ELENAThe scent of smoke still lingered in the hallways, clinging to the stone like a memory that wouldn’t wash clean. No matter how many air purifiers buzzed or how many cleaning crews had been rotated in and out overnight, the Summit venue still felt scorched. Haunted.My boots echoed softly again
The Roguelands stretched wide and lawless in every direction, but this place—this little pocket of ruin—had been ours. A nowhere place, halfway between exile and obscurity, so far from the power struggles that most wolves didn’t bother looking for us out here.Which was the point.A thin ribbon of s
DEREKThe air still smelled like ash.Even though the fires had long been extinguished and the debris mostly cleared from the summit grounds, the scent of smoke clung to everything—our clothes, the walls, the people. A reminder of just how close we'd come to losing it all.I stood on the temporary c
ELENAThe summit was winding down.The final signatures had been inked, ceremonial photos snapped. The halls of the venue were quieter now. Not empty—there were still guards, staff, a few straggling Alphas and their entourages—but the storm had passed.Blood and scorching covered and erased with fre
She was so distressed. And then it occurred to me.“He’s your mate,” I guessed. “You’re fated mates.”She nodded slowly.I sank back against the wall, trying to catch my breath. “Why didn’t either of you say anything?”“We wanted to. After the summit, once things settled. But then the explosions hap
ELENAThe rain had finally stopped, but the sky was still bruised, heavy with the kind of gray that never really lifted. Damp air clung to the stone paths of Moonstone like a second skin, the scent of wet pine and distant smoke threading through the quiet. I stood near the edge of the terrace, the
“I wasn’t expecting you,” I said flatly, stepping back toward the main room.“I know.” He followed, hands still in his pockets. “But I needed to talk to you. And it couldn’t wait.”I didn’t invite him to sit. He didn’t ask.“What is it?” I asked, standing across from him, the thick air between us pu
DEREKThe car ride back to Silverclaw was silent. No music. No chatter from Joe. Just the low hum of the tires on pavement and the occasional crackle of the radio scanning for a signal we never let it settle on.I stared out the window, watching the trees blur into shadowed green. Every turn of the
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