LOGINANDREW'S POV, “That seems premature. We're at a delicate point in the discussion—” “Which is exactly why we need a few minutes,” I said, holding his gaze. He looked away first, and I continued. “To discuss your proposals in private and speak our mind without you listening to us. Unless there's a r
ANDREW'S POV, I noticed the guard first. Not his presence, his absence. The post in the east corridor had been manned every time I had checked it since we arrived. It was a consistent, unremarkable detail that I had catalogued the way I catalogued everything in a room like this one—automatically,
ELENA'S POV, The report came in fragments, the way bad news always did. It wasn't clean, nor with the kind of clarity that made decisions easy. Just pieces, arriving one after another through channels that were supposed to be secure and reliable, and each piece landed worse than the one before it.
ELENA'S POV, “I don't need a recess,” I said and my voice came out flat. It wasn't cold, nor sharp, just flat, emptied of the performance of composure I had been maintaining since we walked through the door. Al'thor blinked once, and for the first time since this meeting began, I watched fear fli
ELENA'S POV, I don't know how long I stood there before Andrew noticed. He didn't say anything at first. He just shifted around, closing the distance between us by half a step, the way he always did when he sensed something was wrong but didn't yet know what shape it had taken. It was a small thin
ELENA'S POV, “During what?” I asked, not caring that I cut him off from finishing, or that my voice was loud. I had spent years making sure others were happy with what I was doing, and I wasn't the reason for any of their troubles. Now I wanted to be better than that, for myself, instead of being
The moment Elena saw the photograph, her face was drained of color. She turned pale as a ghost, and the pink diary in her hand fell on the floor. I could almost hear the crack in her chest and felt the pain in her heart. I didn’t enjoy it. Not exactly. But I couldn’t lie—there was a grim satisfactio
ELENA'S POV,“It has nothing to do with you. I just want to meet my daughter. I have the right to see her.”The way Julian said that made me angrier than I already was with him. Suddenly, he remembered he had a daughter and wanted to meet her. Where was this fatherly love when she died in a hospital
“Stay out of this, President Ryan. This is our family matter and doesn't concern you.” I wasn't in the mood to talk to him, yet I had to because he was glued to Elena.“She isn't your family anymore... I am her family.”I turned to face Elena, to see her reaction, to see her telling him that he was
LAUREN’S POV,When Elena walked out of the Black Stone Pack, I knew there would never be a better chance to take advantage of Julian.The Pack Alpha was weak, heartbroken, and vulnerable—ideal conditions for me to set my trap. Despite everything being right in front of him, he still struggled to und







