MasukLogan's POVNinety-nine.I counted the blows in my head because it was the only way to stay conscious. The leather strap cracked across my back again, and I bit down on the scream, tasting copper and rage.One hundred.I blocked the pain, trying to breathe through it, trying to remember that I had earned this. I had lost control of the situation and killed members from my own park. I had lost control. And control was the only thing that separated me from the animal my father thought I was."Father," Lucas's voice cut through the haze, sharp and desperate. "It's enough. You'll kill him."The strap paused. I hung from my wrists, my knees barely touching the stone floor of the east wing cellar, my blood dripping into the grout between the tiles. I didn't make a sound. I never made a sound."How will he learn?" Vincent's voice was cold, measured, the voice of an Alpha who had never once lost his temper in public. "He is the future. He needs to be perfect.""He got her out alive," Lucas
Aurora's POVIt had been two days since I woke up, and I hadn't seen Logan anywhere.I asked my mother. I asked every maid I passed in the hallway. I even asked one of the security wolves at the front gate, and he just looked at me like I had spoken in a language he didn't understand. Nobody was saying anything. And it was killing me.But why was I so affected by his absence?It was definitely because he had saved me. Because I hadn't apologized, hadn't thanked him properly for everything he had done for me.I hadn't been able to leave the house since. Every time I thought about stepping outside, my hands started shaking. The world felt too big, too loud, too full of people who wanted pieces of me. So I stayed in my room. I wore the same oversized nightgown until it smelled like lavender and my grief. I stared at the ceiling. I counted the flowers on the wallpaper until I hated them even more than before.But more than the fear, I was ashamed.My friends had tried to warn me. And I
Lucas's POVI straightened my tie in the mirror and barely recognised myself.The suit was charcoal grey, tailored too tight across my shoulders, the collar pressing against my throat like a hand that wanted to choke me. I hated council meetings. I hated the way everyone lowered their eyes when my father walked into a room, the way they measured me and found me lacking compared to Logan, the way they smiled with too many teeth and called me the fun one like it was a compliment.But one day … maybe soon … Logan and I would rule over these packs. So I needed to learn what was expected. Even if it bored me to death.I took a deep breath and followed my father inside.The hall was massive. Stone walls, high ceilings, chandeliers that dripped crystal like frozen tears. Every Alpha, Beta, and council representative from the region was already seated at the long table, their faces arranged into polite looks.They all stood up as we walked in.The silence was absolute. They bowed their hea
Aurora's POV"It's okay. I got you. You're safe."Logan whispered it to me over and over, his voice low and rough against my temple. I couldn't stop shivering. My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached, and my stomach kept clenching, rolling, threatening to empty itself again.I leaned over the grass and threw up.He held me through it, not letting me go.One arm banded around my waist, the other hand gathering my hair back from my face. He didn't flinch. He didn't make a sound. He held me while I heaved, his body a wall at my back, his heartbeat steady against my spine though mine was trying to escape my ribs.When I was done, he lifted me. I was too weak to walk; I felt like my bones were liquid. He carried me through the dark, past the tree line, past the gates, and I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in … pine and rain and the copper smell of blood that wasn't his.I didn't look up. I didn't want to see where we were. I wanted to stay in his arms where nothing could touch
Lucielle's POVAll I could hear was the ringing in my ears.I watched my friend on the ground, dying. Her dress was soaked in blood … someone else's, her own, I couldn't tell anymore. Her chest barely moved. Her lips were parted, her face grey, her silver hair matted to her forehead with sweat and vomit. She looked like a broken doll in a puddle of red.Logan moved.He caught Sera's hand before the dagger could fall again. He slammed her into the stone wall so hard the candles flickered. She didn't move after that. She slid down and sat still, her neck bent wrong, her eyes open and empty.Fear became a living thing in that room.It crawled up my spine and settled in my throat, choking me. I had seen violence before. I had smelled smoke and heard screaming and watched my world burn. But I had never seen this.Logan caught someone else by the throat.He ripped it out.Blood sprayed across the white cloth, across the candles, across his face. He didn't blink. He just moved to the next o
Aurora's POV"What do you mean by a session?" I asked, moving back. The candles were too hot. The air was too thick. "What is going on? And where is Logan?""Don't be scared, Aurora." Sera stepped closer, her smile soft and patient, like she was talking to a child. "You don't need him. So we sent him home."My blood went cold. "What?""Nobody deserves to stand beside you," she continued, her voice dropping to something almost reverent. "Not even an Alpha. You are the healer. Not just some dumb transfer student from Vancouver. You are finally worth something." She reached out and tucked a strand of silver hair behind my ear, her fingers lingering on my cheek. "So don't taint yourself. He is worth fucking, but nothing else."I jerked away from her touch. "What are you talking about? I want to go home.""Don't be stubborn, Aurora." Her smile didn't waver. "This is your destiny."She looked around the candlelit circle, nodding at the others. "But first... let's test if you are really as
Aurora’s POV“I am fine, Lucas.”I forced a smile onto my face and pushed his hand gently away from my cheek. “Really. I am not crying anymore.”And the strange thing was, I wasn’t.My face was still wet from before, but the tears had stopped now that the worst of it had passed, all I felt undernea
Aurora’s POVBy the fourth day, I was breaking, and the worst part was, I did not know if it was my wolf or my heart.I woke up drenched in sweat, my sheets tangled around my legs like they were trying to trap me. Fever burned through my body, making my skin feel too tight, too small for what was
Aurora’s POV I had been in Seattle for forty-eight hours when the second Pierce twin decided I was his new toy.Monday morning arrived cold, typical Pacific Northwest weather that should have felt familiar but somehow did not. I navigated the massive Shadowpine University campus alone, clutching
Aurora's POV The front door swung open before my mother could knock, and I found myself staring at the most beautiful man I had ever seen, right before disgust twisted his perfect face.Rain poured down behind us, soaking through my jacket, but I could not move. He stood there, six foot four at l







