LOGIN"Me neither. Caden, we're both—we're both learning. Both trying. That's—that's okay. As long as we're honest. As long as we—we talk instead of assuming. As long as we give each other chances to fix mistakes." "Honest communication. No assumptions. Multiple chances." He was still holding my hand. S
"You felt it?" My voice was small. Hopeful. Terrified. "Caden, you actually felt the mate bond? You—you recognized it?" "Yes. Not immediately. Not when we were talking at the gathering. But after—after I was alone and thinking about why you looked so upset—it hit. The certainty. The pull. The—the
The Next Generation Hope pov I lay on my bed facing the wall, knees pulled to my chest, trying not to cry anymore. The mate bond was—excruciating. Every instinct screaming that Caden was mine. That he should be here. That watching him with Emily was wrong on fundamental level. But he'd looke
I went upstairs. Found the second door on the right. Knocked quietly. "Come in." Hope's voice. Muffled. Like she'd been crying. Fuck. I'd made her cry. Had devastated my mate before even realizing she was my mate. I opened the door. Hope was sitting on her bed, eyes red, looking—looking vulner
"I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Didn't want to—to make things awkward since we're friends and train together and—" I stopped. "I was being a coward. Should have been honest months ago instead of letting her build expectations." "Yes. You should have." No judgment in Dad's voice. Just observat
The Next Generation Caden pov I watched Hope Reed-Castellan leave with her family, and something in my chest twisted. She'd looked—gutted. Devastated. Like something had broken when we were talking. And I—I didn't understand why. We'd just been having normal conversation. Me and Emily planning
My Cheating Mate Jeremy pov I sat in my car down the street from Beta Marcus's house, watching the door Emma had just closed. The finality of it felt like a physical blow—like watching the last chance I'd ever have with her disappear behind wood and paint. My wolf howled in my head, a sound of
"I did it for us!" Vanessa's composure finally cracked completely. "She was standing in our way! She was keeping you from claiming what's rightfully yours—what's rightfully ours! I love you, Jeremy. I've loved you for years. And I'm not going to let some nobody Beta's daughter take you from me!" "
My Cheating Mate Jeremy pov I'd made it halfway across the parking lot when the scent hit me—unwashed bodies, blood, and the distinctive wild musk of rogues who'd been without pack structure for too long. My wolf surged forward, immediately on high alert. Rogues. Multiple rogues. And they were
"That you were going to use her as a broodmare and then reject her," Vanessa finished, her voice hard. "Yes, I remember. We talked about it extensively. While we were fucking in this very office." The bluntness of it made me flinch. Hearing our plan stated so baldly, without any of the justificati







