LOGINThe tip of my heel kicked at empty air. The oxygen supply to my throat was abruptly cut off, replaced by a searing heat as Victor's icy fingers clamped around my neck."Ugh—"Under the dim light, his golden eyes blazed with fury."You think you can just walk free after what you did?" he growled, his hot breath fanning my face. "I will drag you out of this place right now. You will return to the pack, kneel at my feet, and accept your punishment.""You… can’t, ugh—"“This time there will be no mercy for a traitor like you who dares bring a hunter into our home.”Ella rushed up behind him. "Victor, please, stop! Don’t do this here!" she whispered frantically, darting her eyes around in fear. "What if the hunter finds out and comes here?"Victor completely ignored his wife’s whimpers. His eyes remained locked on mine. "So what if he comes? I’ll kill him too."I could feel my face heating up and my chest tightening from the lack of air. But strangely, why did this whole situation just mak
The door's hinges creaked softly, followed by the satisfying click of the brass lock I'd just turned.I turned slowly. In this marble-clad restroom, it was just the two of us. The faint sound of jazz music from the ballroom was muffled, leaving only the gentle hum of the air conditioner."How dare you show your face here, Alice??" Ella hissed, her voice trembling. "In front of the other werewolves... and you're proudly holding the arm of a hunter?"In front of the long, gold-framed mirror that stretched above the row of sinks, our reflections looked like two worlds colliding. She in her ivory gown that seemed to scream false purity, and me in her clinging black silk like a shadow of sin.Her eyes, usually feigning the gentleness of a deer, now held a sharp edge.I tilted my head, suppressing a smile I'd been suppressing since I stepped onto the red carpet."Why should I be ashamed? I did nothing wrong. And didn't you see it yourself earlier? Even your husband couldn't do much but bow
Victor froze in place, his grip on Ella's arm tightening so tightly that it made the ivory-clad woman wince. From across the room, under the glow of the giant crystal chandelier, Victor's golden eyes glinted dangerously.A wave of dense Alpha aura pressure rolled toward me, trying to strangle my neck and force my wolf into submission. But instead of trembling until my knees buckled like before, I felt incredibly safe. The warmth radiating from Ronan's arms around my waist felt as solid as a fortress of steel.Ronan's dark, hunter aura probably acted as an invisible shield, swallowing up my ex-fiancé's cheap pressure.My wolf howled with delight.Oh my, tonight feels like my birthday has been celebrated for a whole month! I had come here with plans to finish off Tobias and Benedick, but the Moon Goddess was apparently being generous. Who would have thought I'd get dessert before dinner?Meeting Victor and Ella unexpectedly like this sent a sweet ecstasy through my veins.If I hadn't se
The day I'd been waiting for arrived sooner than expected, and damn, my excitement was flaring like fireworks on New Year's Eve.Beneath this backless black silk dress that hugged my body like a second skin, my brain was operating at full throttle. I was already concocting at least three hundred scenarios to permanently cripple those two bastards without leaving a single trace. Poisoning their wine glasses, cornering and strangling them in the restroom, or squeezing the life out of them with the very silk ribbon of my dress, everything was on the table.At the very least, one of those two men wasn't going to see tomorrow’s sunrise.But on the outside, my breathing remained perfectly composed. I stared at the flashing paparazzi lights bleeding from down the street, ready to grace the red carpet with my first steps.Just before we stepped out of the car's shadow, Ronan halted. He looked me up and down, his jaw tightly clenched. "I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to bring you to this pl
"You think just because I don't have that flash drive with me right now, you're safe? You think the evidence is gone? You're dead wrong! So, crawl apologize to Sister Alice!"Red-rimmed tears welled up in Edgar's eyes, a volatile mix of profound sadness and pure fury."You shameless brat!" Edmund roared, the thick veins in his neck bulging as he lunged forward to drag his son away.Edgar met his father's stare, then slowly glanced around the sprawling dining table. He took in his mother's quiet sobbing, his father's utter disgust, and Victor's cold, lethal glare. Not a single face in that room offered him a shred of belief.The utter rejection made Edgar grin bitterly, the broken smile of a boy who'd lost everything."You all... are truly sick," Edgar whispered, shaking his head slowly. "To Sister Alice... to the woman who sacrificed so much for this pack... ugh!"Edgar's words were brutally cut off.In a blur of pure, deadly Alpha speed, Victor flashed across the room. The sickening
Edmund stared intently at the shattered remains of the wood beneath his feet. His thoughts whirled like a storm that wouldn't let up.His two cubs had proven to possess an extraordinary genetic makeup. Both were capable of shifting into their wolf forms long before reaching their coming of age. Such fighting prowess was an absolute asset, desperately needed by the pack to expand their territory amidst the looming threat of hunters.But why had these two supposedly proud geniuses defected and become thorns in his side?He truly hadn't expected Edgar to follow in Alice's dark footsteps.Now, it made perfect sense why the boy had been so on edge lately. Edgar had constantly looked away, avoided eye contact with Ella, and locked himself in his room. Rumors had spread quickly within the pack; at school, the boy aggressively interrogated his fellow pack members, questioning whether they truly believed Alice was the traitor.These provocative questions had led to a brutal fight behind the sc
I knew it.This damn hunter would open the door.He didn’t hesitate when it came to werewolves. It was always clean, brutal, and final. But with me... someone he believed to be human, he always paused.Even now, as I lay here faking sleep against his door, his presence was a suffocating weight in
Hmm, my reflexes were still good, a faint shadow of my former self before the silver chain and the needles. I couldn't help but marvel at their precision, how I'd managed to engineer such a classic and clichéd scenario in the blink of an eye.And now, Ronan’s massive, heavy body was pinning me to t
As soon as the oak doorknob turned, my world narrowed to just one point: escape.Shit.I couldn't let Gary see me. Not now. Not while I still looked like vulnerable prey.I slid out from behind the desk and bolted. My body moved on instinct, skills I hadn’t used in almost a year snapping back into
The velvet-covered leather chair at the secretary's desk was incredibly soft, but I felt like I was sitting on a bed of nails. The double oak doors in front of me were firmly closed, hiding the man who had ruined my life for a year.I leaned forward, straining my recovering hearing to penetrate the







