LOGINBASTIAN“Still no news about my sister?” Rosalia asked, and I shook my head.It had been twenty-four hours since Rosentine vanished, and the sting of that was still fresh. I’d already punished the warriors guarding the gates yesterday, but it didn’t make the knot in my gut loosen even a little.“We have to wait for Owen.” I raked a hand through my hair, the motion rougher than I intended as my mind spun with possibilities, most of them too dark to linger on.I didn’t want to believe she’d run away, that she’d betray me—not Rosentine, not after everything, but the doubt kept creeping in anyway, making my whole body tense.“Bastian!” Owen burst into my study, the urgency in his voice mirrored in his wide eyes. Joseph was right behind him, looking just as frantic. The air in the room changed, and some part of me couldn’t help but brace for the worst.“What is it?” I demanded, my voice sharp with tension. Owen then exchanged a glance with Joseph before speaking.“One of the patrols caught
ROSENTINEIt was uncomfortable. Unbearably so. Sitting at the dining table, surrounded by my family, the previous Alpha and Luna, and my ex-mate, the one who’d mistreated and abandoned me, I felt every old wound throbbing open again.Their presence was like a bruise I kept bumping into, stirring up a mess of resentment and sadness in my chest. Still, I forced myself to sit there. I had to. For my pregnancy, for the life inside me.“Do you really intend to take that woman back?” Ryan asked, his brows furrowed as he glared at me, as if my very existence was a nuisance.I gritted my teeth, feeling that tightness in my lungs, but I kept my breathing even. My hands drifted to my stomach, holding it as if that alone could ground me, remind me why I needed to keep calm.“I told you Rosalia’s alive, there’s no reason to hate Rosentine anymore,” Ezekiel said, his voice unwavering. My parents turned to each other, uncertain, and so did the previous Alpha and Luna. Even the maids, standing at th
ROSENTINE“No,” Ezekiel said, grabbing my wrist again; this time, he yanked hard, pulling me onto the bed before pinning me down. He then climbed on top of me, looming so close I could barely breathe.My eyes widened, panic flooding my chest.“What are you—” But before I could finish, his lips crashed against mine. The feeling was all wrong, every part of me recoiling from it.As soon as his tongue forced its way in, I bit down, desperate to make it stop. The metallic taste of blood came almost instantly. He groaned, jerking back just enough that his grip loosened.For a split second, Ezekiel froze. I didn’t waste it. I twisted my wrist free, shoving him off with everything I had. He stumbled, not far, but enough to look startled, like he’d never considered I might fight back.“What is wrong with you?” I demanded, scrambling away until I was out of the bed. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. The walls felt like they were closing in, the air thick and heavy.What
ROSENTINEI wanted to go outside, but the thought of running into Alpha Bastian rooted me where I was. It had been a week since that night, the best night of my life, and the silence that followed pressed down on me, hollowing out my chest until all I could feel was this dull, aching want.My heart and my body were both missing him more than I could stand to admit.“Is he doing okay?” I muttered into the empty room, the words barely more than a sigh as I sank into the couch and let my eyes fall closed, focusing on the steady throb behind my temples. If I stayed here any longer, I was going to go crazy. “I need to get some air.”When I finally opened my eyes, it was like I’d surfaced from a long, heavy sleep. I stepped into the hallway, half out of habit, intending to let Owen know I’d be going outside, but a maid crossed my path before I could make it to the study. She said Owen was at the main house.With him gone, the urge to leave the packhouse instead, to just run, to breathe, to
ROSALIAThis was the first time Bastian had ever spoken to me that way. The first time I’d seen the ice in his tone, directed right at me.I could feel the familiar shield of manipulation I’d built crumble in the space between us, brittle and useless now that he’d seen through my act—the coughing, the lies, his belief that I’d saved him. He knew the truth now. And just like that, I couldn’t use it anymore.I knew this day would come, but I didn’t think it would be now. Not when I hadn’t even managed to put a real dent in Rosentine yet. I’d barely started, and my plans were already failing.“I was only gone for two hours, and it was just to buy gifts for Rosentine.” I clung to that one thread of truth, grateful I’d bothered to buy anything at all. “I felt bad about getting in the way of your relationship, so I thought maybe, if I gave her gifts that I picked myself, it would make me feel a little less guilty.”I looked at Bastian, hoping for a sign of softness, even a flicker. But ther
BASTIAN“How is she?” I asked, careful to keep my tone even as I glanced at Owen. He handed over the stack of work I’d sent him, and I tried not to show how much I pathetically longed for her.It had already been a week since Rosentine moved to his annex. Not even that far from the main house, yet somehow it felt like she was on the other side of the world. I’d never seen her once.“She’s doing well,” he said, and a bitter smile crossed my lips. I should have felt relieved, maybe, but the ache in my chest only sharpened.Wasn’t she affected at all by how things ended?“You’re not going to fall for her, right?” I tried to laugh it off, tried to make it a joke, but the words came out brittle. The question hung between us, heavier than I meant. Owen’s brows then drew together, and he looked at me like I’d insulted him. He didn’t even bother to hide the disdain in his stare.“You’re the closest man to her now, and you’re living together. That’s how these things start. Besides, you haven’t
ROSENTINEI couldn’t sleep, no matter how gentle the sheets were or how warm the room felt. My mind kept circling back: I was pregnant, and that alone was a lot—but it was Mrs. Jane’s words, her advice, that messed with my thoughts, refusing to let go.She’d explained everything so clearly, almost
ROSENTINE“Are you certain that’s enough?” Alpha Bastian asked after he bought the crochet tools for me. I tried to insist on paying, but his stubbornness won out, and he ended up buying them. I simply nodded, and he took the paper bag from my hands to carry it himself. “Where do you want to head n
ROSENTINEA few more weeks slipped by, and I found myself growing accustomed to the northern weather. The chill that once gnawed at my bones now felt almost familiar, and even, oddly enough, appreciated.Life here was easy and peaceful, so much so that sometimes I caught myself crying out of sheer
ROSENTINEA week passed by in a blur, and life in the Northern Claw pack was nothing if not repetitive: eat, swallow down bitter medicine, rest, then shuffle over to Mrs. Jane’s clinic for a checkup, come back, sleep, and start all over again.Yesterday, the embryo was finally transferred to my ute







