LOGINThe hour passed faster than I expected.Maybe because none of us spoke much after Jack left. The room filled with a strange, restless silence as preparations happened somewhere below the tower. I could hear footsteps in the courtyard, the low voices of warriors, the metallic clatter of weapons being moved aside.The pack was watching.I knew they were.Word had already spread. Wolves always knew when something unusual was happening. And right now, their rejected Omega was about to leave the territory with two Alphas who hated each other.I finished the bitter tea and stood, smoothing the simple dress I wore. It was still the one Tristan’s pack had given me earlier, the deep green velvet soft against my skin.It felt too expensive for someone like me.For years I had worn nothing but rough cloth and servant’s uniforms.Now suddenly I looked like something else.Someone else.I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.Behind me, Tristan moved first.“We should go before the Council changes i
Morning came slowly.A pale gray light crept through the barred window of the tower room, soft and quiet, like the world outside was trying not to disturb the fragile balance inside.I hadn’t slept.Not really.Every time exhaustion pulled me toward unconsciousness, my body would jerk awake again, as if it didn’t trust the peace around me.The marks on my neck had calmed overnight, but they hadn’t disappeared. They pulsed faintly under my skin, a constant reminder that the war between two Alphas was still alive inside me.I sat at the small table beside the bed, staring down at a cup of untouched tea.Across the room, Tristan leaned against the wall with his arms folded, watching the window like a guard who didn’t trust the sunrise.Xander stood near the door.He had barely moved all night.The silence between them had grown less explosive but no less tense. It felt like two storms hovering on opposite horizons, waiting for the wrong word to collide.I took a slow sip of the tea.It t
No one slept.The candles burned low and were replaced. The moon moved slowly across the window bars. Hours passed, yet the tension in the room never eased.I sat on the edge of the bed with my arms wrapped around myself, watching the two most dangerous men in the territory stare each other down like rival kings forced into the same cage.Tristan leaned against the far wall, calm on the outside but restless beneath the surface. His wolf pressed against his skin, impatient and protective.Xander stood near the window again, silent and rigid, his gaze drifting back to me every few minutes.Neither man trusted the other.And unfortunately, both of them had a reason not to.My head throbbed from exhaustion.“Are you two going to keep glaring forever,” I muttered, “or are we actually going to solve something?”Tristan pushed himself off the wall.“I already offered the solution.”Xander didn’t turn around.“She isn’t leaving.”“There’s a war brewing in your courtyard.”“It’s my courtyard.”
Sleep didn’t come easily.Even after the pain in my neck faded, my mind refused to quiet. Every time my eyes closed, memories forced their way back in. The courtyard. Xander’s voice rejecting me in front of everyone. The cold look in his eyes the morning after the Blood Moon.Then Tristan’s teeth sinking into my neck.Then the doctor’s words.Pregnant.The word still felt unreal inside my head.I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling while the candles burned lower along the stone walls. The room had grown quiet, but it wasn’t peaceful quiet.It was the kind of silence that came from two predators trying very hard not to attack each other.Tristan remained seated near the bed, his arms folded loosely across his chest. His posture looked relaxed, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed him.Across the room, Xander stood with his back against the wall, watching everything.Watching Tristan.Watching me.Watching the space between us.No one had spoken for nearly an hour.I finally coul
The pain dulled. Like a storm that had moved a few miles away but still rattled the windows. I drifted in and out of consciousness, the world around me rising and falling in blurred fragments of voices, scents, and warmth. When I opened my eyes again, the tower room was dim. Night had fully fallen. Candles flickered along the stone walls, their light soft and uneven. For a moment I didn’t remember where I was. The last clear memory was collapsing on the floor. Then the scent reached me. Two scents. Winter pine and dark chocolate. Storm clouds and steel. My body tensed instantly. My eyes widened as the memories rushed back. Xander. Tristan. The fight. The pregnancy. The marks. I tried to sit up. A sharp pain shot through my neck. “Don’t move.” The deep voice came from my right. Tristan. I turned my head slowly. He was sitting beside the bed, elbows resting on his knees, watching me with an intensity that made my chest tighten. His dark shirt was still torn from
The first thing I felt was fire. Not the kind that warms your skin. Not the comforting heat of a hearth on a winter night. This fire lived inside my bones. It clawed through my veins like molten metal, burning every nerve it touched. I couldn’t breathe. My fingers curled into the rough stone floor of the tower as another wave of pain crashed through me. It began in my neck where Tristan’s mark throbbed violently, then spread downward into my chest where the ghost of Xander’s rejection still lived. Two forces. Two Alphas. Fighting inside my body. I screamed again. The sound tore from my throat before I could stop it. Somewhere far below, I heard shouting. Heavy footsteps thundered up the spiral staircase leading to the tower. The iron door rattled violently as someone slammed against it. “Move!” Xander’s voice roared. Metal shrieked. The door burst open with a crash. Through the haze of pain I saw two figures rush into the room. One smelled like winter pine and rage. The o







