LOGINThe scream tore through the park like a blade.For a fraction of a second, everything slowed. The laughter around us faded, the movement of children blurred into the background, and all I could see was Selena’s small body slipping from the wooden beam. Her foot missed the edge, her balance gone, and then she was falling.My body moved before my mind caught up.I didn’t remember standing. I didn’t remember crossing the distance between the bench and the beam. One moment I was sitting beside Sienna, and the next I was running, my heart slamming violently against my ribs as fear surged through me like wildfire.Selena hit the ground hard.The sound of impact echoed louder in my ears than it probably was. She let out another cry, sharp and broken, her small hands clutching at the ground as panic took over her tiny frame.“S-Selena!” Kane’s voice cracked beside her, trembling with fear.Sienna didn’t move.That was what frightened me more than anything else.She stood frozen near the bench
It was Sienna’s day off, and I had learned to recognize those days without asking. Over the past few weeks, her routine had become familiar to me, not because she shared it, but because I watched carefully enough to understand it. On working days, she moved with quiet urgency, her attention split between files, responsibilities, and the children. But today was different. The morning had stretched slowly, gently, without the usual rush, and now we sat together on a wooden bench at the edge of the park while Kane and Selena played in the open field before us.This was the first time she had allowed me to sit beside her like this, without visible irritation or distance tightening her shoulders. It was not forgiveness. It was not acceptance. It was simply permission. And strangely, that small permission felt heavier than anything else she had given me so far.The park buzzed with quiet life. Children laughed loudly as they ran in uneven circles, chasing each other ac
It had been three weeks since Cassius arrived in North Hollow, three weeks since my life began shifting in ways I had not planned and certainly had not prepared for. At first, every day had felt tense, like walking on unfamiliar ground, expecting it to crack beneath my feet at any moment. But slowly, something strange had begun happening—not calm, not acceptance, but a kind of reluctant adjustment that settled into the edges of my routine whether I wanted it or not.Cassius had not crossed the boundaries I set. Not once. That alone had surprised me more than I cared to admit. I had expected him to push, to test the limits, to find ways around the rules the way powerful men usually did when told no. But he hadn’t. Instead, he moved around the edges of our lives like someone who understood that even the smallest misstep could cost him everything. I had seen him leave early some mornings, dressed in formal clothes that reminded me too much of the Alpha he had become, heading back to his
I had expected resistance.Not shouting, not anger, but at least hesitation. Cassius had always been stubborn in his own quiet way, especially when he believed something mattered. Back then, he had stood firm in his choices even when they hurt me. Even when they tore us apart. That memory had stayed with me for years, shaping how I saw him, how I prepared myself for every conversation that involved him.So when he agreed to my rules without protest, without even a flicker of irritation crossing his face, it unsettled me more than if he had argued.I stood there watching him carefully, searching his expression for something—anything—that suggested reluctance. Pride, anger, frustration. Anything that would make sense to the man I once knew.But there was none.Only acceptance.Not the forced kind. Not the kind that waits for the right moment to push back. It looked… deliberate. Like he had already decided that this was the path he would walk, no matter how humiliating or difficult it be
I had not expected her to apologize.After everything she had said, after the way her voice had trembled with years of anger and fear, I had prepared myself for silence… or worse, for her to walk away and leave me kneeling there like a man who had finally been stripped of everything he once believed defined him.But instead, she stood there, breathing hard, her shoulders still tense, her eyes still swollen from crying. The silence between us stretched long enough for me to feel every second settle into my bones. My knees ached slightly from remaining on the floor, but I did not move. I did not dare.Then she spoke.“I shouldn’t have said that like that.” Her voice was quieter now. Not soft, not gentle, but steadier than before. Controlled. For a moment, I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly.I lifted my head slowly, meeting her gaze. There was no warmth in her eyes, but there was something else there now—something heavier than anger. Restraint. “I meant what I said,” she continued,
Watching her break in front of me was worse than anything she had said.I had expected anger. I had prepared myself for shouting, accusations, even hatred. I had told myself that whatever she threw at me, I would take it without resistance because I deserved every bit of it. But nothing prepared me for the sight of her crying like that, her voice trembling under the weight of years she had carried alone.Sienna was never someone who broke easily. Even in the past, when things had been hard, she had held herself together with quiet strength. Seeing that strength crack now, seeing tears spill down her face while she demanded answers from me, made something inside my chest tighten painfully.Her words struck deeper because they were not wild accusations. They were questions. Real questions. Questions built from fear, from memory, from a past I had created with my own decisions.“How long before something else takes your time?” she had asked.That question stayed in my head, louder than a
Cassius was at the door exactly on time. Not a minute early. Not a minute late.When I opened it, he stood there with that careful composure he had been wearing lately — restrained, almost deliberate in every movement. In one hand he held a bottle of wine. In the other, a small pack of fresh juice
“What are you doing here?” Sienna asked me once we moved out of the park. She wasn’t loud but there was a bite in her tone.“Me? I came here to play with the kids. We were here for an hour before
I stared at the well-built wolf in front of me.He stood with the easy authority of someone who did not need to announce his rank. Broad shoulders. Controlled stance. Calm eyes that are measured before reacting. If I kn
Just when I thought I had finally made peace with my future, Cassius stood at my doorway. For a second, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. That the universe had decided I hadn’t suffered enough and wanted to test how steady I truly was.But no. He was real. Leaning against the side of my e







