ВойтиGia's PovThe slamming of the door briefly jolted me out of my reverie. Instinctively, my fingers wrapped around the bruises on my wrist, covering them."Gia," Levi said, his voice barely above a whisper.I could hear it.The concern. The caution in his eyes as he stared at me like I was an injured bambi.I hated it. I felt weak under his stare, and it wasn’t in the good way. In an effort to avoid his stare, I lowered mine.My breath caught in my throat. The purplish-blue welts marred my skin, evidence of the ordeal I just experienced.It still felt like a dream. Somehow, no, more like a nightmare. I wish it were.I traced the outline. It still felt heavy, as though invisible chains were locked around them.Ugly. That was the word to describe it.I wondered, will it ever be the same again? Before torrents of self-blame could surge, I shut my eyes.Shutting the beads of tears that threatened to escape and blurred my vision.My throat burned.The tension in the air was suffocating, but
ALAN WOODThe moment I left Levi's room, the mask I'd been wearing for years threatened to slip. That fucking idiot actually bought my bullshit about wanting to help him. The way he looked at me with such trust, such gratitude, it made my stomach turn. If only he knew that every word out of my mouth was carefully calculated to bring about his downfall.I had to force myself to maintain my composed best-friend facade as I walked through the pack house corridors.My plan had worked perfectly. I'd presented Levi with what seemed like a reasonable solution to his Gia problem, when in reality, I was setting up the pieces for something much bigger. Holding Gia's former boss at the strip club and his family hostage wasn't just about getting testimony in her favor. It was about creating a trail of evidence that would eventually lead back to Levi himself.The beauty of it was that Levi would be the one giving the orders. He'd be the one authorizing the kidnapping, the coercion, the illegal act
ALAN WOODThe moment I left Levi's room, the mask I'd been wearing for years threatened to slip. That fucking idiot actually bought my bullshit about wanting to help him. The way he looked at me with such trust, such gratitude, it made my stomach turn. If only he knew that every word out of my mouth was carefully calculated to bring about his downfall.I had to force myself to maintain my composed best-friend facade as I walked through the pack house corridors.My plan had worked perfectly. I'd presented Levi with what seemed like a reasonable solution to his Gia problem, when in reality, I was setting up the pieces for something much bigger. Holding Gia's former boss at the strip club and his family hostage wasn't just about getting testimony in her favor. It was about creating a trail of evidence that would eventually lead back to Levi himself.The beauty of it was that Levi would be the one giving the orders. He'd be the one authorizing the kidnapping, the coercion, the illegal act
LEVI EDELMANThe moment we left that suffocating hall, I could feel Gia's composure crumbling. Her hand trembled in mine as we walked through the corridors, and by the time we reached our room, the tears she'd been holding back during the entire meeting finally broke free."Gia," I said softly, closing the door behind us and immediately pulling her into my arms. "It's over now. You're safe."But my words seemed to have the opposite effect. Instead of calming her, they only made her sob harder. Her whole body shook against me as she buried her face in my chest, her tears soaking through my shirt."They hate me," she whispered between sobs. "They all hate me so much, Levi. Did you see their faces? The way they looked at me like I was... like I was something disgusting they couldn't wait to get rid of.""Hey, look at me," I said, gently tilting her chin up so I could see her eyes. They were red and swollen, filled with a pain that made my chest ache. "What they think doesn't matter. What
KEEGAN O’LEARY I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The words coming out of Levi's mouth felt like a death sentence to everything I'd worked so carefully to orchestrate. My hands clenched into fists beneath the table as I watched the elders throw their objections at him, their voices rising in protest, but all I could focus on was Gia sitting there in that chair, the Luna's chair that she had no right to occupy.Just when I thought I'd found the perfect way to drive her out of the pack before the Blood moon. Just when everything seemed to be falling into place, when the pack's hatred was at its peak and her banishment was all but guaranteed, Levi had to ruin everything with his stubborn loyalty.A court appeal. Months of investigation. Months of her remaining as Luna, continuing her duties, solidifying her position. My jaw clenched so tightly I thought my teeth might crack.The rage building inside me was becoming impossible to contain. I'd been so close so damn close to getting he
LEVI EDELMAN I led Gia into the hall where the pack elders were already assembled, their faces grim and disapproving. The tension in the room was immediate and suffocating. As we entered, I could feel their judgmental eyes boring into us - into her, especially. Their contempt was palpable. The hall felt different today. Usually, it was a place of honor and tradition, where important pack decisions were made with dignity and respect. Today, it felt like a courtroom - hostile and unwelcoming. The elders sat in their traditional semicircle, their expressions ranging from disgust to barely concealed fury.Before we could even take our seats, Elder Raymond spoke up, his voice dripping with disgust. "What is a whore doing in our sacred hall? This meeting is for pack business, not for entertaining prostitutes."The words hit me like a physical blow, and I felt my anger surge with rage. How dare he speak about my Luna that way? How dare any of them think they could disrespect their Luna in







