로그인DANIELLE'S POV"I told you."Skye drops a plastic tray of food onto the table between us and sits down across from me, her expression a careful mix of exasperation and something that might be pity, which is somehow worse."I warned you, Danielle," she continues, folding her arms. "I told you to be careful. I told you not to do anything reckless. And what did you do?"I stare at the tray instead of looking at her, because if I look at her right now I'm going to cry again, and I've already cried enough today to last several lifetimes."You don't have to remind me," I murmur, my voice scraped thin."I think I do," Skye replies, though her tone softens slightly. "Because clearly the lesson didn't land the first hundred times I said it."I press my palms against my eyes, my elbows on the table, the orange jumpsuit they made me wear scratching uncomfortably against my skin every time I move. I never thought I'd be wearing something like this. I never imagined a version of my life that invo
MEGAN'S POVMaverick and Makayla are standing there, and the second they see me, their faces light up, and they walk in without waiting for an invitation."Mommy!" Makayla announces, already climbing onto the couch. "How are you feeling?""We wanted to check on you," Maverick adds, settling beside his sister, his eyes scanning my face with that unsettling attentiveness he always has.Guilt tightens in my chest. They're four years old and they're checking in on me like seasoned caretakers."I'm feeling well, sweethearts," I reply, walking over and sitting on the corner of the coffee table across from them. "Thank you for asking."But Maverick's frown deepens, and he leans forward slightly. "Are you sure?""You look like something happened," Makayla adds, cocking her head, studying me the way she studies everything, like a tiny, suspicious detective."I'm okay," I insist, keeping my voice light. "Maybe it's just the healing. My body's still putting itself back together. That can make a
MEGAN'S POVI close my hotel room door behind me and lean back against it, closing my eyes.For a second I just stand there, letting the silence of the room settle over me, and I feel everything I just did outside the hotel entrance crash into me all at once, delayed, like the aftershock of something that already happened too fast to process the first time.I genuinely wasn't expecting to see Xarion today. Not there. Not with flowers, of all things, standing outside like he'd rehearsed how he'd hand them to me and still couldn't quite land it.Turning them down nearly broke something in me right there on the pavement. I had to dig my nails into my own palm just to keep my voice even, just to keep my face arranged into an expression that looked like resolve instead of the mess I actually was underneath it.That was hard.That was, without question, one of the hardest things I've had to do, harder than I expected it to be even though I knew it was coming.A tear breaks free before I can
XARION'S POVMegan's expression becomes noticeably colder the moment she hears the question. "That's none of your concern, Xarion."Fair enough.Brutally fair, actually, and I don't push it, mostly because I already know I won't like whatever answer she'd give me.I clear my throat and steer the conversation somewhere safer instead."Your driver," I say. "John. He's been caught."Megan's posture changes slightly, her attention locking in."He admitted his family was threatened," I continue. "That's why he assisted in your kidnapping. He didn't have a choice. They told him cooperate or watch his wife and kids pay for it."Megan's lips press together, but the hardness in her eyes softens fractionally. "I'm glad he's been caught at least. Regardless of his reasons.""Yeah." I nod once. "We shouldn't dwell on it though." I murmur, and then, because I can't think of a better transition and the flowers are starting to feel heavier by the second, I just hold them out to her. "Here."She loo
XARION'S POVI've been leaning against my car for almost ten minutes, holding a bouquet of flowers in front of this hotel like an idiot, trying to talk myself into walking inside.This is ridiculous.I'm a thirty-year-old Alpha. I've negotiated treaties with hostile territories and faced down rogue packs without breaking a sweat, and right now I'm leaning against my car in a parking lot, staring at a bunch of white peonies, wondering if they're too much, too little, or simply the wrong flower entirely. I'm also genuinely unsure whether walking through the hotel doors is a good idea or the worst one I've had all week.I should've asked Andrew. Andrew would've had an opinion, even an annoying one.But I didn't ask him, because Andrew would've made a comment about my hands shaking slightly, and my hands are not shaking, they're just resettling their hold on the stems.I keep running the scenario in my head.Megan opens the door and sees the flowers. She either softens, just a bit, enoug
MEGAN'S POV"You're going to whether I say yes or not," I reply, breaking off a piece of croissant. "So go ahead."Vance watches me for a second, choosing his words. It's not entirely unusual when it comes to me. I've seen him hesitate before when the conversation is one he doesn't want to have."I think you need to stay away from Xarion," he states evenly.I stop chewing."Hear me out, Megan," he continues, holding up a hand. "I'm not saying this to be territorial or petty. I'm saying it because I've been looking at the pattern of everything that's happened to you since you came back to Arkon, and the common thread in all of it is him."I set the croissant down and give him my full attention."Harlow Hale," Vance continues, his voice level. "The man who had you kidnapped, who put you in that warehouse, who had men put their hands on you." He pauses. "He was Xarion's investor. Someone inside Xarion's professional circle."I don't respond yet."And Danielle." His face hardens slightly
MEGAN'S POVThe hotel room is nice enough.It's spacious and clean, one of those upscale suites with a separate bedroom for the twins, a kitchenette I haven't touched, and massive windows showing off the city skyline.But after three days of being cooped up here, the walls feel like they're closing
XARION'S POVI'm still standing there with my jaw clenched and fists tight, trying to rein in the storm churning inside me when the twins suddenly hop off the bed and move toward Vance."Mr. Vance," Makayla pipes up, her voice still a little shaky but hopeful. "Did you bring any snacks for us too?"
XARION'S POVI've been trying to sleep for hours, tossing and turning, but every time I close my eyes, all I see is Megan's face.So I gave up around 2 AM and dragged myself to my home office, hoping that drowning myself in paperwork would distract me from the chaos in my head.It hasn't worked.I'
XARION'S POVPain.That's the first thing I register when I wake up.A dull, throbbing ache that seems to radiate through every part of my body. My head feels like it's been split open with an axe, my ribs are screaming, and my knuckles sting like hell.I groan, my eyes fluttering open, and immedia







