LOGINCHAPTER 46ROWAN POVThe town matching the fragment took two days to identify, buried in an old regional gazetteer that hadn't been updated since before the border war that killed Kade's father."Sanctuary Hollow," Ellis read aloud, tracing the faded map with one finger. "Renamed generations ago. Most current maps just call it Hollow Creek. No wonder the name meant nothing to either of us.""Renamed by whom.""The gazetteer doesn't say. Just notes the change, no explanation." He looked up at me. "It's a half-day's ride east, past Diamond's border. Small settlement. Mostly abandoned, from what little else I could find."I didn't like the timing of it, the way every lead we'd chased since the ambush had a habit of sitting just beyond the edge of territory anyone bothered to patrol closely. That kind of placement wasn't accidental. Whoever built this network understood exactly which stretches of land drew scrutiny and which ones didn't, and they'd built their entire operation in the gaps
CHAPTER 42ROWAN POVThe search for Tricia turned up nothing by morning, no sign of her past the eastern tree line, no scent trail that held past the first quarter mile, which told me whoever had taken her, if she'd been taken at all, had known exactly how to move a body without leaving anything a wolf's nose could follow.I walked the tree line myself before calling off the outer search, checking every broken branch, every disturbed patch of undergrowth, looking for the kind of evidence that only reveals itself to someone willing to crawl through the mud to find it. There was nothing. Whoever had orchestrated this had either been extraordinarily lucky, or extraordinarily practiced.I called off the search and turned my attention inward instead, to the one thing I could still control."Show me everything," I told Ellis, once we'd shut ourselves into the security office with the door locked. "Every log, every entry point, every hour she's been logged leaving this estate since the day s
CHAPTER 4Damon's POVI knew it was fruitless listening to Ava in the first place.When I saw my bodyguard drag her back into the house, his hand was gripping the collar of her shirt as if she were some deadly criminal.Well, she is a criminal.Ava stole both my money and my heart.I asked the bodyguard what happened, and he told me she couldn't prove anything. The family that lived there moved away years ago.Part of me still remembered the panic in her eyes. But the empty house...the lies...they all pointed back to Ava.I scoff.Ava and her stupid schemes.For one stupid moment...I almost believed her.I leave Ava locked in the guest room before heading downstairs.This time, I honestly do not know what to do with her. For some weird reason, I am reluctant to take her to prison.I hastily wave away such thoughts and turn my attention back to the family dinner.I gaze around and notice that everyone has suddenly gone quiet. Every pair of eyes at the table is on me. They all look expe
CHAPTER 2Mia Hart woke to the sound of her phone screaming.Not literally. But seventeen notifications in thirty seconds felt close enough. She rolled over, squinting at the screen through crusted eyes. 2:47 AM, 2:48. Then 2:49. Her thumb swiped blindly across the glass.@WolvesInsider: Noah Hayes seen leaving arena with mystery woman—we all know who@HockeyBuzz: 100% confirmed? Sources say relationship has been ongoing for months@MiaHartFanClub (new account, 12K followers): THE QUEEN AND HER KINGShe laughed once, not because it was funny. Because the internet had created a relationship that didn't exist in less than eight hours. Thousands of new followers. Reporters requesting interviews. Fans editing videos of the "kiss" from seventeen different angles. Someone had already stitched together every clip of her and Noah from the past four years.The laugh died in her throat.She scrolled past the noise, past the tags, the edited photos and the speculative threads and the comments
CHAPTER 2Aria's POV"Ava?"He slowly approaches me with a confused look on his face.I stagger backward, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way he draws closer to me. His presence unsettles me. Maybe it's the men surrounding him or the way his piercing hazel eyes bore into mine. I may not know this man at all, but one thing I am certain of is that he is a very powerful person.The men around him don't move until he does.Even the hospital security guards keep their distance.He finally freezes in front of me, and I can still see the shock in his eyes."It is really you," he mumbles, his voice rough and hoarse.I gulp and hastily shake my head in disagreement. In order to clear up the misunderstanding, I quickly correct him."My name is not Ava but Aria." My voice trembles. "I'm Ava's twin sister."For a second, he simply stares at me.Then he laughs.A cold, bitter laugh."The twin story?" He shakes his head slowly. "You're still using that lie?"My brow furrows."What lie? I'm
CHAPTER 1Aria's POV"She is awake!"I slowly flutter my eyes open. A bright fluorescent light overhead almost blinds me. I gulp, my mind disoriented as several people dressed in white coats rush towards me.My eyelids felt impossibly heavy. Every muscle in my body ached as though I had slept for years. A sharp antiseptic smell filled my nose. Machines beeped steadily beside me. I blinked at the white ceiling, struggling to remember how I had gotten here.I try to sit up, but a sharp pain shoots through my head, causing me to wince in agony and fall back onto the pillow.As I lie there, their faces begin to blur as they run tests and check my vital signs. My confusion deepens as I try to recall how I got here in the first place.Once the medical team confirms that I am okay, a kind woman with a warm smile plastered on her face walks into the room. She freezes in front of me and asks, "How are you feeling?"I want to tell her that I am confused, tired, and uncomfortable, but instead I







