ELENAI’d barely slept the night before. My head still throbbed from the press conference, the way Derek had held my hand in front of the cameras like we were still something, like we were united. Like I wasn’t still carrying the weight of all the things inside me that he’d shattered.The shrapnel h
“What’s going on?” I hissed. “They’re questioning your leadership.”He didn’t answer, just stared out the window at the courtyard below.“Mason.”“I heard them,” he muttered. “Loud and clear.”“Then talk to me. Where have you been? Why have you missed meetings? You’re the future Alpha—”“I didn’t as
DEREKCassandra’s father, Alpha Bruce Laurent of the Eastern Ridge Pack, was the kind of man who didn’t believe in personal space or indoor voices. He had a laugh like an avalanche and a handshake that could fracture bone. We were only two courses into dinner and already I was counting the minutes u
ELENAThe hallway roared around me—screams and the thunder of boots echoing off polished stone as Logan yanked me after him, his grip vice-tight around my wrist. My high heels slid and stuttered over the rubble that had spilled out of the restaurant, and the air around us smelled like smoke.And bl
I stood there, panting, chest heaving.“Elena!”I turned.A copper-furred wolf with slitted eyes was snarling in my direction. For one insane moment, I thought it was Nox.Then I saw him.A monstrous black wolf tore through the wreckage like a storm given flesh, his coat so dark it drank in the ligh
DEREKThe world narrowed to teeth and fury.Erebus was in control now—no hesitation, no strategy, just raw instinct. He tore through the rogues with savage efficiency, blood and fur flying, jaws snapping, claws ripping. This wasn’t the ballroom. This wasn’t ceremony or restraint.This was war.And E
ELENAShifting was always strange. Like being peeled apart and stitched back together, breathless and brimming with something ancient.And then I was Nox.The world changed. Light fractured sharper. Sounds layered in ways the human ear could never catch. I could hear Derek’s heartbeat hammering in h
DEREKThe moment the emergency response teams cleared the worst of the wreckage, the adrenaline began to fade—and reality set in.The Alliance Summit had been attacked. Not just disrupted. Not just interrupted. Attacked.Bombs, blood, death. Alphas injured. Lunas crying. Warriors dead. I had bruise
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