MasukBut I wouldn’t say it. Because I wanted to know Kade’s answer, too.“No,” he said after a pause that felt like an eternity. “I won’t make her a slave again.”I let out a breath I’d been holding for about seven years.It should have felt like more than it did. Maybe later it would. Right now I was ju
Elena’s POVMy mother’s arms were around me. She was crying and holding me tight, and I just… let her.But I didn’t want it. I didn’t want her tears, or her embrace. Too long had I spent in this pack, huddling in fear, wishing that my mother would come to my rescue and hug me, and she never had. Not
Elena’s POVThe wind blew cold and bitter across the grave, bringing with it a drift of snow that settled in the open coffin before Kade’s feet.I pulled away from Tyler before I even realized I was moving.“Elena, wait,” he said, reaching for my wrist, “are you sure you—”“I have to see for myself.
Elena’s POVI couldn’t move.Kade was leaning over me with his hands gripping the arms of the chair, and I was pressed back into it with nowhere to go, and the word was still hanging in the air between us.Samantha.My old name. The one that had died with that broken, emaciated body of a slave seven
Ivy’s eyes had gone soft and heavy.“Did she have a name?” she murmured.I hesitated. “She did. But names aren’t important for gentle spirits. What matters is that she was there.”Ivy yawned and reached out, patting around until she found my hand. She held it loosely in her small fingers.“I like th
Elena’s POVIvy’s arms were tight around me. She looked up at me with big, watery eyes, and I immediately felt something crack in my chest.“Can you take me back to bed?” she asked.I hesitated. I wasn’t her mother, no matter how much she wanted to call me that. It was never my job to take care of h







