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
Millie-Rose POVThe air felt different the moment I stepped off the plane.Sharper. Colder. Heavy with memories I had once sworn never to face again.Leo clung to my hand as we walked through the arrivals terminal, his sketchbook tucked under his arm, his small fingers warm and steady. I had expect
Millie-Rose POVThe fire alarm I triggered at the restaurant was still echoing faintly behind me as I ran, my breath burning in my chest. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.The fear that Alpha Braham might be right behind me was enough to keep my legs moving. I turned corner after corner until the cit
Alpha Braham The red dust coating my black SUV made me feel pissed. Everything about this place, the arid, insufferable heat, the stench of waste, the sheer incompetence of local police at every encounter was beneath my level but there was really nothing I could do about it.It had taken me nearly
Millie-Rose POVThe nauseous smell of bleach and cigarettes was a poor substitute for the stuffy desert air, but at least, the four walls of his motel room reminded me that I was back amongst the human population. Every creak of the door, every honk, every shadow that flickered underneath the wood







