LOGIN**Cole's POV** "As good as that sounds, the memorial service will need my full attention for the coming weeks," I quickly come up with an excuse not to marry Sabrina immediately, and my voice carries the measured weight of an Alpha who is being completely reasonable. "After that settles and the pack has had its time to grieve — then we can revisit the matter of a ceremony. I suggest we push the wedding planning until after the memorial." Elder White simply raises his left eyebrow and leans forward, slowly, the way a man leans forward when he has been waiting patiently for exactly this moment. "Push it," he repeats. "Yes, and that is because the timing is not ideal for—" "The timing," elder White cuts me off gently, "is not something we have the luxury of choosing, Alpha." His eyes drop pointedly to Sabrina's midsection, and then rise back to mine. "Your pup is not waiting. It does not know that its father has a full schedule. It does not know about memorial services or pack
**Cole's POV** 'I know this is the last thing we want to do. But if we go back on our word in front of this council, White will challenge us for breaking our agreement and he will win. This man is too calculated to outmaneuver in front of everyone. We say what we agreed. Then we find Maya and make this right.' My wolf chimes in quietly in my head as voice of reason not to go back on my agreement, and it takes everything in me to go with his plan. I swallow hard, "After much consideration," I say, and my voice stays steady because I will not let it do anything else, "I have made the decision to hold a memorial service for Maya, as Elder White suggested at yesterday's meeting." The room exhales. Then Miriam's hand flies to her mouth and her eyes fill immediately, the way the eyes of a woman fill when she has been holding grief on behalf of someone else for a very long time and has finally been given permission to put it down. "Oh, Alpha," she breathes. "My condole—" "Elder
**Cole's POV**Elder White's sitting room is fuller than I expected.There is Elder Miriam, Elder Thomas, Elder Marcus, and two additional council members seated along the far wall.Realization hits me hard that this asshole set me up for public humiliation.I clench my jaw and take in the room without blinking, then look at Elder White. He looks back at me with that same immaculate composure — not even the ghost of submission in his expression.So this was always the plan. He was never going to let this be private.Fine. I will dance to your music for now. But before I am done, I will burn you and your wicked family to the ground.I breathe in slowly through my nose and walk in.Every head turns, including Sabrina's. She is seated beside her mother on the sofa nearest the window, dressed in a long floral lime green dress with white sandals — composed, every detail considered. She looks up when I enter and I watch that brightness move through her eyes before she smooths it back into s
**Cole's POV**"Alpha." Dr. Hana's voice is quiet and steady. "I have served this pack for sixteen years. Under your father, and under you. My loyalty has never wavered, and it will not begin now."A brief pause."No one has contacted me. No one has interfered with these results. What I am telling you is the truth — the same truth the test has confirmed twice.""Are you certain?" My voice comes out lower than I expect, edged with something dangerous.Then, firm and unwavering — "Yes, Alpha."Silence crashes over me.I just stand there, the words circling, refusing to settle. The same truth… confirmed twice.My grip tightens around the phone, plastic creaking faintly beneath my fingers as something cold and vicious coils in my chest.That conniving bitch planned this.But how? How the hell did she pull this off without me knowing?'Because women are clever like that,' my wolf drawls, sharp and mocking."Shit," I mutter under my breath.A soft, pointed cough cuts through the line. "Ahem
**Cole's POV** The next morning, pack patrol takes longer than I intend. Three hours covering the eastern and northern borders with six of my best men — checking markers, reviewing overnight reports, listening to my beta Dane walk me through a breach in the northern fence line that was flagged before dawn. I give the right instructions. I ask the right questions. I look like an Alpha who has his mind entirely on his pack's security. I am getting better at pretending. The truth is I have not slept. I lay in my bed last night staring at the ceiling and thinking about DNA results and a pregnancy that should not be possible and an elder who is already composing his victory speech. I dismissed the patrol at the eastern gate just after nine and walked home alone through the back path that cuts through the small patch of woodland behind my house. The trees are still and grey this morning. The ground is soft under my boots. Everything smells of damp earth and last night's light ra
**Cole's POV** I look at elder white for a long moment and scoff at his audacity. How dare he stand in front of me and negotiate terms like we are equals sitting at a trade table? "Are we understood, Alpha?" he repeats. "We are understood," I say. "And since we are making conditions—" I take a slow step toward him and watch him hold his ground with visible effort. "If the DNA results come back and tell a different story, I will not be returning to apologize." He frowns. "What do you mean a different—" "I will be returning," I continue quietly, "to banish every single member of this family from my pack. Permanently. No return. No appeal." The room goes very still. Sabrina makes a small sound behind me. Elder White's face does not crack but something behind it does — a hairline fracture running straight through the centre of his certainty. "You would not—" "Banishment," I say, "is an act of mercy." I let that sit for a moment. "Because what I would actually be enti
**Stella's POV** Heat floods my face. I scramble backward so fast I nearly fall off the bed. “Nothing!” The word comes out too fast. Too loud. “I wasn’t doing anything.” “You are such a liar.” He says not raising his voice. My heart stutters nervously. “I'm not a liar” I swallow. “I must’ve
**Stella's POV** I wake up to the smell of mold and fear. My head throbs and my mouth tastes like copper probably from whatever they drugged me with earlier. "awe," I try to move and immediately regret it. Pain shoots through my shoulders, my neck, and every muscle in my body. Where am I?
**Stella's POV** "She is not stupid Peter. The alliance can still be fixed," my mother says desperately. "If Stella goes back, if she apologizes—" "He banished me," I interrupt. "He said if I ever set foot on his territory again, he'll kill me." The color drains from my mother's face. Peter
**Stella's POV** Shawn is standing in the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Oh my goodness, are we getting straight to business? My breath catches in my throat. I jerk my eyes up to his face, heat flooding my cheeks so fast I feel dizzy. "You're done with your cal







