When Lyla threatens her Alpha's authority, she doesn't expect him to banish her from the pack. But he does, and only moments after stepping outside her door, someone attacks her and leaves her for dead. And then the Alpha of her rival pack arrives. But instead of finishing her off, he saves her . . . even though it's against the law. Now they're both in danger. But they can't seem to stay away from each other.
view moreThe grand hall of the rustic lodge feels stifling as I stand here, facing Ethan.
My promised mate. "Traditions be damned, Ethan!" My voice pierces through the air, echoing off the walls adorned with lunar symbols and pack artifacts. Everything packed with symbolism. Meaning. Everything meant to keep me down and perpetuate the ancient traditions of the Blackwood pack. But I refuse to marry Ethan. His sharp blue gaze locks onto mine, his eyes blazing with a fire that matches the hearth’s glow in the center of the room. "You will respect the ways that have kept us safe for centuries, Lyla," he snarls, the authority in his tone as unyielding as the ancient trees surrounding our home. We’ve attracted the attention of the other pack members. The door opens at the back of the lodge, and the elders enter. I feel more than see my younger sister Ana enter the lodge, but I don’t look at her. I know she’ll be judging me. This is between me and Ethan. I clench my fists at my sides. "Safe? Or stagnant? You expect me to blindly follow, to submit to decrees that suffocate my spirit?" He steps closer, the air between us charged with an intensity that has nothing to do with the argument—or perhaps everything to do with it. I inhale, and against my will, my blood runs hot. I smell his heat. His body calls to me. It’s the bond of mates. And I won’t give into it. "It is not about what I expect," he says. "It is about what is demanded by the very blood that runs through our veins." I lift my chin. "Demanded," I spit. Dammit all. The pull of him is both infuriating and intoxicating, a dance we know too well. As much as I try to resist him, I can’t—not entirely. I won’t let him bed me. But I’m not strong enough to ignore the pleasure he offers me. And this argument, like all the others, is simply a prelude to the carnal release we often seek in each other's arms—a temporary balm for the tempest within. Just because I don’t want to be his mate doesn’t mean I can resist his flesh. "Enough, Lyla," Ethan warns. "There are lines you must not cross." "Lines." I step closer until mere inches separate us. "Are you too afraid of what lies beyond the lines?" "Careful, woman," he growls. "My patience has limits." "Then let’s test those limits. My claws have tasted the blood of our enemies just as yours have, Ethan." It was only a matter of time before I exploded. I’ve been restless since my father died. Looks like today’s the day. A ripple of murmurs spreads through the room, but I push on, my heart hammering with a cocktail of rage and an inexplicable desire. "Tell me," I breathe, stepping closer, "do you truly believe I am less capable? Or does the thought of me, standing alongside the warriors beneath the moonlight, threaten your precious ego?" Ethan's eyes narrow, and the energy between us shifts, growing hotter, more intense. His voice drops to a growl. "You know it's not about capability. It's about order, about—" "Control." I finish for him, my voice a low whisper. The word hangs between us, and for a moment, so does our restraint. Then Ethan's hand shoots out, gripping my arm, pulling me flush against the hard planes of his body. His touch ignites a fire within me that is both furious and hungry. I know I should push him away, assert my independence, but instead, I find myself pressing closer, craving the friction of our anger-fueled passion. "Be careful, Lyla," he warns, his lips grazing my ear, sending shivers down my spine. "Your words tread a dangerous path—one that could lead to consequences you aren't ready to face." "Like what? There’s nothing you can do to me," I whisper back, my resolve unwavering even as my body betrays me, aching for his touch. Our heated gaze holds. Whispers skitter across the room like leaves caught in an autumn gale, each member torn between the thrill of witnessing rebellion and the fear of its consequences. My gaze cut to Ana. She glares at me, fire in her blue eyes, arms folded over her chest. I’m doing this for her. For all the she-wolves. But she won’t see it. She’s blindly loyal to Ethan. I tear my gaze back to Ethan. His jaw tightens visibly, his stance rigid against the flickering hearth. A low growl rumbles from his throat, the sound vibrating through the room. "Careful, Ethan," I say, throwing his own words back at him, my tone laced with a daring that borders on insolence. "Your growl suggests you might be afraid. Afraid that a she-wolf under Luna's full embrace might outshine the Alpha himself." "Enough of this insolence!" Ethan's voice thunders through the lodge, his blue eyes now icy shards that cut through me. "You challenge not only me but the very essence of our existence!" "Is our essence beyond scrutiny?" I shoot back, my voice laced with scorn. “Like the tribute we make to the Slavers?” A gasp rises from the elders. “Do not speak of that which you don’t know,” Ethan hisses, his voice so low that only I hear. “I do know,” I whisper. “And it’s time everyone else did also.” “Silence!” he roars, but I see the fear flicker behind his eyes. The pack would rebel if they knew the truth about the Slavers. “You cannot silence me,” I say. Ethan's gaze bores into mine, a silent battle of wills that neither of us is willing to concede. And then, with a suddenness that leaves me breathless, he steps back, his expression hardening into a mask of cold resolve. "Very well," he says, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "Know this, Lyla: once the gauntlet is thrown, there