LOGINSorry guys, looks like I've managed to mess up my chapter numbers. I've asked my editor to help correct them. Sorry for any confusion. They are in order, I just wrote the wrong numbers at the top of the page.
Lincoln's POVI watch as Queen Sophie and Princess Lottie fuss and squabble with each other and Tobias. I watch him surrounded by familiar love in a way I have never known, and I cannot help the sharp pang of jealousy and sadness that twists through my chest.The only person who ever loved me like that was my mother. She used to fuss over me in that same effortless way, straightening my collar, smoothing my hair, telling me I looked too serious for a boy my age while sneaking extra food onto my plate.It has been seven years since she died, but so much has happened over the last four that it feels like much longer. I wonder what she would think of the way I am running Shadow Pack, or the fact that I am apparently in love with my friend’s mate.The pain of that thought catches me in the chest all over again.Tobias is mated to Zahra.I mean, it makes sense. The fact that they were bringing her scent to Thor to help him recover should have made it obvious. I keep kicking myself for not
Tobias's POVMarcus and Lincoln hover as I walk slowly up the steps outside the front of the castle. They keep hovering as I move through the entrance hall and towards the family wing, but I already know before we reach the stairs that I am not going to make it all the way up. Instead, I head for the lifts at the back.The good thing is that the lift will take me directly to my apartment without me needing to walk past the other suites or through my family’s rooms. I have no idea where Felix and his mate are living, but I do not want to run into either of them when I feel this drained.No one comments as I walk, even though I slow down the closer we get to the lifts.When Marcus pushes open the door to my suite, the smell hits me first. The air is stale, despite the recent scent of cleaning products underneath it. No one has been in here while I have been… away. Mum must have had it cleaned hastily now that I am back, but cleaning cannot disguise months of emptiness.Lincoln takes my
Tobias's POVI am itching to get out of here.I glance at the clock on the wall again, for what must be the hundredth time in the last five minutes, and I swear the damn thing has stopped working.Lincoln is typing away on his laptop. He has decided to wait before returning to Shadow, mostly because Kirsten has been kicking up a storm and he is apparently uneasy about leaving me to deal with it. I laughed to myself when he and Aiden were discussing it yesterday. I have not actually met her yet, but she cannot be that big. I may still be weakened, but I can fight better than most trained wolves, and she is apparently untrained. Add in Henry’s constant presence and the four other Task Force warriors outside, and I feel safe enough.Lincoln, although I like having my friend around, is not going to change my safety dramatically.Aiden is back at the castle getting everything ready for me to be discharged. The Council meeting to reinstate my position is set for tomorrow morning, and Dad an
Tobias's POVThe room falls silent as I stare at my father, numb and unable to process everything that means.“Now you’re back and recovering, it will of course default back to you, as stated in pack law,” Dad says carefully. “But we’ll need to complete the relevant paperwork and have the Council formally clear you.”Nicholas’s mouth tightens from where he stands near the wall. “And until that happens, we need to be careful.”I look at him. “Careful?”“Kirsten knows enough to be dangerous,” Nicholas says. “She knows Felix can challenge if he wants to keep the title, and she knows your reinstatement isn’t official yet, and she’s also clever enough to put two and two together and assume more vulnerable than usual right now.”Wait, who the fuck is Kirsten? The room seems to cool around me.Dad’s expression hardens. “Which is why your security will remain tight until the Council signs off and your position is restored.”I blink at him, unable to say anything.“Also,” Jasper says from agai
Tobias's POVAs I eat, I feel some strength returning to my body, and a little of the exhausted fog begins to pull back from my brain. I feel more like myself.My old self.Almost as soon as I place my cutlery down on the plate, there is another knock on the door, and my mother’s head appears around it.Her face breaks into a relieved smile as she takes me in. “Can we come in?” she asks, her voice sounding nervous, as if she is half expecting me to say no.I smile and nod, holding out my arm. After the shower, my skin no longer feels painfully sensitive, and I could really do with a hug from my mum right now.She rushes towards me and throws herself carefully over my chest. I fold my arms around her and feel the moment she starts to sob, her body shaking against mine. I bury my nose in her shoulder like I did when I was a pup. She smells like lavender and mint, with my father’s rich leather and whisky scent layered beneath it.I breathe her in. She soothes me.Fuck, when was the last
Tobias's POVLincoln’s phone pings again, and he glances down at the screen. His brow furrows almost immediately.“What is it?” I ask as his frown deepens while he reads.He huffs under his breath and shakes his head before turning the phone face down on the bed. “Nothing. Just pack stuff.”But he looks irritated.“What?” I press.He sighs, rubbing a hand across his forehead. “Just some warriors complaining about the new patrol and training schedules, and my brother and his old unit kicking off again.”“That doesn’t sound like nothing.”Wait.Pack stuff?I look at him properly then, really look, and suddenly it clicks into place. The difference in him that I noticed earlier but had been too exhausted to understand.I scent him again, more carefully this time.Alpha.The dominance rolling off him is unmistakable now, woven through his scent and aura in a way it never was before.Emotion unfurls heavily in my chest.I fucking missed it.After everything, after all the plans we made grow
Tobias's POVMy forehead is cool where it has been resting against the glass for over an hour, the thrum of the engine and the vibrations of the road nudging my skull every now and then.I am tired. Properly tired. My eyes feel heavy, gritty, but every time I close them my mind drags up images of Z
Xander's POVZach looks about a million times better this afternoon than he did this morning. He’s sitting up, his leg in a cast but propped comfortably on pillows, smiling as we all walk in.Zahra heads straight to him, and I catch the tears in her eyes before she buries her face against his shoul
Zahra's POVWhen my alarm wakes me, the light outside is still muted, the sun only just beginning to rise. It’s 4:30am and everything is quiet, the kind of silence that only exists before dawn.
Zahra's POVCaptain Thompson presses his lips together at my interruption but doesn’t comment further.“Nathaniel Henry, Lieutenant,” Henry says beside me, his tone even as Thompson and the rest of the table continue to stare at me.“Tess Ward, Private,” says the girl at the end of the table, her v







