LOGINThe doors of the council chamber closed behind Solana with a heavy, echoing thud.
Seven people sat behind a curved table on a low dais at the far end of the room.
Five of them were grey-haired, and all seven were watching her the way a jury watches a defendant walk in.
Solana walked to the single chair in the middle of
The doors of the council chamber closed behind Solana with a heavy, echoing thud.Seven people sat behind a curved table on a low dais at the far end of the room.Five of them were grey-haired, and all seven were watching her the way a jury watches a defendant walk in.Solana walked to the single chair in the middle of the floor and sat down without being asked.Alistair did not take a seat at the table. He stood off to one side near the windows with his arms folded, and his presence filled that whole corner of the room.The grey-haired woman with the silver chain took the center seat."I am Elder Agatha Crane," she said in her dry, papery voice. "I chair this council. These
"You're not holding a sign," Solana said dryly.Marcus looked down at her from his considerable height.He stood at the bottom of the escalator in Reno's arrivals hall in a dark suit, with his hands clasped in front of him, looking as out of place among the slot machines and tourists as a wolf in a henhouse."Would you have wanted one, Miss Lim?" he asked gravely."No," she replied."Then I made the right decision," he said, reaching for her carry-on before she could stop him. "Your luggage has already been collected. The car is outside.""Of course it is," she muttered, and followed him.The car was a black SUV with tinted windo
"Why can't I come with you?" Mira sobbed dramatically, clutching Solana's shoulder."Because somebody has to run this place," Solana said, rolling her eyes as she rubbed her assistant’s back in slow circles. "And I'm looking at her."Behind the reception desk, Annabel was pretending very hard not to cry and failing badly, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue every few seconds.Mira pulled back, her eyes red and her nose pink."Me?" she squeaked. “Are you pulling my legs?”"Yes, you," Solana said, holding out a small ring of keys. "As of today, you're the head of Lim Studios, Los Angeles. You run the clients, you run the staff, and you run the schedule. I'll be on video calls every week, and I'll fly back whenev
"So it's true," Alpha Rowan Miller said heavily, setting the transfer papers down on his desk. "You're really leaving us."Solana sat in the leather chair across from him with her hands folded in her lap."Only for three months, Alpha," she said calmly. "It's a temporary transfer. I'll be back before you know it."Miller let out a low grunt.He was a big man, broad through the chest and shoulders, with a grey-streaked beard and a face weathered by years of sun.Eight years ago, he had dragged a terrified, half-wild girl into the forest behind this very house and forced her through her first controlled shift, holding her down by the scruff while she howled.She had hated him
"Careful with that one!" Solana called out, wincing as a mover roughly hoisted a long cardboard box onto his shoulder. "That's a vintage sewing machine. If it gets so much as a scratch, I'm taking it out of your tip.""Yes, ma'am," the mover said with a grin, and carried it toward the door with exaggerated care.Two weeks had passed since the reading.Two weeks of signing papers, of courier envelopes from Hayes's office arriving every other morning, of late nights at the studio rearranging schedules and calling clients one by one.Her apartment was half chaos now. Open suitcases lay on the living room floor, garment bags were draped over the couch, and a neat row of sealed boxes stood by the door with her handwriting on every one.
"Put it on speaker," Portia hissed, snatching at her brother's sleeve."Hands off," Sterling snapped, jerking his arm away. "You're not allowed to talk to anyone outside the pack, remember? Alpha’s orders. So sit there and keep your mouth shut."Portia flopped back onto the velvet sofa with a furious huff and folded her arms.Above the marble fireplace, a portrait of their mother, Elaine Grey, gazed down at her children with a cool, painted smile. Sterling paced in front of it with his phone pressed to his ear.It rang three times before a smooth, unhurried voice answered."Sterling," Garrick Holt drawled. "To what do I owe the pleasure?""Mr. Holt," Sterling said, and for o
The moment the penthouse door shut, Alistair’s restraint evaporated.He pinned her against the door, his large, calloused hand sliding up to grip the back of her neck with a terrifying but delicious pressure, and he slanted his lips over hers again.He was rough, but in a calculated way that made h
"Sol! Table four needs a server," the manager barked. "And don't look him in the eye."Solange nodded and quickly hurried down the corridor to the VIP lounge of the Sapphire Heights, wrinkling her nose at the smell of expensive cigars and the heavy, humid scent of a desert storm rolling over the Ve
Solange felt a literal snap in the center of her chest as she stared at the heavy oak doors. It wasn’t the metaphoric ache of a breakup. It was a white-hot blade of agony carved through her ribs, twisting around her heart and pulling tight.She tried to scream, but the air in her lungs had turned t
Solange looked at him, her brows furrowing as confusion rose alongside irritation. If he wanted to insult her, he could have done it outright. “What are you talking about?” she bit back. “What smell? I literally just took a bath.” He shook his head; his eyes had a faraway look, like he wasn’t hear







