completely ignored her. But now? He actually paid attention. He went out into the garden with her in the mornings, letting her chatter endlessly about the bugs she’d found or how high she could jump. He started teaching her archery. At first, he just showed her how to hold the bow properly, but then I saw him actually crouch beside her, correcting her stance gently, patiently.Bella adored him. She always had, but now it was like she was getting the version of him she’d always deserved. And he was trying. For her. For once, it looked like he was actually trying to be a father.Even at dinner, he di
Amari's POVI screamed.It came from somewhere deep and full of everything I’d been holding in for far too long. I didn’t even think before I grabbed the vase and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall with a hard, cracking sound, exploding into pieces that rained down like glass rain, sharp and glittering.I didn’t stop there.The table next to me, decorated just this morning with fresh flowers, went flying too. I kicked it hard, sending it crashing to the floor, the wood cracking with a split that echoed around the room.The lamp followed, my hand curling around the base before I smashed it down onto the floor with enough force to make it shatter.Then the photo frame.That one made me pause for a split second, just long enough to see the smiling faces frozen behind the glass. Me, Brandon and Bella. I didn’t care. I threw it with even more force than the others. It hit the wall and shattered, glass and photo separating mid-air, falling in different directions.Six years.Six f
Amari's POVThe grand dining hall shimmered under the soft, golden glow of the chandeliers. The light bounced gently off polished surfaces, crystal glasses, silver cutlery, and the golden designs along the edges of the table.The scent of roasted meat, herbs, and wine filled the air, settling over everything like a blanket meant to comfort and impress.I sat next to Brandon who was seated at head of the table, dressed in midnight-blue silk. My hair was pinned up, and I wore the same polite, polished smile I’d been holding since the first Alpha arrived.Beside me, Brandon looked composed enough. His suit was neat, though his tie had taken some convincing earlier. His expression was blank, his eyes dull, but he was sitting upright, eating slowly. I considered that a win.My father sat at the other side of Brandon, directly in front of me, like he always did, confident and regal.Seated with us were three visiting Alphas from smaller packs. They looked a bit overwhelmed by the size of th
Amari's POVBella giggled as she stabbed at her fruit slices with her tiny fork, completely focused on chasing a grape around her plate. Her face was a mess, syrup smeared around her mouth, a little on her chin, some even caught in her curls. I smiled and reached over with a napkin, wiping her face gently. She squirmed and giggled harder, but didn’t pull away.“Sit still,” I murmured, laughing softly as I cleaned the last of the stickiness from her cheek.She gave me a look, and then went right back to her fruit. I leaned back slightly and took a bite of my toast, chewing slowly as I watched her.Mornings like this almost felt real. Something normal families had. It was nice to pretend like I wasn’t neck-deep in secrets and schemes, tangled up in power plays I hadn’t asked to be part of. For a few quiet minutes, it was just me and Bella, a simple breakfast, and the illusion that everything was fine.Then the doors slammed open, the force of it echoed through the hall, and we both fl