LOGINHis voice was soft when he asked, “Are you mad at Daddy?”My breath caught.I didn’t answer right away. I just held him tighter, brushing my lips against the top of his head, breathing in the familiar scent of shampoo and dreams.“No, baby,” I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper. “Just sad
ELENAHe said it. Just like that."Because I was a coward."And for a moment, I didn’t breathe. Didn’t blink. I just stared at him, this towering Alpha, folded in on himself like the weight of everything he’d done was finally more than he could bear.It wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t defensive. I
DEREKI was more nervous than I had ever been in my entire life.And that included some truly horrible moments. Moments when life and death had been in the balance.Worse than when Aiden had been in the hospital, his little body limp and pale against white sheets, machines screaming at me that I mig
ELENA"I’m strong enough to travel," I said.The words came out firmer than I expected. My voice still felt like it didn’t quite belong to me—too quiet, too dry—but I forced strength into it anyway.My mother narrowed her eyes at me across the hospital room, arms folded, posture stiff with tension.
ELENAThe first thing I felt was cold.Not the kind of cold that settled into your bones. Not the chill of snow or wind. It was sterile, dry, antiseptic. The kind of cold that came from machines humming, filtered air, fluorescent lights. A hospital.I blinked slowly, and the world came into focus in
DEREKToday was going well.Which, lately, felt like a miracle.The meeting room was warm with early sunlight, and the Stormfang delegation finally looked less like they wanted to skin me and more like they might—possibly—listen. The Icelandic pack had been guarded since our arrival, especially with
ELENAThere were a dozen things I was supposed to be focusing on—logistics for the Alliance Summit, reviewing proposals from nearby packs, scheduling site visits for infrastructure coordination—but my mind kept circling back to one thing.Mason.More specifically, Mason’s absence.He’d been disappea
DEREKThe report sat on my desk, its edges curling slightly from how many times I’d already flipped through it.I had been expecting something damning—evidence that Logan had schemed, that he had manipulated his way into Elena’s life while I had been drowning in grief. Or even that she’d been with h
DEREKBrock didn’t say a word when he walked into my office. He didn’t have to. The envelope in his hand was enough.“Is that it?” I asked.He nodded and laid it gently on the desk between us. A plain white envelope. No return address. No markings. Just my name scrawled across the front in blocky, d
I exhaled, guilt tightening in my chest. “I know it’s been hard. But give it time.”Maggie held my gaze for a long moment, something unreadable in her expression. Then she nodded. “Time.”But something in her voice told me she didn’t believe me.***The next morning, I barely had time to open my eye







