LOGINMILLIE'S POVLeo woke us up at exactly 6:47 AM on February 2nd, his birthday, by jumping on our bed and shouting at the top of his lungs."I'M FOUR! I'M FOUR YEARS OLD TODAY!"I groaned, pulling a pillow over my head. Braham laughed, catching Leo mid-bounce and pulling him into a hug."Happy birthday, buddy.""You promised dragons!" Leo wiggled free, his energy already at maximum despite the early hour. "And a bounce house! And a cake that looks like a dragon! You promised!""We did promise," I said, sitting up and pulling him into my lap. "And we're keeping that promise. Everything you asked for.""And you're married now! You got married like I asked!" He beamed. "This is the best birthday ever and it just started!"Braham and I exchanged glances over his head. We hadn't told him about the pack meeting, about the traditional ceremony we'd need to complete. To Leo, his birthday wish had come true—his parents were married, and that was all that mattered."Come on," I said, tickling him
BRAHAM'S POVThe hospital parking lot was a war zone.News vans lined the street. Reporters with cameras clustered near the entrance. The moment our car pulled up, they swarmed like locusts."Ready?" I asked Millie.She stared at the crowd through the windshield, her jaw set. "No disguise this time. I'm done hiding.""Then let's go."The second we stepped out of the car, the assault began."Millie-Rose! Did you come to apologize?""How does it feel knowing your sister almost died?""Are you only here because of the backlash from your wedding?""Ms. Harvey, do you have any shame?"The cameras were blinding. Microphones thrust toward Millie's face. Bodies pressed in from all sides. I moved closer, using my size and presence to create a barrier."Back off," I said, my voice carrying the weight of Alpha authority.Some of them actually flinched. The crowd parted slightly—not from respect, but from instinctive fear. Wolves recognized power even when they didn't understand it.We pushed thr
MILLIE'S POVI'd never been inside the Council chamber before.The building itself was imposing—stone and timber construction that looked ancient, set deep in pack territory where humans rarely ventured. As Braham led me through heavy wooden doors and down a corridor lined with portraits of past Alpha Kings, I felt completely out of my depth."How many people will be there?" I asked quietly."Forty-three Council members. Maybe another fifty or sixty pack representatives in the gallery." He squeezed my hand. "Don't let the numbers intimidate you. Just speak honestly."The chamber was massive—circular, with tiered seating rising up around a central floor. Every seat was filled. Wolves I'd never seen before stared down at me as we entered. Some curious. Some hostile. Some carefully neutral.I was the only human-looking person in the room.Braham guided me to the center of the floor. Two chairs had been placed there, facing the Council. We sat, and I felt every eye boring into me.An old
MILLIE'S POVThe first headline appeared Wednesday morning, less than twenty-four hours after our wedding."HEARTLESS HEIRESS: Millie-Rose Harvey Marries While Half-Sister Fights for Life in Hospital"I stared at my laptop screen, coffee growing cold in my hand. Below the headline was a photo—grainy but unmistakable—of me and Braham in our backyard, mid-kiss, Leo jumping between us. Someone had taken it from a distance, probably zoomed in from beyond our fence."How did they get this?" I asked, my voice hollow.Braham looked over my shoulder, his expression darkening. "We had security. No one should have been able to…""It's everywhere." I scrolled through page after page. Different outlets, same story, variations on the same theme of cruelty."While Martha Harvey Lies in Coma, Sister Celebrates""Werewolf Heiress Shows No Mercy: Wedding During Family Crisis""Millie-Rose Harvey's Shocking Display of Indifference"The articles were vicious. They painted me as a monster—a woman so cold
MILLIE’S POV We got married on a Tuesday.Not because Tuesdays are particularly romantic, but because Leo's birthday was on Saturday and we'd promised him we'd be married before he turned four. That gave us exactly four days to plan his birthday.Most people would panic. We laughed."Do you even care about having a big ceremony?" Braham had asked the night before, both of us exhausted on the couch after putting Leo to bed."I care about being your wife," I'd said simply. "Everything else is just decoration."So we kept it simple. Intimate. Ours.The backyard had been transformed overnight by Callie and Renan, who'd taken Leo on an "adventure" that morning to give us time to get ready. White fabric draped between the trees, creating a canopy that caught the late January sunlight. Simple wooden chairs arranged in two small rows. White roses—my mother's favorite—in mason jars along a makeshift aisle.It was perfect."You're fidgeting," Callie said, adjusting the flowers in my hair for
MILLIE’S POV The correctional facility looked even grimmer than the last time I'd visited. Gray walls, razor wire, the stale smell of institutional hopelessness. But this time, I wasn't here seeking answers about my heritage.I was here to deliver consequences.Braham walked beside me through security, his presence a solid wall of support. In my bag was a leather folder containing photocopies of documents we'd found hidden in my mother's safe—documents that changed everything."You sure about this?" Braham asked quietly as we were led to the visiting area."I need him to know," I said. "I need him to understand that every choice has a price."My father sat at a metal table in the back, wearing his prison jumpsuit. He looked older than the last time I saw him, more worn. His eyes lit up when he saw me approaching."Millie-Rose! I didn't expect…I thought after last time, you wouldn't…" He stood, smiling. "Thank you for coming back. I know things were tense, but I've had time to think a
BRAHAM'S POVI knew Millie was planning something.She'd been too quiet since we left Will Reid's office. Too compliant. The woman who'd stood up to Sabrina yesterday, who'd fought her way back from four years of exile, who'd faced down Martha…that woman didn't just sit quietly and wait for investi
MILLIE'S POVWill Reid's office was nothing like I expected.I'd imagined something sleek and modern, maybe intimidating. Instead, we were sitting in a converted brownstone in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by filing cabinets, whiteboards covered in notes, and stacks of case files that looked lik
MILLIE'S POVThe second drawer contained financial records. Bank statements. Investment portfolios. Receipts.I pulled out folders at random, my hands still shaking from the letters we'd found. Everything was meticulously organized…my mother was thorough.And then I found it.A folder marked "House
MILLIE'S POVThe Oslo mansion looked different in the morning light.I'd lived here for most of my childhood, but standing in front of it now felt like facing a stranger. It didn’t even feel like I’d been here since my return home. The ivy climbing the stone walls seemed overgrown, almost menacing







