تسجيل الدخولThe words struck the hall like a curse."...Kill me, stepbrother!"For one suspended heartbeat, nobody moved.Even the chandeliers hanging from the cathedral ceiling seemed to stop swaying.Bella stared in disbelief.Stepbrother?Her pulse thundered in her ears.Dave Stark's massive hand remained locked around Luda's throat, lifting the hybrid several feet off the polished obsidian floor. Luda's boots dangled uselessly, yet the grin on his bruised face only widened."You finally heard me," Luda rasped through the crushing grip. "Or have you spent all these years pretending I never existed?"Dave's crimson eyes burned like molten fire."You should have stayed buried."His voice barely sounded human.It carried two distinct tones—as though another creature shared his throat.Inside Bella, Hilda whimpered."He's losing control..."Bella swallowed hard.No...This wasn't merely rage.Something darker had awakened inside her mate.Something ancient.***********The crowd instinctively retr
The growl that echoed beyond the estate walls hadn't belonged to a wolf.It hadn't belonged to a vampire either.It was older.Stronger.Ancient enough to make even immortals instinctively bow their heads.For only a heartbeat.Then silence reclaimed the ballroom.Lord Shevek's crimson eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly before he forced his attention back to the ceremony.But Bella noticed.He had recognized that roar.Or perhaps...He feared its owner.**************The shattered entrance doors remained open behind Sandra, Morgan, and Kieran.Cold wind swept through the enormous chamber, carrying the scent of pine forests and rain.Every vampire in the ballroom had abandoned their seats.Some hissed.Others bared their fangs.Several noble elders silently prepared themselves for battle.Sandra stepped forward confidently.Unlike everyone else, she wasn't intimidated by hundreds of bloodthirsty vampires glaring at her."Forgive the dramatic entrance," she said coolly."But we weren't
The ballroom remained cloaked in darkness.For three endless seconds, the silence was absolute.Then—A savage growl rolled through the hall.Not from a vampire.Not from one of the guests.It was unmistakably the warning roar of a dominant hybrid.Bella stiffened.Hilda surged inside her."That growl...""I know."It was the same one they had heard in the forest.The same unseen protector who had frightened Luda away before he could pursue her deeper into the maze.Someone had been watching over her all along.Before Bella could search for its source, every chandelier exploded back to life.The hall blazed with crimson light once more.Yet whoever had growled was gone.Not a single face appeared disturbed except Lord Shevek's.His crimson gaze swept across the crowd, searching.Calculating.Then, as if deciding the interruption wasn't worth acknowledging, he smiled.The celebration continued.Bella's heartbeat did not.************Music rose from the orchestra hidden along the marbl
That sound refused to leave Bella's thoughts.Even after waking from the nightmare, after hearing the unexpected knock outside her room, after Lord Shevek's visit, one question continued to haunt her.Who had been watching?It hadn't been Luda.She was certain of that now.Whoever had released that low, warning growl had stayed hidden... almost as though they had chosen not to interfere.Someone else knew what had happened in the forest.Someone had witnessed Luda forcing a kiss on her.And whoever it was had remained silent.That realization chilled Bella more than the nightmare itself.**********She sat motionless on the edge of the enormous bed, fingers unconsciously resting over her abdomen.A child.Dave Stark's child.The thought warmed her heart even as fear tightened around it.Hilda stirred quietly inside her."Our pup is safe.""For now," Bella whispered.She remembered the dream again.Dave's golden eyes.The beast inside him.The way he'd looked at her as though she were
The growl Bella had heard in the forest had not belonged to Luda.Neither had it come from any ordinary predator.Hidden high among the ancient branches, a pair of glowing silver eyes watched every second of the confrontation.The shadow had remained perfectly still while Luda forced himself on Bella.It had watched Bella slap him.Watched her flee.And when Luda disappeared into the woods moments later, the mysterious figure melted silently into the darkness without making another sound.Only one sentence lingered in the air before the forest reclaimed its silence."Not yet..."**********Bella remained frozen beneath the spray of the shower.The sound of the bedroom door opening echoed through the suite.Her pulse thundered.Whoever had entered wasn't trying to hide their presence.Water dripped from her hair onto the marble floor as she quickly shut off the shower.She reached for the nearest towel, wrapping it securely around herself before scanning the spacious bathroom.Nothing.
The growl that rolled through the forest wasn't Luda's.It was deeper.Older.Predatory.Bella froze for a fraction of a second, her pulse pounding wildly as she tore herself away from Luda's stunned grip. Whatever creature had made that sound was close enough to shake the leaves overhead, yet hidden well enough to remain unseen.Luda's crimson eyes swept through the trees."Who's there?" he barked.Silence answered.Then another low growl vibrated through the undergrowth before fading into the distance.Bella didn't wait to find out who—or what—it belonged to.Anger exploded inside her.Before Luda could recover, she shoved him backward with every ounce of strength she possessed. The force caught him off guard, sending him stumbling several steps.Her palm cracked across his face.The sharp sound echoed through the trees."You'll never touch me again," she hissed, her voice trembling with fury.Luda slowly turned his head back toward her, more surprised than hurt.For one heartbeat,
Bella noticed Dave Stark’s name before she even registered the vibration of her phone.Her heart leapt, light and reckless, the way it always did when his name appeared. She’d saved his contact with a simple white heart—nothing dramatic, nothing loud. Just quiet certainty.She fixed her gaze on the
All eyes in the room turned to Bella at the same time.The music pulsed harder, the bass thundering through the crowded room, but it was as if the world itself had shrunk down to a solitary, choking focus. Warmth slithered up her back. The aroma of alcohol, perspiration, and wolf musk filled the ai
Dave Stark gently set Bella down on the bed as if she were some precious but dangerous merchandise.With one hand pressed against the side of her head and the other reaching out for her, he came close to her as if the only thing that kept him sane was to close as much space as he could between them
Bella’s stomach rumbled loudly as she and Sandra descended the grand staircase. Hunger gnawed at her—she hadn’t eaten since school before ending up in Dave’s house.“Speaking of food,” Bella whispered, nudging Sandra, “what’s with the cook? She looked like she wanted to slit my throat the second Da







