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
"She needs to hear it from Alpha command. From me and Marcus together." He checked his watch. "I'm waking Marcus now. We'll meet here in thirty minutes. That gives you time to prepare Emma for what's coming." After he left, I returned to the living room. Emma was still asleep, her face peaceful in
"Okay," I agreed. We worked together in silence, tucking in sheets, arranging pillows. The domesticity of it was both comforting and painful. A reminder of what we'd had, what we'd lost, what we might be slowly rebuilding. "There," Jeremy said when we finished. "Looks good. Feels weird sleeping
Marcus came out of nowhere. A blur of brown fur slamming into the leader from the side. Father and daughter. Protecting each other. They rolled, savage and desperate. Marcus was good—Beta for a reason—but the leader was better. More experienced. More brutal. I reached them and dove in, three wol
Gunshots rang out. Silver bullets that made wolves scream when they hit. Some of the mercenaries were in human form with rifles, providing covering fire for their shifted pack members. "Protect the pack house!" My father's command echoed through the mind-link. "Don't let them reach the safe rooms!







