LOGINElsa's POVThe boardroom fell silent as I delivered the final blow."So to summarize, gentlemen, you can either accept my client's offer of sixty million, or we proceed to litigation where I'll personally ensure you lose not just this case, but your professional reputations." I closed my leather portfolio with a decisive snap. "I have documentation of every illegal practice, every violated regulation, every corner you've cut over the past decade. By the time I'm done, you won't just lose the company. You'll be facing criminal charges."The three men across the table looked like I'd slapped them. The lead negotiator, some pompous executive who'd walked in convinced his legal team could intimidate me, had gone pale."You're bluffing," he said, but his voice wavered.I smiled coldly "Try me."Five minutes later, they signed.Sixty million dollars for my client, plus a non-disclosure agreement that would keep their dirty secrets buried. E
He never called me Elsa anymore. He said it was safer, that I needed to fully inhabit my new identity.I suspected he liked it because it meant the woman he'd married wasn't the one who'd rejected him years ago."I've been patient for three years." I pulled my hand back. "My sons are six now. Seven in a few months. Half their childhood gone without me.""And in two more years, you'll be ready to get them back." His voice was soothing, reasonable. "You're close, Selma. So close. Don't sabotage it now by acting too soon."He was right. Logically, intellectually, I knew he was right.But logic didn't stop the dreams.Every night, I saw them. My boys, growing up without me. Forgetting me. Learning to love Mira as their mother.Believing the lies Riguel told about me.Sometimes I woke up screaming. Sometimes I woke up crying. Sometimes I woke up with my wolf clawing at my insides, demanding I shift and run back to Blackwood, reclaim
Elsa's POVThe woman in the mirror was a stranger.Red hair fell in sleek waves past my shoulders, not the warm auburn some women chose, but a deep, rich crimson that caught light like blood. My natural golden brown was gone, chemically stripped and replaced with something that screamed power instead of whispered softness.Contact lenses turned my pale green eyes to a striking amber. Makeup sharper than I'd ever worn before, contoured cheekbones, bold lips, an edge that said “don't touch” before anyone got close enough to try.I looked nothing like Elsa Andrew.That was the point."What do you think?" I turned to face Killian, who leaned against the doorframe of our apartment.Our apartment. Because somewhere in the past six months, that's what this had become. His money funded my transformation, his name gave me legitimacy, his resources opened doors.And in return, I'd agreed to marry him.A quiet courthous
Riguel’s POVI couldn’t remember the last time I slept. Real sleep. Not the half-conscious drifting I’d been doing for months. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her falling, heard the boys screaming, felt her body go still.Three months since the ceremony.Three months since her heart stopped.Three months of walking around like I was underwater, everything muffled.“Alpha?” Marcus was in the doorway. Worry all over his face. “The council is here for the monthly review.”Right. The council. Responsibilities. The things that were supposed to matter.“Give me five minutes,” I said.He didn’t leave. “Riguel… you look like shit. Maybe reschedule—”“I’m fine.”“You aren’t,” he said gently. “Not since—”He didn’t finish. We never said her name anymore.“Five minu
Elsa’s POVThree days since I woke up, and all the grief had burned down into one thing:Rage.The first day I cried until nothing was left. The second day I just stared at the wall, empty. By the third, the pain stopped feeling like pain and turned into something sharp. Something that made my wolf want to tear everything apart.Killian kept trying. He set a tray beside me, soup, bread, and water. Simple and safe.I ignored it.“You need to eat,” he said.“Tell me again.” My voice was rough, like it didn’t belong to me. “About Riguel and Mira.”He exhaled, tired. “Elsa, you don’t need to—”“Tell me.”Killian sat back down, the chair creaking under him. He looked like he’d barely slept.“My contact says Mira moved into the Alpha chambers three days ago,” he said. “She’s been comforting Riguel. He
Elsa’s POVPain woke me.Not sharp, just everywhere. A heavy, bruised kind of pain that made even breathing feel like work.I tried opening my eyes and the light stabbed straight through my skull. My brain felt wrapped in cotton, everything slow, muffled.Where was I?The last thing I remembered—The ceremony.The flowers.The smell.The burning.My hands shot to my throat, my face, expecting blood or blisters or something. But my fingers found nothing but sore skin and the echo of agony.“Easy. Don’t move too fast.”The voice made me freeze.Killian.I blinked until the blur became him,sitting beside the bed, looking like he hadn’t slept in days.“What—” My voice cracked. My throat felt scraped raw. “What happened? Where am I?”“Thank God.” He leaned forward, exhaling like he’d been holding his







