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 Three weeks since Vanessa's execution, and I'd barely seen Jeremy outside of our therapy sessions. He was hunting. That's what my father called it when I asked where Jeremy had been disappearing to for days at a time. Tracking down every lead on Vanessa's rogue contac
My Cheating Mate Jeremy pov The council chamber was packed—all fifteen council members seated around the ancient oak table, with my father presiding at the head. Pack law required council presence for capital punishment votes, and everyone knew what today's meeting would decide. Vanessa's exec
"No." I cut him off. "Jeremy, you're responsible for your choices. For the affair, for the lying, for the betrayal. But you're not responsible for Vanessa hiring assassins and leading a pack assault. Those were her choices. Her crimes." "Dr. Chen said something similar. That I can't take responsib
I stared at her, stunned. She'd never yelled at me like this before. Never lost control in quite this way. "You want to take responsibility for something?" Emma continued, her voice shaking. "Take responsibility for actually healing. For doing the work in therapy. For being present instead of drow







