Vane POVMaybe I am pathetic for not getting any sense of satisfaction from all this new information. I should feel justified, maybe even triumphant, but all I feel is the dull churn of frustration low in my chest. Rael should have told us. With his background as a rogue, even if he no longer claims it, he should have been the one to warn us about what could happen. Instead, he kept quiet, and now he stands there trying to explain it away with a shrug, claiming she didn't act like this before. That excuse falls flat. It doesn't sit right. It feels like he is hiding something, and I do not trust half-answers when we are surrounded by people who could snap at any second.He has been holding back from the start, and this is just another reminder that I do not really know who he is or what else he might be keeping from us. The more I think about it, the more it eats at me. If Kieran had lived, maybe we would have had answers, but now he is dead. Whatever Dagen wanted to ask him has been l
Maddox's POVShe’s only this wild, this reckless, because she’s refusing to give in to her heat. It makes people act out in ways they usually wouldn’t, makes them volatile, desperate. It drives them to do insane things, like pinning a man to a wall and shattering half the bones in his body.He’s recovering. Slowly. His wolf isn’t strong enough to bounce back as quickly as the rest of us might.But it’s saved him, unfortunately.I watch her pace the room, restless energy rolling off her like a storm with nowhere to land. Dagen’s across the room talking to a cluster of people, explaining that things are changing, that Kieran is no longer Alpha. The words are firm, resolute, and no one dares question him.Not because they agree. Not because they understand. But because they know better. If someone so much as raises their voice in protest, Dagen will silence them before they take another breath. Still, I can feel the tension hanging in the air, heavy and electric. People are unsettled. Ma
Dagen POVShe's said a lot, and the person I thought I knew growing up isn't her. The way she talks, how she expresses herself, it's powerful. We always hated each other, so I never took the time to get to know her or care for her.She was the enemy, someone we were raised to hate. Granted, I was born years before her, so I never saw much of her. Lyra had, though.Maybe if I hadn't been brought up to hate her and her pack, I would have met her sooner and mated with her first. Maybe there would only be me as her mate. I contemplate that, being her only mate, if I had seen her earlier. Then again, seeing her early doesn't mean I would have accepted her.I likely would have rejected her because of who her family was.The gates of my pack come up, and I straighten more. I watch them open, and it feels strange to be back here. I left years ago and let others take care of it, including Lyra and Kieran.As the car stops, I see Kieran step out smiling. I look at Veyra. "Okay, so the plan is w
Veyra POVI don't know why they want to know about me, but I should tell them, I should try considering they are trying themselves. I look at Vane, and then at the others, my chest tightening. They're all staring at me now, waiting for something. For words, for some truth about me and for a moment, I don't know what I should say. I’ve spent so long guarding myself, keeping everything buried beneath layers of steel and silence, that the idea of opening up feels… foreign. Dangerous, even.But Vane asked. Not for the version of me in a file. Not the statistics. Not the accomplishments measured by bruises and broken bones and tests passed too young. He asked for me.So I draw in a breath, shift in my seat, and begin.“I started training when I was six. My father didn’t believe omegas had a place in leadership, and neither did anyone else. I was meant to be decoration, a pawn he could trade off to secure more power. But I knew—I just knew I wasn’t going to let that happen.”My voice is st