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
I realized—struck suddenly, sharply—that I had never done this before. Never just... laid with her. Offered comfort without expectation.When she had been with Silverclaw—back before everything shattered—I would fall asleep with her sometimes after long, heated nights. After I'd taken her to bed w
ELENAThe trial was over.It should have felt like relief. The weeks of testimony, the brutal questions, the endless speculation about Maggie’s motives—Goddess, the weight of it all should have lifted. But it hadn’t. Not really.Instead, I felt heavy.I sat at the corner of the hotel bar, one heel h
Across the aisle, I saw Alpha Deveraux from Hollow Pine Pack leaning forward, whispering furiously to his Beta. Others weren’t even pretending to hide their outrage.The prosecution rose next—a tall, broad-shouldered woman in a dark green suit, her expression carved from stone. She spoke without hes
ELENA"Yes, I’ve spoken with him. Twice," my father said, sounding exasperated. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers and looked at me across the desk. "Our best attorney, the one who handled the Silverclaw-Moonstone land dispute? He’s with Maggie now. Everything’s in motion. You can sto







