INICIAR SESIÓNAegis's PovThe memories came flashing back the second we walked through the gates and my eyes locked on Elias hugging Sheila to his side. They were the picture of a perfect couple and everyone at the party was eating it up.I waited for the pain to hit me again like it did the last time. But nothing. I was as calm and peaceful as ever.There was no part of me that was still anchored to them. Instead I was anchored to something stronger. Or should I say someone stronger.My eyes did a quick survey looking for the white hair that matched mine. My heart hit the back of my stomach like a bag of rocks.He's not here.Brianna was right. He's really not coming back for me.I sheltered my eyes from the particularly bright lights coming from the big chandelier in the center of the hall. The party scenes was exactly how u remembered the parties Betq Solice used to organize when I was younger. The lights were always too bright and the laughter was always too loud and everyone was performing for
Aegis's PovThe drive home was the longest forty minutes of my life.As much as i wanted to, i didn't cry in the car. The feeling was right there, sitting at the base of my throat the whole drive. But I couldn't get it to move either way — not out, not back down. So I just sat in the passenger seat with my forehead against the cold window and watched the trees blur past and didn't say a single word.He was right. Wasn't he?I had achieved a lot of things in my life, I'd become a lot of things but i was still nothing more than that scared Nineteen year old they kicked out of the pack.A tear ran down my face as i thought about the baby i lost. They killed my baby. Thwy killed my wolf. They killed Elijah. They killed Cece. And in the hunter's cove....It hurts goddess. It hurts a lot.And my dragon also seemed to be hurting too. She was just still like she was in shock too.He left us, I told her.The car slowed to a stop. I looked up at the familiar gate, trees and lights along the mai
Aegis's POV"AEGIS."The sound cracked through the hallway and through me at the same time. My body locked up before my brain caught up to what had happened. Ella was gone — slipped past me while the world rearranged itself — and I didn't even care anymore.There was a louder problem standing three feet away with his jaw tight and his eyes lit up in a way I'd never seen. The maids near the wall had gone statue-still."You and I are going to talk," he said. "Now. In private.""I have nothing to—"He didn't wait for me to finish. His hand closed around my wrist and he turned, pulling me with him into the office.I let him mostly because I was too stunned to do anything else. The door shut hard behind us before he let go, flinging me across the room.The forbidding look in his eyes is one I've heard of from many before but never personally experienced. He'd kept this part of him from me.His shoulders drew back in a clear expression of the aristocratic training he must have gone through
Alpha Damien's POVThe call had been going for eleven minutes and I hadn't heard anything sensible."—and the trade route through the northern pass," the council man continued, "will need council approval before—"My wolf wasn't listening either.Go to her.No.She's hurting. Go.No.He didn't like that answer. But I'd made the decision days ago and I wasn't unmaking it because he was impatient."Your Majesty?""Continue," I mumbled again.She needs us.She needs to learn to trust us.He growled and settled angrily. I know he'd circle back to this later.The voice on the other end paused for a dropping minute. A tell tale sign that he was about to say something he knew I wouldn't like."Lord Vance," I sighed."Your Majesty. I wanted to follow up on this morning's session." His nauseatingly thick voice rumbled."Did you?" I mocked."The council remains... concerned." There was a deliberate pause before he continued. "I understand emotions can run high in matters of the heart. I simply
Aegis's POV The ride back to the palace was long enough for the Fire God's words to finish settling into all the places they needed to go.By the time the gates came into view, I had a whole plan. Find Damian. Sit down. Tell him I was sorry for turning a reasonable conversation into a courtroom drama. Maybe also mention the suppressants.And maybe I could tell him about the Hunter's den.Maybe.But not immediately. I had to take it one thing at a time.The nerves grated under my skin. My dragon had been restless since we crossed back into royal pack territory.What is it? I asked her.The chills that ran down my spine was all the answer I needed.Something was very wrong.By the time I reached the corridor outside Damian's office, my chest was tight and I didn't fully know why.Was I in some danger that I wasn't conscious of?I slowed down and looked around me quickly.Nothing.Just for jokes, I discreetly moved the poison coated knife hidden in my bracelet closer to my fingers.The
Aegis's POVMy dragon had been whining for six hours straight and I was this close to asking her to please, for the love of all things holy, stop.The festival was loud and bright and exactly the kind of thing I would have loved on any other day.There was fire everywhere, beautifully shaped into animals and symbols and figures that moved like they were alive. People danced in wide circles around the central flame. The music was deep and rhythmic and you felt it in your chest before you heard it with your ears.My birth mother's name was woven into banners in a language I was still learning. Her smiling face was painted on silk, hung at the entrance of the main square.I picked up a cup of something warm from a passing tray and held it with both hands. The heat helped slightly calm the storm inside me.My dragon shifted in a low, aching sound again.I looked up at the banner with my mother's face on it again. She had my eyes. Or I had hers — I still wasn't sure which direction inherit







