LOGINBrayden stepped into the room with the only guard left by his side. A gentle smile played on his lips as his eyes fell on Remus.“Hey, you good?”“Yes.” Remus replied, swinging his feet playfully. “Dad is just scared something bad could have happened. And I’m glad you saved us in time.”“My pleasure.” Brayden said, adding a wink.Remus giggled.Evren frowned.This familiarity was not going to work. Not anywhere. Never while he was alive.He rose to his feet with a forced smile. “Please, have your seat over here.” He added, pulling out the chair for his patient.Brayden walked past him and took his seat gently, straightening his suit.Evren handed Remus his iPad to keep him busy. He was definitely not sending him to the reception alone again.“Stay here and play quietly, okay?”Remus nodded.Evren plugged his son’s ears, making sure he couldn’t hear their conversation. He returned to his seat and cleared his throat, immediately wearing a professional smile.“Mr. Brayden—”“Alpha Brayde
Evren groaned, his head throbbing endlessly from the pain that racked through his body. He arched his back gently, only to realize there was another weight pressing down on him. He slowly squinted his eyes open, and his gaze locked onto the sky. But the person above him, dressed in a tailored black suit, blocked part of his view.His heart seemed to stop beating as the scent of the person above him wafted into his nose.He knew that scent too well.Six years ago, even when he had fallen into an uncontrollable heat that had crashed over him, he couldn’t bring himself to forget that unmistakably musky vanilla Alpha scent.The body above him slowly rose, and their eyes locked.Brayden braced himself on his arms, keeping his body just above Evren’s.Neither of them moved.Evren blinked slowly, his heart now beating faster than usual. His orbs remained pinned on Brayden’s as he took in the familiar face he had spent six years trying to forget.Brayden stared back, unable to take his eyes
"Grandma! Grandpa!"Remus propped the phone against a stack of files on the desk, grinning at the screen. “Guess what! Dad's new office looks so cool! There's a big window and a soft chair and—" He gasped, leaning closer to the camera. "There's a candy jar!"Elara's laugh crackled through the speaker. "Just one piece, sweetheart. Don't spoil your appetite.""I know." Remus spun, showing off the room. "Grandpa, guess what else. There's a park right outside!""That's so cool to know," Riven said, his gruff old voice cracking."Enjoy!" Elara cut in. "You won't miss home too much."Remus' expression dulled. "Can you visit us? I miss you guys already.""Of course we will," Riven said gently. "Soon."Remus perked back up almost instantly, the way only a child could. "Grandma, do you think Rowan would've liked the office too?"The room went quiet for half a second too long.Elara's smile didn't waver, but something moved behind her eyes. "I think he would have loved the candy jar most of al
{SIX YEARS LATER.}Brayden reached for him. Their fingers never touched. The ground gave way. The stranger was gone. Swallowed by the river below.“You’re him.”His eyes snapped open.The sheets had been soaked with sweat. His chest heaved while his lips trembled as his heart slammed against his ribs like it was about to be ripped out.He grabbed the water jug from his nightstand and poured it straight over his head, gasping at the coldness that came with it.It didn’t help.He stumbled off the bed and backed into the corner of the room with his knees to his chest, breathing in short, ragged pulls.“I died because of you.” The voice said. “Stop,” he whispered. “Stop.”For six years, the accusation had followed him into every dream. He never got the chance to prove it wrong. He never got the chance to prove it right, either.He shot up and ran. Not toward the door. Toward nothing. His leg caught the center table and sent it crashing to the floor, wood splintering and a vase also shatt
Moonless woke up sore in places he didn’t have names for. Every muscle ached. Even the parts of him he never had to think about before now made themselves known with a dull, insistent throb.He lay still for a moment, blinking up at the canopy of leaves, letting the previous night settle back into memory in pieces.Beside him, Brayden slept on his left side, facing away as his chest rose and fell evenly.Moonless eased himself up, wincing, and crawled toward the stream a few feet away. The water was cold enough to make him gasp, but he needed it to feel clean, or at least less like something had been taken from him without his say.Then his gaze caught some marks along his collarbone and throat.Hickeys.Relief and shame tangled together in his chest. He had given away something he could never get back, to a stranger he would never see again after this morning. But at least, it was better than where he had escaped from.‘He is the Alpha King. Ask him for money,’ he told himself. ‘Get
The guards shoved him through the doorway without warning, and Moonless hit the floor hard, his palms scraping against the polished wood. He stayed there a moment, breathing hard, waiting for a needle that didn’t come. Only the door clicking shut behind him and footsteps fading down the hall. Slowly, he pushed himself up onto his knees and looked around. A fireplace crackled low in the corner, throwing amber across the black silk sheets pulled tightly over a bed built for someone who expected comfort waiting for him. It looked nothing like a cell. He was still on his knees when a door opened on his left. A scent wafted into his nose before he even turned his head. It curled into his lungs until his arms nearly gave out beneath him. He turned, only to see the Masked Man standing shirtlessly by the bathroom door with only briefs at his waist and the iron mask still fixed in place. Moonless’ eyes dropped on instinct, and that was when he saw it: something inked into the man’s che







