LOGINIrene's POVThe war room felt smaller with everyone crowded inside.Elders filled the seats around the main table. Maps and diagrams spread across every surface. The smell of blood and smoke still lingered on our clothes from the battle hours before.We had won the skirmish. But winning a battle wasn't the same as winning a war.
Karson's POVThe scratches on her arm weren't deep.But they were there. Red lines carved into her skin. Evidence of a fight that could have gone differently. Evidence of my failure.I watched her apply the ointment. Her movements efficient. Practiced. She didn't wince at the sting. Didn't hesitate or fumble.
Irene's POVThe battlefield was still settling when Karson appeared at my side.He moved fast despite his injured leg. Limping across the blood-soaked ground like the wound didn't exist. Like nothing mattered except reaching me."Irene." His voice was rough. Breathless. "Are you hurt? Did they—"
Irene's POVLexie was broken beneath me.Bleeding. Whimpering. Defeated.I shifted back to human form. Stood over her crumpled body. Ready to end this once and for all."It's over, Lexie." My voice came out cold. Flat. "You've lost."
Irene's POVMidnight came slowly.I waited in the shadows near the depot. My body tense. My senses stretched to their limits. Every rustle of leaves. Every whisper of wind. Every distant owl call amplified in the darkness.The children were hidden safely behind the main building. Far from the trap zone. Close enough to alert us if their sharp noses detected anything unusual.
Irene's POVThe trap needed bait.Good bait. The kind that would make Lexie abandon caution entirely. The kind that would draw her in like a moth to flame.I knew exactly what that bait needed to be.Me.
Irene's POVKen had only been in the Pack for three days, but my children had already adopted him like a stray puppy.I watched from the kitchen doorway as Carl and Karin circled him in the garden, their eyes wide with wonder. Ken sat cross-legged on the grass, looking relaxed. The fierce guardian
KARSON
Irene's POVThe messenger arrived at dawn.He was young, barely past his first shift, with the same silver-touched hair I had seen in Ken's descriptions of Dark Hollows wolves. He knelt before me in the main hall, trembling with exhaustion and reverence."Princess." His voice cracked. "The elders s
The black SUV rolled through the Pack gates without warning.Guards scrambled to intercept it, but the vehicle had already parked in the main courtyard by the time anyone could react. The driver's door swung open, and Alpha Lucas stepped out, his presence commanding immediate attention.He looked l







