FAZER LOGIN"Mistress?"Holden looked genuinely offended. He stood on the opposite side of the war table staring at Evren like he'd just announced plans to burn down Embermoon himself. "You offered her to be your mistress? Forgive me, Alpha, but this is Eira we're talking about."Evren didn't even look up. His finger continued tracing routes across the map spread over the table. "Take Eastreach."Holden blinked."What?""Take Eastreach," Evren repeated. "It's smaller than Highbranch. We can secure it before winter and establish a permanent trade route before Sandspire notices what we're doing."Leander glanced up from a stack of reports and immediately groaned. "Moon Goddess, he's doing that thing again.""What thing?" Holden asked."The thing where he pretends we're discussing military campaigns because he doesn't want to discuss his personal disasters.""I am discussing military campaigns.""No, you're avoiding me." Holden folded his arms while Evren calmly moved another pawn across the map. "
Eira looked away, remaining silent. Evren watched her for a long moment before sighing. He wanted answers. Moon Goddess, he wanted answers. Seven years of questions had followed him into every battlefield, every council meeting, every sleepless night. But she was here now. Alive. Breathing. Close enough to touch."Fine." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Keep your secrets for one more night then. You're not going anywhere."Eira's throat tightened unexpectedly. He should have been angry. Maybe he was. The worst part was that he was trying not to be."In the meantime," he continued quietly, his hand settling against her leg, "you will stay here."Eira looked up. Something in his expression made her chest hurt. Not because he looked furious, but because he looked tired—exhausted in a way she had never seen before.Then he added, "You will be my mistress."The words hit her like a slap. Mistress. Not Luna. Not mate. Mistres
Liana’s gaze stayed on Eira after the words left her mouth. “What is this whore doing on my mate’s lap?” Cold air still drifted through the open doors behind her, carrying snow and pine and the sharp scent of winter into the room. Tina hovered near the entrance looking horrified, fingers clenched tightly in her skirts after obviously failing to stop her. But the strongest scent in the room wasn’t snow. It was Evren. Burning cedarwood, smoke, frost. Possessive. The second Liana entered, it thickened instinctively around Eira like his wolf reacted before the man did. Eira felt it immediately. So did Liana. Her eyes flickered once. Tiny. Almost invisible. Then they dragged slowly over Eira sitting against Evren’s chest, the silver sleeping clothes, the damp curls spilling over bare shoulders, the way Evren’s hand rested low
AJ looked up instantly from the couch near the windows. His expression flattened. Boo’s mouth twitched slightly.“You came all the way here shirtless just to flirt?”Holden glanced down at himself casually. “You noticed.”Boo snorted softly under his breath.Behind Holden, Snow finally looked annoyed. “Uncle Holden keeps talking instead of taking us inside.”“I am building connections,” Holden defended.“You’re staring,” Forrest corrected sleepily.Holden ignored that completely. His eyes dragged over Boo again slowly and somehow shamelessly. Fresh curls. Warm skin. Loose dark robes hanging carelessly from one shoulder. Moon Goddess. The bath earlier genuinely made Boo look unfair.Holden had seen beautiful people before. Embermoon was full of nobles obsessed with breeding pretty children. This felt different. Boo looked soft in a way that made a person want to ruin their own life a little.AJ’s fingers
The murmurings spreading across the throne room slowly dragged Evren back into the present.The massive chamber no longer felt silent now that the shock had settled. Whispers rolled beneath the high ceilings in restless waves while nobles leaned toward one another openly, silver jewelry glinting beneath candlelight as they stared at Eira and the twins like they were witnessing prophecy crawl out of the grave itself.But Evren barely heard any of it.She was real.Actually here.Not another phantom scent haunting empty corridors at midnight. Not another hallucination lingering on winter air only to disappear the second he chased after it.Real.Standing close enough for him to touch.And now that she stood directly in front of him, he realized something else.Her scent had changed.The sweetness he remembered still existed beneath everything else, warm cocoa and soft wildflowers, but now another
Holden entered first.The heavy throne room doors shut behind him with a deep echo that rolled through the chamber.“My Alpha,” he greeted casually.At the far end of the hall, seated upon the dark throne carved from black stone and silver, Evren barely looked up from the documents being passed to him by Leander. “You returned earlier than expected.”His voice carried easily across the room, calm, controlled, cold. The voice of a man used to obedience before he even finished speaking.Holden walked further inward, boots clicking against polished stone.“Yes well, Highbranch collapsed faster than anticipated.”Several nobles shifted subtly nearby while commanders remained still along the sides of the throne room.“And?” Evren asked without interest.Holden’s grin widened.“And I found something interesting.”That made Evren finally look up.Only a few things ever held
Rain had started before dawn and never properly stopped.It sat over Highbranch in a steady gray sheet, turning the wooden walkways slick and dark with moisture. Water dripped constantly from the thick canopy overhead, sliding from leaf to leaf before finally hitting the ground below.
It was barely a week later when Evren was summoned by the Alpha of Embermoon pack. A pack he had heard of only in fragments, a pack that was surrounded by cold and were indeed very brutal. A pack which most packs would either make an ally or avoid entirely. Featherwaters was one of them. Which
Evren didn't let go of her right away. They stood longer than they should, water still dripping off him. Eira pressed her forehead into his chest again, right over his heart and he tightened his arm around her. "You smell like you were ready to kill someone," she said quietly. He huffed. "I was.
It was before the first winter of the year set in when they left. Well, not exactly of their own will but nonetheless, they left. Meira had known it would end eventually. One too many nights, she had enjoyed his warmth, his scent familiar all over her, her body, her belongings. But one thing