is no turning back. The path you tread will be fraught with peril, and the consequences will be yours to bear alone." His next words fall like a guillotine blade, swift and merciless. "Lyla Blackwood, you are banished from this pack." A collective gasp ripples through the lodge, yet I stand motionless, stunned shock freezing me in place. We’re promised to each other. In spite of our differences, in spite of my restless anger, we are loyal to each other. Or so I thought. I did not expect that. "Leave now," Ethan commands, turning away from me, the finality in his posture severing our bond as promised mates. I rear back as my understanding snaps in place. No longer does he consider me his. I’ve been cut off.LIAMKalen hesitates, and in that pause I see the whole history of our kind, every story of madness and exile and some poor bastard clawing at the moon until he puts his own eyes out. My skin prickles with the memory of old stories, the ones the elders whisper when they think no one’s listening.Kalen’s voice shakes, but he muscles through. “My father loved my mother. More than the pack. The curse took him. Started slow—just little things. Forgetting meetings. Leaving the sides of sick wolves to go hunt. It got worse. First time he missed a coming-of-age, the Council started talking. Second time, they threatened to vote him out. Third time, he nearly tore out a Beta’s throat because the guy made a cheap joke about Luna’s gift.“Then my mother got sick. Nothing we did could keep her alive. When she died, he went… blank. Like the whole world
LIAMThe Rogue thrashes, curled fingers raking Kalen’s back like claws, but Kalen just holds on tighter, rocking it like a terrified child. I realize, in that moment, that this isn’t violence. It’s mercy. It’s goodbye.The Rogue sags in his arms, jaws working air, claws spasming at nothing. The two of them rock, and for a moment, it’s almost peaceful. Then Kalen wrenches his arms, hard and sudden, and there’s an ugly wet sound that echoes off the cave walls, and the body goes limp.For a second, nobody breathes.I see the Rogue’s face, slack and almost gentle in death, and something about the line of its jaw, the set of the brow, punches a hole through memory. Nightshade features. Not warped, not lost, just… changed.I get it then, with a clarity that scorches. The thing at Kalen’s feet isn’t just some random freak from the shadows. It’s the missing Alpha.His father.I want to vomit. Or scream. Or just run until I forget every fucked-up thing I’ve seen tonight. The world’s gone tilt
The trail Kalen left is plain as blood on snow. I move through the undergrowth silent, keeping low, keeping downwind. I don’t shift—not yet. I want my wits about me, want to see the world as a man before I lose myself in wolf-logic.He’s headed for the old Veil, the place where the trees crowd so tight you have to turn sideways to breathe. It’s suicide to run that line after dark. Which means he’s either lost his mind, or he knows I’m coming and wants to be found.I catch a glimpse of him at the treeline, and for a second he looks back. Just a flash of profile—jaw clenched, eyes hollow, a man running from ghosts or toward them.I think about Adelaide, about her words, about the taste of her perfume on the air. Then I think about Kalen, and the way my life has always orbited his, always subordinate, always less. I wonder if I could have taken him,
“Kalen,” my father rasps in the memory of a voice. “Took you long enough.”I can’t breathe. I can’t even scream. Every nightmare I ever had was softer than this. Not this. Anything but this.“You left,” I manage. “You died.”He coughs, a wet, rattling sound. “Everything dies. Even Nightshade Alphas.” His fingers move, clutching something close to his chest. I see it glint in the candlelight: a ring, silver and old, with our pack’s crest.“I needed… time,” he says. “To figure out the end. Before it takes me.”He gestures at the wall behind him, and I see it’s covered in scratches—names, dates, cycles of the moon, all written in dried blood and desperation.“This is madness,” I whisp
KELANHunting is supposed to clear my head. Instead, every snapped twig and fresh pawprint in the mud just knots me up tighter.And I smell it in the air. Him. The Rogue.I want to believe it’s Ethan. That I can catch him and take him down and find a loophole to legally claim Lyla.But the scent isn’t Blackwood, and as much as that would simplify things, I don’t think that’s it.I circle the cabin three times before I’m sure nothing is watching from the tree line—no rival pack, no council spy, no human trapper with a death wish. Only then do I relax enough to catch my breath and start prepping for the real reason I’m out here.The gear stash is hidden under a tangle of blackthorn at the edge of the clearing. I dig it out, inventorying every item with the attention of a s
It’s late afternoon by the time I make it back to the cabin, light slanting gold through the boughs, the air gone heavy and electric with the coming Blood Moon. Even before I reach the door, I know Lyla’s awake—her scent is spiked with adrenaline, and I can hear her pacing through the thin log walls.I open the door just as she’s on her third lap, and she startles, fist cocked before she recognizes me.“Miss me?” I say.She scowls, but there’s relief underneath. “You left before I woke up. Thought maybe you’d grown a conscience and decided to turn yourself into the council.”“I don’t do mornings,” I say, but I can’t keep the smile off my face.She looks past me, eyes going hard. “Who’s that?”I spin around just as Cassie steps in, arms crossed and satchel hanging on her shoulder, expression somewhere between wary and openly hostile. “I’m his parole officer,” she deadpans, then scans Lyla from head to toe.“Couldn’t wait?” I say dryly. “This is Cassie, our healer.”Cassie gives me a wi
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