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Another 3 Months LaterI call Noah on while Skye is feeding Mila and Benji is explaining something at length to the dog that Nicolai inexplicably agreed to and which has been named—by Benji, with great authority—No.The dog's name is No. We have all made our peace with this.Noah answers on the first ring. "How's Ironwood?" I say."Good." A pause. "Mostly good."I note the “mostly” part but let it go. He’ll explain when he’s ready."And you?" he asks."Good." I watch Benji finish his explanation to the dog, who is listening with more patience than the explanation deserves. "Really good, Noah.""The baby?""Mila." I say it and feel what I feel every time I say it—the warmth of a name that belongs to someone who has already made it entirely her own in three months of life. "She's remarkable. She looks like Skye and she has Nicolai's attention span and she's going to be catastrophically self-possessed.""High bar.""She'll clear it."He's quiet for a moment. "You sound different," he say
Seven Months Later My daughter is born on a Tuesday. She arrives in the early hours—that time before dawn when the sky is still dark blue before dawn. Her name is Mila. And, next to her mother and brother, she is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. She announces herself with considerable volume, which tells me everything I need to know about what the next several years will be like, and I look at her—red-faced and furious and entirely herself—and understand something I've understood only twice before:There are people you would do anything for. She is another one.Skye holds her skin to skin and nurses her before handing her off and drifting to sleep. She's earned it. She's earned everything, this woman—every good thing that comes to her for the rest of her life she has earned, and I intend to spend considerable effort making sure it comes to her.I sit beside her, holding Mila, who has been fed and is now conducting an assessment of her new environment with unfocused eyes that
Four Months LaterI'm six months pregnant and I can’t believe how different the experience has been this time around. I love my son and I wouldn’t change anything about him, including the circumstances around his conception. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying this pregnancy so much more. With Benji, I spent the entire pregnancy managing everyone's feelings about it—the pack's surprise, Jaxon's absence, the shame and embarrassment of being visibly pregnant while simultaneously navigating a divorce. I was thrilled to be pregnant and also miserable.This time I'm just pregnant. And I've stopped apologizing for taking up space. Not that either of my mates would let me. I tried apologizing to Jaxon for bumping into him with my belly yesterday and he threatened to spank me for it, which Nicolai found thoroughly amusing. As it turns out, having two mates to spoil and pamper you while you’re busy growing a human is a game-changer. It makes being so big, constantly too warm and hav
JaxonBy the time evening rolls around, I’ve spent a long but productive day in the office and I’m more than ready to reconnect with my mate. I make it back to our room and find Skye already waiting on the terrace.She's where she often is at dusk—the particular spot near the railing that looks out over the estate grounds, the garden visible below, the house behind her. It’s become her favorite spot to unwind after a long day and the place we all gravitate to in the evening. Because we gravitate to her. I sit beside her, reaching over to pull her into my lap. She tucks her head under my chin and wraps her arms around my waist, snuggling into me. Neither of us speaks immediately, just content to breathe each other in. This has been one of the things I've learned this year—not every silence needs filling. Some silences are the space where two people can simply exist in proximity to each other and let that be what it is."I've been thinking," I say eventually."About?""The fact that I
JaxonThe Consort Alpha designation in practice is nothing like I expected. I expected it to feel like a diminishment. The former Alpha of Ironwood, reduced to a secondary role in another man's house. I'd prepared myself for the grief of that—the loss of something I'd prided myself on for years.But I haven’t felt that at all. I have a seat at the table. Not Nicolai's seat—mine. I’ve been given responsibilities that are mine because I'm suited to them, because my years at Ironwood produced knowledge and relationships and ways of thinking that are useful in the Woolf pack's governance in ways that Nicolai's strengths don't cover. Not because I’m being placated. The eastern territory intelligence network is mine to manage. I have relationships there that predate his by years, that operate differently, that give the Woolf family reach it didn't have before.Security consultation is something else I enjoy. I've already helped Mikhail restructure three vulnerabilities in the estate's sys
Skye A year has flown by and I have no idea where the time has gone!I suppose that’s not entirely true. They say time flies when you’re having fun. But I think time has a way of slipping through your fingers when you're so focused on putting out fires that you don’t take the time to soak in all the good moments. Going from watching Jaxon choose my sister over me to finally leaving him to navigating a new life, a new relationship, and the birth of our son and new motherhood has felt very much like firefighting. Not to mention falling in love with Jaxon all over again and the complications that presented.But today is Benji's first birthday and we finally have a chance to slow down and celebrate.The garden is set up for it—not elaborately, but warmly. Flowers from the garden. A cake that Rena made and that Benji will almost certainly wear more of than he eats. Just an intimate affair with our closest friends and family. My father and Diana drove from the southern pack. Marco spent t
SkyeI knew Jaxon went through my phone the minute I stepped out of the bathroom.I could tell by the way it's placed on the nightstand—screen down instead of up, shifted slightly from where I left it.He knows I've been in contact with Nicolai.And I know the confrontation is coming.It happens at
SkyeThe rumors spread faster than I anticipated.Despite Jaxon's best efforts to contain the narrative—carefully worded statements to the elders, strategic conversations with influential pack members—the truth has a way of seeping through cracks. By the end of my first week back, everyone knows th
SkyeI press forward, though I'm not even sure which direction forward is anymore.At some point, my wolf stops talking.The silence inside me is worse than the howling wind.I'm alone now. Truly alone. Just me and the storm and the cold that's seeping into places I didn't know could go numb.I can
Skye Cassandra turns, and if I didn't know better, I'd think the guilt on her face was genuine. "Skye. I'm so sorry, this must look—""What is this?" I repeat, louder now.Jaxon moves past me, his expression hard. "It's temporary. Cassandra and Liam need a place to stay until we can arrange somethi







