LOGINCalla's POV I woke up early the next morning. The sun was just coming up over the hills. I sat on the edge of my bed and looked at Adele. She was still sleeping in her little canopy bed. Her dark curls were spread on the pillow. She looked so small and safe. My heart felt heavy. I had come back for her. For us, I could not let fear win now.I stood up and walked to the mirror. I brushed my long curly brown hair. The gold threads in it caught the light. I put on my golden circlet. The blood-red ruby sat on my forehead and felt warm. It made me feel stronger. I chose simple black pants that fit me well and a deep green blouse. The color made my light blue eyes look brighter. I wanted to look calm and ready. Not like the scared little girl I really felt like.Adele woke up and rubbed her eyes. “Mommy, is today the big meeting?” she asked.“Yes, baby,” I said. I helped her put on a soft silver tunic and leggings. We ate breakfast on the private balcony. Fresh fruit and warm bread.
Third Person POV The grand hall still hummed with restless energy, but Calla had had enough of the stares and whispers from every one in fact she was already feeling sleepy.She gently squeezed Adele’s small hand and turned toward the wide marble staircase that led to the guest wing. “Mommy, where are we sleeping?” Adele asked, her storm-cloud eyes…Blade’s eyes…looking up with complete trust.Calla kept her voice soft but steady. “We’ll ask for a good room, baby. One with a nice garden view if we’re lucky.”They had barely reached the bottom of the stairs when Tanya Knox stepped into their path.Tanya had changed out of the ruined wedding gown into a sleek black dress that hugged her figure, but her dark hair was slightly disheveled and her eyes were red-rimmed with fury. She looked Calla up and down slowly, lips curling in disgust.“You have some nerve coming back here with your gremlin,” Tanya spat, voice loud enough for the guests close by to hear. “A very huge nerve.”Calla stop
Third Person POV Blade’s chest heaved against hers, the heavy oak door still rattling faintly from the force with which he’d slammed it shut. His body caged her perfectly…tall, broad, radiating raw Alpha power…yet the second his thumb brushed the delicate skin beneath her ear, something inside him recoiled hard.What the fuck was he doing?He, Blade Blackthorn, Alpha King of Ash Creek, was acting like a lovesick puppy. One look at her in that crimson dress, one touch of her hand, and he’d dragged her off like a starving wolf scenting fresh meat. His wolf still howled inside him, desperate to drop to its knees and worship every inch of the woman pressed to the wall. The urge to bury his face in her neck, to beg for her forgiveness with tongue and teeth, made his stomach twist with disgust.At himself.He jerked back as if burned, releasing her hand and stepping away so fast his dress shoes scraped the hardwood. He needed distance before he did something pathetic like fall at her
Third Person POV The grand hall erupted into pure chaos the second Calla’s words landed.Gasps exploded like fireworks. Chairs scraped backward as wolves half-rose in shock, then sat again, unsure whether to cheer or snarl. Whispers detonated into full-blown arguments…some people looked confused while others looked thrilled, a few were already placing bets on how fast Tanya’s tiara would hit the floor. Crystal chandeliers swayed overhead as if the building itself felt the tremor. Adele, still clutching her mother’s hand, looked up at the noise with wide, unafraid eyes, the tiny Alpha princess clearly deciding this was all part of the show.Tanya’s face had gone from flushed triumph to corpse-white in a single heartbeat. The oversized tiara wobbled on her head like a crown two sizes too big for a child playing dress-up. She spun toward Blade, manicured nails digging into his sleeve.“That can’t happen, can it?” Her voice cracked high, shrill enough to cut glass. “She isn’t worthy!
Third-Person POV The grand hall of the Ash Creek pack house had been transformed into a living jewel. Crystal chandeliers dripped soft golden light over hundreds of guests seated in perfect rows of white silk chairs. White roses and midnight-blue delphiniums spilled from everywhere, the scent they gave out was nothing short of divine. At the far end, beneath a canopy of woven silver birch branches, stood Blade Blackthorn…Alpha King of Ash Creek…in a tailored black tuxedo that made him look carved from shadow and starlight. His dark hair was swept back, jaw set,his eyes were the colour of storm clouds, it was grey and beautiful. Opposite him, Tanya Knox glowed in a gown of liquid ivory and diamonds. The dress clung to every curve before flaring into a dramatic train that pooled like moonlight on the marble floor. Her dark hair cascaded in perfect waves down her back, the very strands that had cost a young maid her job this morning. A delicate tiara…once Calla’s, now resized an
Third-Person POV Today was the best day of her life. She had decided this before she even opened her eyes this morning. She had lain in bed in the grey of early dawn with a smile already pulling at the corners of her mouth and she had simply decided … today was the day everything she had worked for finally arrived. Today was the day Tanya Knox became Tanya Blackthorn.Luna of Ash Creek.The title moved through her mind like music.She sat at her vanity in her dressing robe, surrounded by the particular organised chaos of a wedding morning … flowers being arranged on the far table, two attendants moving quietly in the background, the wedding gown hanging on the tall stand near the window where the light caught it and made it look like something from a dream.Her dream. Specifically. The one she had been dreaming for years.She picked up her favourite brush, it had a beautiful gold handle that had been a gift from her mother when she turned eighteen … and began working it through her







