ログイン"Master, do you intend to—""Naturally. I am going to personally support my mate."The night sky over the territories was scattered with cold, shimmering stars. Riley Knox stared up at them through the window of her cramped rental, her breath hitching. She hadn't left this room in days. Ever since her body had rejected the life inside her, she had been weak and hollow. To avoid the baying press and the scouts of rival clans, she hadn't dared visit a healer.And, of course, she was penniless."Elijah, once I reclaim my status, I’ll buy a sprawling estate by the Silver River," Riley murmured, trying to convince herself. "We’ll return to the high life, the way things were meant to be. This exile won't break me. We survived the fall; the ascent is waiting."Elijah didn't offer a word. He simply forced a grim smile that didn't reach his eyes."Are you still snarling at me? I only took your tribute to buy silks and jewels. Do you really need to show me your teeth over a few coins?"Elijah r
"Tell them I’m retreating to my den to recover. My spirit isn't ready for the hunt just yet," I said, skimming the latest scrolls from the various fashion houses. "Connor mentioned that Nova Star Agency is holding trials for their elite pack in a few days. I need to sharpen my senses for that. Besides, there are lingering scents I need to wash away."Lisa watched me closely. She couldn't always read the shifting tides in my eyes, but after years of running in the same pack, she had a hunter's intuition about my moods."You're tracking Riley Knox, aren't we? That she-wolf has seemingly vanished into the tall grass.""A wolf can only stay hidden for so long before they hunger," I replied. "Finding her isn't the challenge. Her lead tracker has a mate and cubs to feed. Lisa, find him. Whisper in his ear that a powerful Alpha is looking to sign her for a major campaign.""And that 'Alpha' is you, isn't it?" Lisa asked, testing the waters."She is like Blake... her word won't clear my name
"Halt the scent-tracking tonight," Connor replied flatly before cutting the link. Jordan Reed nodded, slipping his device into his pocket with a heavy sigh.He knew the Shadow Alpha better than most. This was a male who reigned over the Vale Media Group with iron and silence; he would never allow the pack to see a crack in his armor, not even the woman who held his heart.Following my declaration that the debt was settled, Turner Studios remained silent for days. The whelp Blake had placed in charge was a yearling with no nose for crisis.No longer owing each other? The public was beginning to see the truth. My supporters began circulating scrolls detailing every time the agency had used me as a decoy or a sacrificial lamb—from the substitute hunt at the Pacific Crown Gala to the recent slander. It was a trail of blood and bruises that would have broken a lesser wolf. Yet, I was the one offering a truce.Under the weight of constant insults, while struggling to reclaim my own territor
"I don’t desire a single scrap of your ruined life, nor do I care to sharpen my claws on you while you're bleeding out. I have a path to tread, and in the grand design of the territories, you are nothing but dust. So, Blake, crawl away..." I lifted my head, my eyes holding a frost that surpassed the winter peaks. "From this heartbeat forward, do not let your scent drift into the Vale Hills, and never dare to cross my path again."Crawl away...Those words struck Blake like a physical blow. He had never heard me speak with such sovereign authority, looking down at him from a height he could no longer reach. He looked like a pathetic jester, having paraded his most humiliating failures before me while clinging to the delusion that he was still a king.What burned him most was the memory of calling me a stray. That insult had rebounded, striking him across the face with the heat of a silver brand. He opened his mouth to snarl back, but seeing my hand firmly entwined with Connor’s, his co
"Ava Hart? My apologies, but we won’t risk our scent on you. We’ve already called in another hunter for the campaign.""Ava, I don’t believe your aura matches our brand anymore. We’re replacing you with someone... less tainted.""If you're so comfortable climbing into judges' furs, why are you whimpering over losing a few scrolls of advertisement?"Some of the pack elders were polite, but others snarled their insults directly. I watched Lisa lower the communication crystal, her face a mask of helplessness. I reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "It’s fine. Just don't let Connor scent this stress on us.""Do you really think the Shadow Alpha doesn't already know?" Lisa sighed, her spirit flagging. She knew this industry was built on blood and glory, and the reality was a cold winter. "I’ll keep howling at the doors as long as there’s a trail to follow."She reached out to one last lead. Surprisingly, they agreed to a face-to-face meeting in the Downtown Civic Registry district. But w
I looked at Connor, and a sudden, sharp ache of unworthiness clawed at my chest. A male of his stature, the silent Shadow Alpha of the Vale Media Group, could have claimed any high-born she-wolf—someone who brought strength to the pack instead of dragging him into the mud of public scandal or forcing him to bare his teeth at the elders.But the Moon had tethered us, and I was never going to sever that bond. I lowered my gaze to his hand, calloused and warm, and slid my fingers between his, anchoring myself to his heat."When a wolf is cornered, they become fragile," he murmured, his voice a low vibration that hummed in my bones. "If there is a path I can clear for you, I will do it. And even if the thicket is too dense, I won't stop clawing until we find the light."I felt the tears spill over then, hot and stinging, even as a smile tugged at my lips. In this brutal world of shifting loyalties, only I truly knew the depth of the tenderness Connor Vale hidden beneath his fur.He seemed
I woke up in the Vale Hills Estate with the sun hitting the silver fur rugs, feeling more like a queen than I had in years. The Pacific Crown Gala had been a triumph for me, but for the Turner siblings, the moon was about to set on their era of lies.Mia Turner had spent the night salivating, waiti
The Pacific Crown Gala had transformed into a secondary coronation for me. I had effectively shredded Turner Studios' plans to bury me in the shadows. Instead of being a forgotten relic, the "Silver Wolf" had left every high-ranking professional in the hall with my scent on their minds—partly due t
Mia Turner’s face was a mask of livid frustration as she and Blake retreated into the grand hall of the Pacific Crown Gala. After the humiliation George Benedict had dealt them on the red carpet, she felt like a cur who had been kicked in the ribs, desperate for a dark corner to lick her wounds."H
"What will Ava be doing tomorrow night?" Riley asked Gary, her voice dripping with practiced nonchalance as she smoothed the silks of her gala gown."The scent is that she’s tracking a night-shoot for the October cover of Secret," he replied, adjusting his glasses. He prided himself on monitoring e







