LOGINIris’s POVFor several seconds, I could only stare at my parents. My mother stood at the door with tears covering her eyes, while my father held himself with his usual control. They were the last people I had expected to see after spending the day wondering whether they had forgotten me. “Iris,” Mother said softly. “Happy birthday, my precious girl.”I stepped forward and threw my arms around her. She held me so tightly that the distance of the past months seemed to disappear. The hurt did not vanish, but for that moment, I was simply their daughter again.Father placed one hand on my shoulder. When I turned toward him, his stern expression failed him. His eyes were wet, though he tried to hide it by looking toward the room behind me.“Are you going to leave your father outside?” Father asked. “Or is hugging only for your mother now?”I released Mother and wrapped my arms around him. Father held me against his chest, and his hand rested carefully on the back of my head. He had comfor
Percy’s POVPretending to be ill had seemed clever for the first few seconds. Then Rue began striking my back and calling for help so loudly that half the street turned to watch us. Most people looked away once they saw our worn clothes. A few walked around the bench without slowing down.“Do not hit me so hard,” I whispered to Rue. “I am pretending to be sick, not choking on a bone.” “Then make it convincing,” Rue whispered back. She raised her voice again. “Please, someone help my husband!”Kristian stopped beside his car. Harrison said something to him, probably reminding him of a meeting, but Kristian handed over his briefcase and crossed the street. His guards followed until he lifted one hand. They stopped immediately.He crouched in front of me without caring that the pavement might dirty his expensive trousers. His eyes moved over my face, my chest, and the hand I had pressed against it. “Sir, can you hear me?” Kristian asked.I allowed my eyelids to open slowly. “I can hear y
Rue’s POVPercy’s report revealed that Kristian would spend the day at Pillar Holdings. If we wanted to learn how he treated ordinary people, we had to look ordinary ourselves.We sent our guards to a hotel, changed inside a rented room, and left our clothes locked away. I wore a faded brown dress, flat shoes, and a coat that hid my jewelry. Percy wore trousers, a shirt, and a cap that made him look like an unhappy farmer.“Stop standing like a chief,” I warned him. “Poor men do not look as though they own every road beneath their feet.” Percy bent his shoulders badly. “Is this poor enough?” he asked.“Now you look as though someone stole your goats,” I replied. “Try to appear less offended.” To protect our disguise, we left the official vehicle behind and took a crowded bus toward the business district.Percy had never fought for a seat in his life. An elderly woman pushed past him, claimed the last open place, and thanked him for allowing her through.Percy stared at me while I held
Rue’s POVI had packed the same basket three times, and each time I found something else Iris might need. The first version held food from home. The second included herbs she had loved as a child. By the third, I had added two warm shawls, a carved hairpin, and enough medicine to supply a small clinic.Percy watched while tribal reports waited for his attention. His patience lasted until I tried to fit another jar into the basket. “Rue, our daughter works for the largest company on the Southern Continent,” Percy said. “She can buy her own honey.”“This honey comes from home,” I told him. “That makes it different.” Percy placed his pen down. “You said the same thing about the tea, the dried meat, the blankets, and that ridiculous hairpin.”“The hairpin belonged to my mother,” I reminded him. “Nothing in this basket is ridiculous.” Percy grumbled under his breath, but he opened a cabinet and removed a small wooden case.Inside lay a silver bracelet made by our finest craftsman. Iris’s
Iris POVBenjamin stared at Kristian as though he had not heard him correctly. The entire hall had gone completely silent around us.“Leave,” Kristian said. His voice was quiet, but every wolf heard the command.The guards moved at once, closing in around Benjamin. He looked from Kristian to me, disbelief turning into anger.“You’re really going to let him throw me out?” Benjamin asked.“You were warned more than once,” I replied. “I came here because of you,” Benjamin said. “No,” I replied. “You came because you could not accept that I stopped waiting for you.”His face twisted. “Iris, you know me better than this,” he said. “I know you well enough,” I replied. Kristian stepped between us. Benjamin could not get any closer.“You are no longer welcome on Blackthorne territory,” Kristian said. “If you return without permission, you will be treated as an intruder.”Benjamin laughed bitterly. “You think you’ve won because she is standing beside you?” he asked.“This is not a contest,” Kr
Iris’s POVBenjamin’s claim silenced the hall again. His words did not sound like love. They sounded like ownership, spoken by a man who believed the years I had spent beside him gave him permanent control over my future.Kristian did not react to the insult. He kept his hand around mine and waited, allowing me to decide whether Benjamin deserved an answer.Benjamin looked at our joined hands and said, “Neither of you is sincere. Kristian is using you to humiliate me, and you are using him for protection, wealth, and revenge. Once this performance stops benefiting you both, you will discard each other.”I stepped away from Kristian to face Benjamin directly. “You understand relationships only as exchanges because that is how you have always treated them,” I replied. “You accepted my loyalty, medical work, and support while they benefited you, then pushed me aside when my Omega status no longer suited the image you wanted.”Benjamin’s expression tightened, but I did not allow him to in
Rue’s POVThe lecture hall was still buzzing with conversations when I slipped my books into my bag. Life at Golden League University was everything I had once dreamed of: the challenge, the high standard of education. It has only been a month and we were already preparing for an exam.As I steppe
Rue’s POVThe hall held its breath. Every gaze was pinned on the elder clutching Marcus’s decision, the parchment trembling in his hands.“After due consideration…” his voice rang out, weighted and deliberate, “…Alpha Marcus has chosen to award the partnership to Percy’s company.”For a moment, a h
Rue’s POVBy the time I found Bella and Iris waiting near the exit, the blaring alarms had died off. Bella was nervously tapping her feet, hands akimbo, while Iris had her eyes trained on the main exit.“Finally!” Bella exclaimed, walking forward towards me. “What on earth took you so long? Do you
Rue’s POVAs time passed by, the gloom of the virus was starting to fade away. People were getting cured and the gloomy moments were getting replaced with days of working on the tech invention for Percy’s project.We had managed to bring Vicky's brother into the Blood Claw Pack, and he was catching







