LOGINTalia.The room had not changed, but I could not shake the feeling that something inside it had.Or maybe it was just me.I stood by the window, staring out into the dark, though I was not really seeing anything beyond the glass. My thoughts had been turning over the same thing for hours now, circling it from every angle, testing it, resisting it, trying to find one solid reason to walk away from it.There was none.That was the truth I kept coming back to.Christopher had not been wrong.Denver is not a man you simply walk into. He does not open himself easily. Not his time, not his space, and certainly not his heart. Everything about him is controlled, measured, built around decisions that are never made without thought.And yet… Selena had somehow slipped into that space as if she belonged there.My jaw tightened at the thought.Because she doesn’t.She has no right to stand where she stands. No right to be the one beside him, to carry his name, to be seen as something irreplaceabl
Denver.By the time I returned, the weight of the day hadn’t left me.It lingered in the quiet way the pack moved, in the conversations that stopped too quickly when I passed, in the unspoken expectations that had begun to settle more heavily than before. I had dealt with the elders, listened to their concerns, and responded in a way that carefully addressed loyalty, all while maintaining order intact.Control.That was always the answer.And yet, as I stepped into our room, something told me that whatever waited here would require a different kind of control entirely.Selena stood near the window, her back partially turned, her posture composed in a way that would have passed for normal if I hadn’t learned to notice the difference between stillness and restraint.I paused for a moment, watching her before speaking.“I got something for you.”Her head turned slightly at that, her expression softening just enough to acknowledge me as I stepped further inside. I reached into my pocket,
Selena.The corridor outside Queen Luna’s chamber always felt different from the rest of the pack house, as though even the air there had been trained to move more carefully. I noticed it every time I came out of that room, as the silence followed me a few steps longer than it should have before dissolving back into the normal rhythm of the packhouse.I adjusted the sleeve of my dress as I walked, more out of habit than necessity, trying to steady the faint pressure still sitting behind my ribs from the visit.Denver's mother had been more awake today than usual, her voice a little clearer, her gaze lingering longer when she spoke. It should have been comforting to see that, but instead it left me unsettled in a way I couldn’t quite explain, like I had been standing too close to something fragile without knowing where to place my hands.By the time I reached the corner leading away from her wing, I told myself I just needed air. Something ordinary. Something that didn’t carry weight
Denver.The office was quieter than usual, the low, steady hum of the air conditioner stretching the silence into something heavier than it should have been.I leaned back in my chair, fingers steepled beneath my chin, my gaze fixed on the pack healer as she arranged her notes with deliberate care.She didn’t look at me immediately.She never did.Careful. Controlled. The kind of woman who understood that words carried weight long before they were spoken.“You called,” she said at last, her voice even, professional.“I did,” I replied. “I need answers.”Her eyes lifted then, settling on me with quiet understanding. “About Selena?”“Yes.”There was no point circling it.“Why hasn’t she conceived?”The question settled between us, heavier than the room itself.She exhaled slowly, setting her notes aside before folding her hands together. “I’ve been monitoring her closely. Her cycles, her hormonal patterns, her response to treatment. I’ve adjusted everything within my capacity to give he
Denver. By the time I stepped into the room, the lights were low and the silence had already settled into something deeper than quiet.Selena was in bed.Sleeping, or that was what she wanted me to believe. I closed the door behind me without making a sound, my gaze resting on her immediately as I took a few steps further inside. She lay on her side, facing away from me, the soft rise and fall of her breathing just steady enough to pass for sleep, but not enough to convince me.She wasn’t asleep, her breathing was yet to even out.For a moment, I said nothing, just stood there watching her, letting the weight of the evening settle properly in my mind now that I was away from the noise, away from the careful conversations and controlled expressions.Tonight had not been easy on her.Not with the way the room had shifted, not with the things that had been said, and certainly not with the pressure that had been sitting unspoken beneath all of it.The expectation.The quiet, constant nee
Talia.The walk back to my room was quieter than the one that had brought me to dinner.Not because anything had changed.But because everything had gone exactly as I intended.I let the door close softly behind me, the faint click echoing just enough to settle into the silence of the room before I moved further inside. My mind is replaying every moment of the dinner we just had. For a moment, I stood there.Then, slowly, I exhaled.A small smile touched my lips, subtle, controlled—but real.It had gone well.Better than well.Selena had held herself together, just as I knew she would. She had smiled, responded exactly as expected, and maintained that careful composure she wore like armor.But I had seen it.The hesitation.The stillness.The moment something landed just a little deeper than she wanted it to.And that was enough.I moved toward the dresser, reaching up to remove my earrings, placing them carefully on the surface as my reflection caught in the mirror.Calm.Measured.U
Denver.I had followed her without being seen, moments after she left my room.Old habits. Old instincts. Something told me Christopher might want to get back at her, and I was not about to let that happen.When she first entered her room, I thought my concerns were unfounded for a moment, until I
Selena.By the time I reach my room, my hands are still shaking.Not from fear.From him.From the way Alpha Denver’s fingers had barely brushed my skin and yet left a burn that refuses to fade. From the restraint in his eyes, the battle he fought so openly frightened me more than Christopher’s crue
Denver.I woke that morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door.I groaned, unwilling to open my eyes for another hour or two, but when the door opened and my beta walked in, I knew sleep was done for.“Good morning, Alpha,” Jacob greeted as he stepped further into the room.“Good morning,
SelenaI saw them before they saw me.They were hidden in a dark corner off the west corridor, where the torchlight barely reached and the stone walls swallowed every sound. My stomach clenched before I even realized I’d stopped walking.Christopher has Joyce pressed against the wall, his mouth on







