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
***"She’s a rogue," Caroline was saying, her voice clipped with annoyance, as if the very topic exhausted her."She’s Moonstone," I corrected, sipping my whiskey. "Try again."Cassandra leaned against my desk, arms crossed, her gaze careful and assessing. "She wasn’t always."“Actually, she was,” I
ELENAThe engagement party planning had taken on a life of its own.At first, I had thought it would be something small—something my family would allow to quietly fade as Logan and I continued to do what we had always done: exist in the strange limbo of our friendship, tied together by the momentum
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
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
MAGGIE“Bastard.”It was the first word out of my mouth as I shoved open the grimy motel room door. The air inside was stale—sweaty sheets, old coffee, the reek of damp carpet and desperation. Logan looked up from where he sat on the edge of the lopsided bed, one foot resting casually on the ratty h
I froze, inhaling again, trying to find it.“Elena?” Derek’s voice was cautious behind me. I could feel him watching me, could hear the faint shift of his weight in the needles.I didn’t answer right away. My head turned slightly, following where I thought the scent had drifted. I took a step, then