LOGINFew hours later...the heavy oak doors of the bedroom had barely clicked shut behind a freshly showered Riven when a rapid, excited knock sounded at the front of the mountain house.
"Open up! If you two are still tangled in those sheets, I swear to the Goddess I'm going to start throwing rocks at the window!" Elara couldn't help the massive grin that spread across her face. "Willow," she breathed, throwing her legs over the side of the bed. "ARiven laid her back onto the large mattress, ignoring every question she brought up about the whispers between him and Dorian. Before he could even pull his arms out from under her, Elara’s palms were flat against his chest, digging into his shirt."Riven, I’m serious," she said, her voice dropping into that quiet, stubborn register he knew too well. "Your hand was right on the western line of that map. Are you crossing into NightLight territory are you planningto invade them? Is it worth it?"Riven stayed braced over her, not moving, like a solid wall of heat and muscle, his shadow completely blocking out the bright moon light filtering through the bedroom curtains. "Elara. Let it go.""I’m not letting it go. It’s my family's blood in that dirt," she said, her voice cracking slightly with an frustration that had been brewing all afternoon. She tried to shift her hips, to wedge enough space between them to sit up, but he was too heavy, too intentionally there. "If Lucan is coming
While Riven’s face was hard with thoughts running through his head, Elara bowed her head and focused on breathing in deeply...fucking hell...goddess knows she was too pregnant to be dealing with things like this... Elara’s mother finally heaved a heavy sigh, packed her herbs into the leather bag she had brought in and stood on her feet, stretching. "Alright, you two. I’m heading back home to prepare more potions and tonics for you... your pregnancy is advancing very quickly... i need to get you and your body more prepared for the deliveryof the pup... it will notbe as easy as the gestation pero... trust me...Take care of her, Riven."She looked over at Willow, who was still slumped on the sofa, aggressively chewing her nails, anger still evident on her face from what her mother had just explained and revealed..."Come on, Willow," Selena said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Let's leave the couple in peace."Willow groaned loudly, rolling her head back. "Can I stay here inst
The afternoon sun filtered softly through the heavy curtains of the mountain house, casting long, warm lines of light across the floor. Elara sat on the plush sofa, her hands resting naturally over the noticeable swell of her stomach.The door to the sitting room clicked open, and Selena walked in. She carried a familiar leather medical bag, her face softening the moment she saw Elara."Look at you," Selena said gently, setting her bag on the side table. "Every time I visit, it feels like you've grown an inch overnight.""It feels that way too, Mother," Elara said, offering a small, tired smile as Selena knelt on the floor beside the sofa. "Riven is nearly losing his mind. I think he checks my pulse every twenty minutes while I'm sleeping.""I check it every twenty minutes because you're important to me, Elara... I check it because you’re carrying my entire world," Riven's deep, gravelly voice cut in from the next room.Riven stepped into the room from the adjoining study. His m
Lucan stared at Zara for a long moment, his face completely unreadable. He looked past her, catching the eye of the lead enforcer waiting by the double doors."Take them to the cells," Lucan commanded. "Keep them separated until I decide our next move."Zara’s eyes widened, her sarcastic attitude vanishing instantly. "The cells? Are you out of your mind, Lucan? We just handed you the exact key to destroying Riven, and you're throwing us in a dungeon?""You are prisoners," Morgana said, leaning back in her chair with a sharp smile. "You're traitors who fled your own pack. You don't get to walk into our territory and dictate terms.""We gave you a weapon!" Theron growled. He stepped in front of his daughter as the guards advanced, his chest heaving. "Without our information, you'd be sitting here waiting for your own wolves to cut your throat. We deserve asylum, not chains.""You'll get a cell until I verify your story," Lucan said, his voice flat. "Move them."The guards lunged
The air in Lucan's study smelled like so much burnt sage and insence, it was almost hard to breathe.Lucan paced the floor, staring down at the map on the table. The reports from the outer borders of their pack were getting worse every day."Two more patrols deserted before dawn," Lucan snapped, slamming his fist onto the wood. "If this keeps up, we won't even have enough wolves to guard the front gates."Morgana sat by the hearth, idly stirring a silver bowl of dark liquid. She didn't look up. "They didn't desert, Lucan. They doubted and then ran for their lives. There’s a difference.""Don't piss me off by reminding me, Morgana. The pack is already completely divided," Lucan said, his voice tight. "If you weren't using your magic to hold their minds together and force their loyalty to me, they would have turned on us weeks ago."Morgana finally looked up, her expression dry and thoroughly annoyed. "And it’s exhausting, Alpha... Do you think mind-controlling hundreds of rebelli
"How the fuck did they find out?"The whisper was low, but it held enough razor-sharp dominance to make the shadows along the stone floor warp and twist. Riven didn't move an inch, his posture terrifyingly rigid, but his silver eyes burned with a chaotic, lethal heat."The prison guards were careless," Dorian answered bluntly, keeping his voice down as he glanced back at the heavy bedroom door. "You completely vanished from the pack house and locked down this fortress. The guards on the dungeon rotation got careless and started idly gossiping outside the cells about why you were acting so crazy. Zara and her father overheard them."Riven’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked violently. "And the escape?""Her father still knew an old code from his time as Beta," Dorian muttered. "They used it during a shift change, took out three guards in the lower tunnels, and vanished before the alarms flagged the breach. They've already crossed into Lucan's territory."Riven closed his eyes,
Elara stood at the large, open, door less balcony, wrapped in one of the thick, fur-lined shawls Riven had tossed towards her earlier. The mountain air was crisp with approaching dusk, and the sky above bled golden hues into navy blue. It had been hours since the messenger vanished, swallowed by th
Elara wanted to stand her ground, she wanted to prove that she was not scared, at least not in front of Zara, but her knees went so weak from fear, she instinctively slid behind Alpha Riven's thick back. The wolf proved and stopped a few feet away from all three of them."Shift," Riven said in the
Elara’s legs pounded against the cold ground as she sprinted up the misty hill, breath hitching from the icy morning air. She didn’t need to look back, he would follow her. She knew he would. He always did.Let him chase her. Let him feel the pull too.The air shifted, thinning as the trees broke o
Despite her attempt to keep her breathing steady, Elara gasped for air as she ran beside Riven.She should have known his smile was not a friendly one. As Elara tried not to die as they ran through the cold mountains, she watched Riven who was very obviously slowing himself down so he could keep u







