LOGINThat vampire wasn't going to die hunting Marcus Dane and Elena Frost. He was going to come home. Eventually. When the hunt was done. I just had to trust that. Had to believe it despite seven days of silence. Had to— I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, sunlight was stream
I thought back. Past the recent years, past childhood, to the earliest memory I could find. "I was three," I said finally. "Maybe almost four. I was in the pack house garden—Mama's garden with all the night-blooming flowers. And I was trying to draw them but my crayons weren't the right colors and
My Cheating Mate Grace pov Seven days. Seven days since Uncle Cas had left to hunt Marcus Dane and Elena Frost. Seven days of silence. No calls. No texts. No updates through the vampire network that usually kept us informed. Just—nothing. I stared at my phone for the hundredth time that ho
Courtney's eyes went wide. "Not—not prison? Not exile?" "The Council recognizes your age, your cooperation, your genuine remorse, and the manipulative environment you were raised in," Madeline continued. "We also recognize the testimony of your victim, Grace Trent, advocating for rehabilitative co
The Council members conferred quietly. Then Madeline spoke again. "Grace Trent. Please approach to provide testimony." I stood on shaking legs. Connor squeezed my hand once before releasing it. I walked to the center position—standing a few feet from where Courtney sat. "Miss Trent," Madeline
"Did you know about the planned assault?" Christopher asked. "No. Not until after." She shook her head. "The Preservation Front contacted me three days before the attack. My father—" Her voice broke. "Thomas Vex was my father. I didn't know he was high-level Preservation Front leadership until Lor
My Cheating Mate Emma pov Dr. Sarah Chen's office was nothing like I'd expected. Instead of sterile and clinical, it was warm—soft lighting, comfortable chairs, plants in every corner, and a diffuser releasing something that smelled like lavender and cedar. It should have been calming. Instead
My Cheating Mate Emma pov The coffee shop was warm and familiar, a place I'd come to dozens of times before everything fell apart. Jeremy sat across from me at a corner table, his hands wrapped around a glass of water instead of the coffee he used to drink black with two sugars. He looked terr
"You can't keep punishing yourself," Emma said softly. "That doesn't help me heal. It doesn't undo what happened. It just creates more trauma." "I'm starting to see that." I looked down at our joined hands. "Emma, I want to fix us. Want to fix me. But I don't know how. Don't know where to start."
*Dr. Chen asked me today if I'm stuck in self-punishment. If I'm using guilt as a way to avoid moving forward. I didn't have an answer. But sitting here now, alone in this house that should have been ours, I think maybe she's right.* *I'm stuck. Stuck in the guilt. Stuck in the self-loathing. Stuc







