LOGINAshtonI had already angrily smashed two vases and was one careless second away from redecorating my study with another one.The vase on the corner table caught my eye again.I dragged a hand down my face and turned away before I actually broke it.I paced back and forth. It failed to help much, but enough to keep my hands occupied instead of squeezing someone’s throat.One thought looped in my head like a curse.Where the hell is she?If anything had happened to Lana—No. I stopped that thought right there.“For the sake of those guards...” I muttered under my breath. “She better be fine.”“Ashton?”Diana’s voice slipped in softly from behind me. She’d been sitting there for a while, quiet.I didn’t turn.“I’m sure Sapphire is okay,” she said gently. “Maybe she just needed some air. A walk, or perhaps—”I let out a short breath.“Hm hm.” I finally glanced at her over my shoulder as I shook my head."No offence, Diana, but I don’t need… petty reassurances. I need my Luna back in this
LanaThe Moon Goddess just threatened me. Could she truly do that? I wondered.As if she could read thoughts, she tilted her head and spoke. "I can threathen you and I certainly have every power to enforce it. You forget that you are my subject, Lana. So is every other wolf in every packs across the world."“I have not been wasting time,” I argued. “I’ve been trying to figure things out, okay? I’ve been trying to get proof against Diego and Amethyst and—”"Oh, really? Hmm. Then enlighten me, Lana Steele. How long have you been in Sapphire’s body?”I blinked, wonding where that question was coming from. “Two months," I answered.“Two months...” she repeated flatly. “And somehow that was not enough to do what needs to be done?”“It’s not like I’ve just been sitting around doing nothing. I have been trying to get evidence against Diego and Amethyst. It’s just—” I exhaled sharply before continuing. “It’s been almost impossible. Ashton has people looking into Silvercrest, but nothing concr
LanaI had been walking for a while now. I halted on my steps and took one look behind me.I saw nothing but an empty road. No towering gates, no guards. No King’s Estate.Good.I turned around and kept walking, my boots crunching over the dry path as I pushed through the dark road ahead.I hadn't walked all the way from the Estate on foot. I had stolen a car— well… borrowed it temporarily but I decided to ditch it for it could be tracked.I was safer on foot... safer away from him.My chest tightened so hard I had to stop for a second.Ashton.The second his face crossed my mind, that same ugly ache pressed into my ribs all over again.I swallowed but I kept walking.I now understood why he did it and that was the annoying part.That was what made it hurt worse.Because some stupid part of me understood.But understanding didn’t make it okay.It didn’t make it hurt less that he looked me in my face and decided I was the problem. That I was too broken. Too paranoid. Too… unstable.My
AshtonThe door opened almost immediately, Diana stepped in.For a brief second, the room looked less miserable.She still had on that red dress from earlier, though she had taken off the heavier jewelry. She looked… easier like this. Less curated.A sight for sore eyes, one might say.Unfortunately, I had other problems.Before she had even crossed fully into the room, I had already swept the last of the Silvercrest reports into the locked lower drawer of my desk. The papers disappeared beneath wood and keys with all the dignity they did NOT deserve.No one needed to know I was investigating Diego.“Am I interrupting something?” she inquired, her voice light.“Yes,” I said.She blinked at first then chuckled softly.I allowed myself the faintest curve of amusement before motioning toward the chair across from me. “Take a seat, since you’re determined to do so anyway.”She smiled and crossed the room, settling elegantly into the seat.“Is everything alright?”“Yes.”“That answer was s
AshtonI stood at the doorway a bit longer just watching her lay still beneath the covers, her breathing slow and even, her lashes resting against her cheeks like none of tonight had happened.The way she had looked at me with that expression right before the sleep took her wasn't something I enjoyed very much.I wanted to go closer again. Instead, I looked away first.Cowardly, maybe.Necessary, definitely.I turned and walked to the door, then paused with my hand on the handle. One last glance.She still hadn’t moved.Good. That meant my influence had settled properly.I stepped out and shut the door quietly behind me.Two guards were already standing outside with their backs straight and heads lowered.“Stay here,” I ordered. “No one goes in. No one. Am I clear?"“Yes, Your Majesty.”I held their gaze a second longer just to make sure they understood I meant exactly what I said, so excuses later on will be void. Then I walked off down the corridor.Thinking back to what I had to do
LanaUnstable.That word did not just hit me. It ripped it's way right through me.My eyes stayed locked on Ashton’s face, but everything inside me was shaking so badly it felt like my bones had gone loose under my skin.Unstable?Was that what he thought of me?Was that what he had reduced me to after everything?I tried to speak, gods, I tried.My throat strained but not so much as a squeal could come out.Ashton saw it my internal struggle and his expression changed just a little into something of regret.Too late for that now!“I’m sorry,” he whispered under his breath.Sorry?My fingers twitched uselessly at my sides.Sorry?He had me trapped in my own body and he was saying sorry like that fixed shit.His voice dropped lower.“Forgive me for this ”A tear slipped down before I could stop it.Humiliating.I hated that he saw it.I hated that he was the reason for it.He took one slow breath, then said, “I’m doing this because I care for you.”I stared at him.No no, don’t do that
LANAAs Ashton’s wife, well, technically. As his mate and as his the Luna, I felt like I had some responsibility toward him. The responsibility of making sure he has a clear head at all times.That was the excuse I was currently feeding myself anyway as I rested my back against the wall in one of t
LanaI already made my decision and I made sure to repeat it to myself like a warning.'I'm going to tell him.''I’m not backing out.''And I'm not changing my mind no matter what.'I knew myself very well and I knew how I get most times.I settle on something and then, right when the time came to
LanaI rolled myself under the sheets and pulled them up to my chin even though I wasn’t feeling cold.I felt warm, my limbs heavy and my mind entirely dazed but so very much awake. My thoughts filtered in and out from my purview and I groaned internally.You, Lana, just had sex with the Wolf King
LanaI’d been a lot of things in my life. A chef when my father demanded it one time. A strategist when life turned into war. Sometimes a leader when nobody else had the guts to step up.But a dancer?Hell no!“I don’t dance!” I told Ashton for what had to be the fifth time as he pulled me down ano







