로그인“Grieving.”Ivy blinked. “What does that mean?”“It’s… What I did for your mom.” His throat tightened. “What I did for you for a while, too.”“That doesn’t really make sense.”“It won’t,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. This time, she didn’t flinch away, which came as a relief. “Not until
Kade’s POVKade, Tyler, and the others didn’t return to Nightshade for two days after they left Elena behind.Each step of the way, Kade considered turning back for her. Multiple times, he had considered marching back there and scooping her up into his arms and forcing her to return with him, even k
Eventually, the floor was as clean as it would get given the circumstances. I dumped the muddy-looking water out into the pond, then scrubbed my hands, arms, and face in the sink.Exhaustion took over me by then. I flopped onto the rickety cot without thinking twice and slept.When I woke the next m
Elena’s POVI must have sat in that spot on the porch for hours. Hell, it could have been days, and I might not have even noticed.The passage of time lost all meaning. The sun rose, turning the swamp hot and fetid with the scents of still water and rotting wood. The sun reached its zenith and the f
Kade walked up to her. He didn’t sit. He got the sense that she didn’t want that. Instead, he just let her stare at Ivy. Then down at her hands. Then at Ivy again.“It’s not your fault,” he said after a long moment.Elena didn’t answer. She just blinked, then looked back out over the swamp.Just the
Kade’s POVThe shack was quiet except for Nellie, who was making a small, whimpering sound from her chair. Kade looked at her once, then looked away.Wordlessly, Elena crossed the room and dropped to her knees beside Lana. She gathered her up, both arms pulling her close, and rocked her friend back
Elena’s POV“Alpha Kade!” Nellie stepped away from me and curtsied when Kade entered the room, averting her gaze respectfully—just as I used to do once as a slave.Now, I held Kade’s eyes, refusing to show weakness. It was no easy feat, fighting the instinct to defer myself, but somehow I managed it
Kade’s POV“Your heart is aflutter.”Kade grimaced at Ghost’s words. Aflutter? His heart wasn’t aflutter. That word wasn’t even in his vocabulary.“You can deny it all you want, but you’re intrigued by the second chance mate. If you hadn’t controlled yourself at dinner, you might have shoved everyth
“What was that, by the way?” Ava asked, perturbed.“I should be the one asking you that question. You manipulated the bond. Made me kiss him.”Ava paused, then replied, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it; it’s not easy holding back around our mate all the time. But I meant after—when you told him you wa
Elena’s POVKade ripped my shirt off over my head and looked at my spine before I could stop him.But this time, I didn’t try to stop him.I knew there was no mark there. Somehow, when I had been put in this new body, there was no birthmark on my spine. Just smooth, unbroken, unmarred skin.So I let







