LOGINKINGSTON POVI knew Ella had gone to Kael’s room the moment she stepped out of ours, but I hadn’t expected the way my wolf reacted. He surged forward inside me, restless, pacing, nudging, almost clawing at my insides.“Follow her.” His voice was deep, urgent, undeniably commanding.I tried to ignore him at first. Ella deserved privacy. Kael deserved space. But my wolf growled sharply, a warning that rattled through my ribs.“Follow. Something is wrong. Listen.”I didn’t argue further.I trailed Ella down the hallway, quiet as a whisper, leaning into the shadows as she entered Kael’s room. I hadn’t intended to eavesdrop not at first but the moment I heard the shaky strain in Kael’s voice, I froze.And then I heard everything.Every. Single. Thing.Thirty minutes passed, but it felt like thirty hours as I stood there, pressed against the door, listening to
Ella POVKael’s confession hung in the room like smoke thick, choking, impossible to escape. I stared at her, unable to believe what I had just heard. My heartbeat roared in my ears. Her nude? Someone had her nude? And not just anyone Leo, the same man who attacked her in the woods and attacked the pack last night. I wanted to deny it, tell her she was joking, tell her she misunderstood, but her trembling lips and glassy eyes told me this was no lie.When I finally found my voice, it came out small and strained. “Kael… you can’t be serious. Not about this.”But Kael only nodded, her eyes fixed on her hands as if she was ashamed to look at me. “Ella, I would never lie to you about something like that,” she whispered. “Not this. It ruined my life once already. I won’t pretend it didn’t happen.”My stomach tightened painfully. Kael’s voice had a thinness to it, like she was reliving every humil
Ella PovI didn’t even wait for Kingston to return from wherever he stormed off to. The moment his heavy footsteps faded down the hallway, I slipped out of my room and headed straight for Kael’s. My heart was pounding hard enough that I could feel it in my throat, but I kept moving, reminding myself that this wasn’t about fear or comfort, this was about the pack. The attacker who showed up in the woods wasn’t just some stray threat; there was a reason he came looking for Kael. And if he was bold enough to attack the pack last night, then he would be bold enough to return.When I reached Kael’s door, I didn’t even need to knock. The door swung open at the slightest touch, like she had forgotten to lock it in her panic. She sat on the edge of her bed, knees pulled up, fingers rubbing anxiously against each other, like she was trying to erase whatever guilt was staining her conscience. Her eyes sho
KaelI barely slept.Even after Kingston left my room earlier with his eyes hard, his voice too calm, and the weight of suspicion hanging between us like a knife, I couldn’t bring myself to close my eyes long enough to rest. My stomach twisted. My pulse thudded in my ears. My brother’s gift… or curse… the ability to detect lies. I had lied to him, and even though he didn’t confront me further, I knew he felt it.He always felt it.When I finally drifted off, it was a restless, shallow sleep. So when my phone buzzed violently against the bedside table, my heart flew to my throat.I snatched it up, blinking through the blur to read the message.It was from my personal servant Mara.My lady… there was an attack in the pack last night. The one who attacked…I think it was your high school friend.My blood froze. Every muscle in my body went stiff.
Kingston pov Sleep held me in a heavy grip until the sharp trill of my phone sliced through the darkness. At first, I thought it was part of a dream something warped and distant but the sound came again, louder, more insistent. My eyes shot open.I reached blindly for the phone on the bedside table, the screen glowing harshly in the dim room. River’s name flashed across it.A call from River at dawn was never good news.I sat up instantly.“River?” My voice was thick with sleep and unease. “What’s wrong?”“King…” River exhaled shakily, the kind of breath a warrior shouldn’t have to make. “We were attacked last night.”My entire body went cold.“What?”“They took Rio,” River continued. His voice broke not with weakness, but with fury he was trying and failing to restrain. “The pack’s head guard. They… they dragged him off before we could stop them.”I sh
Ella’s POVThe sound that pulled me from sleep wasn’t loud, just a gentle knock, followed by the soft creak of the ship’s door. My eyes fluttered open sluggishly, the remnants of the restless fear from the night still wrapped around me like a second skin. For a split second, I forgot where I was, the wooden walls and faint rocking of the ship foreign enough to make my heart race…Then I saw the familiar face leaning over me.“Ella,” Thompson whispered, his voice low and soothing. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I came to check up on you.”The pack’s doctor. The man who had insisted on joining us despite Kingston saying the journey was too dangerous. His presence now felt like a thin thread of stability, something warm in this sea of uncertainty.I slowly pushed myself up. “How long was I asleep?”“Couple of hours,” he answered with a gentle smile, though it didn’t ma







