Her Alpha’s Kryptonite

Jasmine’s POVI held my breath as the bouncer at the entrance of the Elysian Moor took the gold-embossed invitation from my hand with his fingers rubbing the edges of the card as if testing the cardstock.My heart was pounding as he looked up from the card and stared right into my face.I forced my face to remain completely blank and I kept my posture relaxed, shifting my weight to one hip like a bored socialite who had better places to be. Beside me, Zea didn't even flinch. She just tapped her heel against the floor, looking mildly annoyed by the delay.The silence stretched painfully as the guard’s eyes flicked from me to Zea and then back to the invitation. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. He was going to turn us away. He was going to call security and they were going to throw us into the streets of Cresthaven. Or worse, hand us over to the Pack enforcers..Then he grunted and shoved the invitation back into my hand and stepped aside.“Enjoy your evening, ladies.”

Jasmine's POV"Where exactly did a little mouse like you find this much cheese?" Drax leaned back in his chair picking his teeth with a dirty fingernail.He was a massive scarred brute of a man and his dingy office smelled of cigar smoke and the suspicious tang of old blood.He stared down at the thick stacks of cash I had just slapped onto his scarred desk. The money I had stolen from that terrifying stranger, Glenn, exactly two weeks ago.I kept my face perfectly blank as I crossed my arms over my chest, hiding the way my hands were trembling."It doesn't matter where I get the money, Drax. As long as I pay the debts my mother owed you, you shouldn't care if it fell from the sky."Drax snorted, leaned forward and snatched up the stacks with his thick quickly flicking through the bills. He didn't have a money counter but he didn't need one. His greedy eyes tracked every single dollar."Just making conversation, Trivett," he grumbled. "People who suddenly come into big money usually h

Tristan’s POV My wolf slammed against my ribs the second her face lifted into the light. Same sharp hazel eyes. Same defiant chin. The woman from the Elysian Moor gala, the one who had emptied my wallet and slipped out of my bed before dawn—was standing right there, three feet away, still trembling from the street thugs I had just put down. My chest tightened so hard it hurt. She was real, not some fevered memory my cursed mind had cooked up during one of the long nights when the fracture in my soul refused to let me sleep. I moved before I could think. My hand closed around her elbow to steady her. The contact hit me like a live wire. A violent tremor shot up my forearm, straight into my blood. It had nothing to do with concern. My body knew her before my mind finished catching up. Her skin was warm under my fingers, soft despite the lean muscle I could feel there. My wolf surged forward with a growl that vibrated through my chest. Mine. He marked her as territory in the same brea

Tristan’s POV I let her go. I stepped aside on the sidewalk and watched Jasmine walk away, her shoulders tight and her steps quick but not quite running. My wolf pushed hard against my ribs, wanting to chase, but I held him back. Tracking a running woman was easier than detaining a frightened one. Right now, the hunt mattered more than the capture. I could feel the curse twisting in my blood, the dark fracture flaring at the edges of my control, but the instinct was stronger. She was already mine. She just needed time to understand it. I gave her a thirty-foot lead before I started after her. My body moved between the obstacles of Cresthaven’s back alleys without disturbing a single thing. No kicked cans. No splashing through puddles. Just silent steps on the cracked pavement. My silver eyes stayed locked on the shape of her ahead in the dark—her dark brown hair swinging slightly, the way she kept one hand near her jacket pocket where she had stuffed the wallet back. She glanced o

Jasmine’s POV We sat on the couch for a long time. Zea wrapped both arms around my shoulders and pulled me sideways into her. The grip was tight enough to hurt slightly, but I let myself be held. My whole body trembled without sound. There were no tears, just the silent shaking of someone who had absorbed a shock too large for noise. I leaned into her, my head against her shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of her cheap perfume. The pregnancy test lay on the floor beside us, the two lines still dark and undeniable. I pressed the amulet hard against my chest through my shirt. The iron dug into my skin, and the rune edges cut into my palm as I closed my fingers around it. I didn’t feel the small bleeding marks until later. Right then, all I felt was the weight. The same amulet my mother had given me when I was small, the one that had kept my wolf locked away my entire life. Zea didn’t speak. She just held me tighter, her hand rubbing slow circles on my arm. She knew when to