DEREKThe Alpha Ball was meant to be a display of strength, of unity. Instead, it had become a personal battlefield, and I stood in the center of it, seething in silence.Elena was radiant. The deep blue of her gown hugged her frame, the copper mass of her hair swept up to expose the delicate curve
ELENAI kept my expression serene, my shoulders squared, my chin high. The room erupted into applause, but the sound barely registered. Inside, I was frozen, my mind racing to process what had just happened.Logan had just announced our engagement.He had done it without asking me. Without a proposa
I had smiled, slow and certain. "I am yours."He kissed me then, hard and desperate, as if he could claim me with the press of his lips alone. And maybe, for a while, he had.That night had been the first time I had truly believed in the possibility of a future with Derek. We had talked about marria
ELENAThe air in the amphitheater still carried the weight of last night’s Alpha Ball. It had been a triumph of an evening—everything that the Alpha Council had hoped it would be and more. But I couldn’t enjoy my achievement.The glow of candlelit lanterns had long since faded, the laughter and musi
DEREKThe Masquerade Ball was a different kind of spectacle than the Alpha Ball. Where last night had been about power and alliances displayed openly beneath the amphitheater’s vast sky, tonight was meant to be a night of mystery, of fresh starts, of the Moon Goddess weaving her golden thread betwee
ELENAThe ride home from the Masquerade Ball felt longer than it should have. I asked my driver to put the partition between us up and I changed clothes in the back seat of the limousine, opting for a comfy pair of sweats; I needed something less constricting and light.The weight of the evening pre
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
DEREKElena had denied cheating on me with Logan. But she hadn’t denied that Aiden was his.The realization had settled into my ribs like a slow, festering wound, burning through every rational thought I had left.She could have corrected me. Could have told me I was wrong.But she hadn’t.That was
Amy’s voice was small now. “I believe so.”I set the glass down with a soft clink. “Pour the full glass.”She did.“Now decant the rest,” I said. “I’ve lost my appetite for food. But I’ll be staying to enjoy the bottle.”Amy said nothing. She bowed slightly and stepped away to fetch the decanter.Th
DEREKI didn’t stop for the cameras.They flared like tiny suns as I stepped out of the black SUV, their shutters clicking rapid-fire.Flashes bounced off the platinum buttons of my coat, off the trim of my collar, illuminating the sidewalk in sharp, artificial bursts. I walked straight through the
The temperature in the room shifted.Not dramatically, but enough. Like a subtle drop in pressure before a storm. Erin straightened, her laughter tapering. I smoothed the sample fabric in front of me and didn’t look up right away.“Hey,” Logan said casually. “What’s so funny?”Erin glanced at me. “J
ELENAThe Moonstone packhouse was a flurry of motion and color. Fabric swatches fluttered like flags in a breeze as pack members carried bolts of cloth up the stairs. Someone was arguing loudly in the hall about whether “frosted lilac” was different from “lavender fog,” and a delivery of beeswax can
ELENAThe metronome was ticking again.That steady, deliberate rhythm that Dr. Voss insisted helped center my recall—though half the time, I wasn’t sure if it helped or just made me hyper-aware of how fast my thoughts were spinning.I sat back in the reclined chair, palms resting against the fabric-
“A silver claw?”I nodded. “Yeah. The first. The only. It seared his flesh every time he used it. Every swing hurt. But he used it anyway.”“That sounds… awful.”“It was,” I said. “But he made that pain his purpose. Every battle, every fight he walked into—he carried the silver claw. And with it, he
DEREKThe room still smelled like fresh paint.The new bedding hadn’t quite lost its store scent either—crisp fabric, a little too new, the faint chemical undertone of being unboxed that morning.But it didn’t matter. Aiden was already halfway under the covers, head turned toward the window, blanket
DEREKIt all slammed into me at once.The office, the old leather chair beneath me, the taste of whiskey still lingering on my tongue—and Maggie’s name reverberating like a bell that wouldn’t stop ringing in my head.Maggie. Pierce’s daughter.A rogue who had saved Elena’s life, who had helped her e
I gasped against him, and his tongue slid in—deep, claiming, desperate.I should have shoved him off. Should have screamed at him, reminded him what he was, what I was. But my body betrayed me.I kissed him back.Hard.My fingers curled into the front of his shirt, dragging him closer as his hands s