DEREKI woke with the sour taste of whiskey still clinging to my tongue and sunlight stabbing through my eyelids like a punishment. My head was pounding. My mouth felt like cotton. And the dull throb behind my eyes wasn’t just from the hangover.Cassandra’s bare shoulder was the first thing I saw wh
My mother sipped her coffee, watching me over the rim of her mug.“He was a good Alpha,” she said. “Not a perfect man. But a good one. And he trusted his instincts. Even when they made things harder.”I nodded again, chewing my bite of bacon without tasting it.“I think he would’ve hated this rogue
ELENAThe heat hit the moment we stepped off the plane.That heavy, languid warmth that settled on your shoulders like a silk robe—luxurious at first, but stifling if you sat in it too long. I tilted my face toward the sun and let it bake away the tension that had clung to me since the Summit.It wa
“Have you seen Erin lately?”There was a pause. “No. Why?”“I’m just worried about the two of you,” I sighed. “Have you talked about… what’s next for you both?”He sighed unhappily. Didn’t answer.“She’s safe, though?” I pushed. “She and Carly and Maggie?”“As safe as he can be,” he grumbled. “Livin
DEREKI sat there for a long time after my mother left, the untouched bacon on the plate cooling beside me, the scent of coffee thick in the air. But it wasn’t breakfast I could taste. It was bitterness.Elena.Her name kept echoing inside my skull like a curse and a prayer at once. I’d betrayed her
DEREKSomething was wrong.Aiden hadn’t come down the slide.I was already halfway to the base of the water slide when the thought hit me like a punch to the gut. My eyes scanned the splash pool—half a dozen children flailing joyfully in the turquoise water—but none of them were mine.No copper curl
DEREKThe sun beat down on the Silverclaw training grounds, heat rising off the packed earth in shimmering waves. My breath came hard and fast, my knuckles bloodied and raw. Across from me, Brock was grinning like a damn lunatic, sweat pouring down his bare chest.“Getting slow, old man,” he taunted
ELENAThe villa looked like something out of a travel magazine—terracotta tiles, palm fronds swaying gently in the salt-heavy breeze, a glittering private pool framed by limestone and lush tropical blooms.It sat on the very edge of the resort property, past the winding golf cart trails and through
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