Mag-log inEMMA I woke up alone, but the empty side of the bed didn't send me into a spiral the way it once would have. On the table beside me sat a clean folded shirt and a bottle of water, left there on purpose. I smiled at the small care in it, drank half the water, and took my time in the shower until the hot water loosened the last of the night from my muscles. When I stepped out I pulled his shirt on and nothing else. It hung to mid-thigh and still carried the faint scent of him, and for a moment I just stood there with my fingers curled in the fabric before I went looking for the others.Voices carried from the living room. I slowed in the hallway and listened without announcing myself.“The safe house is too open,” Rhys was saying, his voice low and tight. “We are still in the city. They already know the general area after the car and the warehouse. We need to move soon. Maybe leave the city entirely for a while until the heat dies down.”Cade made a low sound of agreement. Theo added s
EMMA “Fuck, Emma. I need you.”He dropped between my legs and rolled his hips hard. The thick length of him dragged right against my pussy through our clothes. He groaned into my neck like it hurt.I turned my face to his ear and moaned.That was it.He ground into me harder, rougher, the friction making my toes curl.“I need to be inside you right now,” he rasped. “I can’t hold back anymore. Please, baby. Let me have you.”“Rhys”He pushed off me and stood. Shirt gone. Joggers shoved down. The outline of his cock in his boxers was obscene. My thighs pressed together on instinct. I was already soaked.He climbed back over me. Mouth at my ear. Fingers hooked in my shirt.“If I take this off, I’m not being gentle.” His voice was low and filthy. “I’m putting you on your knees and feeding you every inch of my cock until you’re choking on it. Then I’m bending you over and fucking you so deep you’ll feel me when you walk tomorrow. I won’t stop when you come. I won’t stop when you cry. I wo
RHYS Remember when I said nothing could ruin this?I was wrong.The next morning started soft. We ate leftovers from the dinner I’d cooked for her the night before. Cade complained about the seasoning while Theo stole the last piece of bread off my plate without asking. Emma sat across from me with her hair still messy from sleep and every time our eyes met she looked down, fighting a smile she couldn’t quite kill. I felt the same pull in my chest. We were acting like teenagers who’d gotten away with something private. For a stretch of minutes the day felt almost normal. Almost safe.I should have known better.I was in my room going through route numbers and the thin list of partners who hadn’t walked away when my phone lit up. One of my men. I knew immediately that it was the kind of call that never came with good news.“Talk.”“You need to see the pack channels,” he said. His voice was tight. “Marcelo went public. He’s fighting dirty now. They’re running her face with a number und
RHYS Cade was already in my room when I finished getting dressed.He sat in the chair by the window with his arms folded and a smug look on his face. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.“Don’t start,” I said.He laughed, raising both hands. “I haven’t even done anything.”“Before I could answer, the door opened again. Theo walked in looking half-asleep, his hair a mess and his voice rough.“This better be good. I was comfortable. Why am I awake?”“Sit down. Both of you.”They did. Cade still looked amused while Theo rubbed his face and waited.I stood there for a moment, trying to find the right words. “I want to move forward with Emma. Properly. No more half measures.”Theo blinked, slowly waking up. “That’s… good. Why are you telling us like you’re about to drop bad news?”“Because I owe you both an apology first.”That got their attention.I looked at them properly. “When she left, when everything went to hell, I let power get into my head. I was so caught up in everything
TRISTANI’d been looking for Rourke for eleven days.He was one of Marcelo’s men, the men who handled the dirty work and stayed just far enough from the spotlight to avoid trouble. I’d known him since I was a kid. He used to show up around our house, always smiling, always finding excuses to get close to my sister.I remembered how uncomfortable she looked around him. How my parents tried to keep him away. And how helpless I’d felt, too young to do anything except hate him.I wasn’t that helpless boy anymore.My men found Rourke outside a warehouse he used for secret deliveries. By the time I arrived, he’d been dragged into a back room and tied to a chair. His lip was split, and one eye was already swelling.I placed my phone on a crate in front of him and started recording.“You know who I am.”He spat blood onto the floor. “Who doesn’t,Tristan. The broken one. Heard you lost your wolf. Heard your friends threw you out. That true?”I stared at him. Choosing to ignore his words, I ask
EMMA. My breath caught as Rhys leaned in.Part of me wanted to stop it. To put a hand between us and remember every reason this was complicated. The rest of me watched his mouth come closer and thought to hell with it this man was about to kiss me and I was going to let him.His hands slid to my waist. He pulled me in and kissed me like he had been starving for it. His mouth opened over mine and I made a small sound that he swallowed. He dragged me straight into his lap in one movement. My knees landed on either side of his thighs and the hard length of him pressed up against me through our clothes, thick and obvious. My hips rolled before I could stop them.“Rhys”He kissed me deeper. One hand fisted in the back of my shirt, the other gripping my hip hard enough to bruise as he guided the way I moved on him. Heat pooled low and sharp. I could feel how hard he was, the exact shape of him, and every shift of my body dragged another rough sound out of his throat. His mouth left mine an







