MasukWhatever Raphe had in mind included Korinna, who wasn’t in the apartment. And I insisted that whatever plan we came up with would include the other pack leaders. It was already so late at night and everyone was mourning the loss of their pack members. So, I put my foot down and told Raphe and Soloman we would pick back up in the morning. After they left, Sutton didn’t seem too pleased that I had kicked them out but I didn’t care. Even Rhonen’s possessiveness and protectiveness had him ready to put her in her place.“Princess, you need a break,” I told her. “You need to sleep.”“I need to finish this,” she argued. “I need to get a plan in place. I need to stop Osric before anyone else gets hurt.”“You can’t do that if you’re running on empty,” I replied. “You’ve barely stood still in the last twenty-four hours. You aren’t doing anyone any favors by running yourself ragged.”“I can’t sleep,” Sutton snapped, her voice shaky as tears started to well. “If I sleep… if… if I stop, then I see
I set the cup of tea down in front of Sutton. I got her back up to our apartment but she still refused to sleep. Not until we figured out how to get to Osric. So, now we sat at our dining room table, waiting to hear about Raphe and Nomi.“We met near the northern border,” Raphe began to tell us. “After my mother died, I had a hard time being in the palace. I started to travel the country. Convincing myself I was getting to know my people so that when the time came, I’d be a good king. But in reality, I was drowning. Avoiding dealing with my mother’s death.” He paused to take a sip of his tea. “I was with a hunting party in the Hollow Moon Pack.”“Hunting party?” Sutton asked. “What were you hunting?”“Rogues,” Raphe clarified. “There is a strip of land along the base of the mountains where the rogues from the northern territories congregate. They had been hassling the local village. So, I was helping some of the pack warriors scare them off. But instead of rogues, we found an injured
“I… I need some air,” I announced to the room.My feet started moving on their own. My thoughts going in a dozen different directions.“Sutton, wait,” Lucas called, rushing to get ahead of me. “Come on, princess. Let’s just go home. You need to get some sleep. We both do.”“I said I need some air,” I snapped back. “Just give me some space, Lucas.”I pushed past him, feeling guilty about snapping but not enough to turn back. I did need some space. I did need some air. But more importantly, I needed to do something. I needed the truth.I needed to talk to Raphe.I left the packhouse and shifted the moment I caught my uncle’s scent. Nova followed it toward the woods. The light of the surrounding city seemed to hover over the trees. It was cold. Making every scent seem stronger. We could see our breath as we stopped to get our bearings.Nova could tell we were closing in on him. We kept our eyes pealed for movement among the brush as we kept moving. Suddenly, a massive wolf leapt out in
“So, how did Hank go from being the head of royal security to an assassin?” Lucas asked.“Osric was outraged when the cure didn’t work,” Soloman continued. “He blamed Hank. Osric was convinced that Hank owed his mate's life to him.”“Osric was threatening Hank’s mate?” I replied in outrage.Soloman nodded. “But Hank felt guilty as well. He failed to save his queen. That made it easier for Osric to bully him out of his position. I had heard he was doing some of Osric’s dirty work over the years, but I didn’t think it was anything that bad. Osric pushed me out of is his life.”“He pushed everyone out of his life,” Raphe said. “He barely spoke to anyone. Or so we thought.”“Yes, apparently he was staying in touch with this Hank,” I said. “And sending him after my father and my mate.” I let out a scoff that was almost a growl. “How can he believe I would ever forgive him?”“Yeah, that’s something I still don’t understand,” Lucas said. “I think we can all understand his grudge against the
“Soloman, my mother died thirty years ago,” Raphe said stiffly. “I know it broke my father but what could any of this have to do with her now? Better yet, what does this low-life assassin have to do with my mother?”“He wasn’t always an assassin,” Soloman said. “He used to be the head of your father’s security. Until…”“Until what?” Raphe pressed angrily.“Raphe, there’s something you need to know…” Soloman continued. “Something I swore to your father I would never tell you, but…”“But my father has betrayed everything we believe in, so I don’t really give a damn what he never wanted me to know,” Raphe snapped. “He’s taken my mate. He’s taken my sister. And I sense that you’re about to tell me that he somehow did something that took my mother away from me too.”“No, not at all,” Soloman insisted. “But… but you should know that… that your mother’s death… the details of your mother’s death weren’t entirely true, Raphe.”“Excuse me?” Raphe replied, jumping to his feet. “I sat with my mot
I sat at the conference table once again. This time waiting for Osric’s video call. He insisted on video, but even that was a reluctant agreement. His persistence in meeting with us in person only convinced us more that he was trying to set a trap for us. So, there was no way we would be meeting without this call first.We would inevitably have to meet with him in person. Whether it was in negotiations or on the battle field, we would have to meet in person. And I would deal with that when the time came. For now, I wanted answers. Those answers would determine in what capacity we would be seeing each other.The call indicator started to ring on the monitor.“Ready?” Raphe asked me from across the table.“Ready,” I told him with a deep breath as Lucas squeezed my shoulder.With the press of a button, Osric appeared on the screen. Standing behind him was Nomi and, to my dismay, Alpha Anders. I could feel the tension in the room rise.“Raphe, Sutton,” Osric greeted us. “I’m so glad you…”
She said it so decisively — so defensively — there was no way to miss the fear and shame behind the response. My head snapped to her. Her face was red and she was trying to hide behind the laptop. There was definitely something she wasn’t telling me.“Okay, Sutton, talk,” I ordered. “There’s a reas
I had loaded Sutton up into the truck and started the long drive home as soon as possible. It was a quiet drive despite my attempts to get Sutton to speak to me. I gave up after half an hour. I tried to focus my mind on the Dawn Stalker issue.Things were escalating quickly. I would have to confron
I nearly canceled the trip altogether after my night with Sutton. Just so she’d give up this ridiculous mission to come with. The idea of her being so close to the border with Alpha Anders’ men pushing into our lands made me sick. Rhonen protested the entire morning, abandoning me to the deep reces
It didn’t take long for Dr. Callahan to remove the cast and complete her examination.“I want you to keep this brace on when you sleep or do any strenuous tasks,” she instructed. “Just to be safe until we can get you in for an x-ray. If you feel any lasting pain, you call me or go see the pack doct







