ログイン•MARY•The drive to Whitlock territory took most of the night.I sat in the passenger seat and watched the trees blur past the window while Xander drove in silence. Neither of us spoke much. There wasn't anything left to say that would make any of this feel better, so we just sat with the weight of it and let the miles pass.By the time the familiar stone entrance of Whitlock pack came into view, the sun was rising.I hadn't been back here in years. I had told myself I never would be. But here I was, returning with nothing but a bag and a brother who looked just as lost as I felt.My father was in the courtyard when we arrived.That surprised me. It was early, and I hadn't sent word ahead. But he was standing there in the open space between the main house and the training ground, speaking to a small group of pack members who had gathered nearby.When he turned and saw us walking through the gate, he went completely still.For one brief moment, I allowed myself to hope. I thought ma
•CATHERINE•The phone slipped from my fingers and fell onto the vanity table with a loud clatter.Aisha grabbed my shoulders. "Catherine? What happened? What's wrong?"I couldn't speak for a moment. The words the doctor had just said were still ringing in my ears, bouncing around inside my head like they refused to settle.'Nora is dead.'"I have to go," I whispered."Go where?" Aisha asked, her voice rising with alarm. "Catherine, you're shaking."I hadn't even noticed. I looked down at my hands and saw that she was right. My fingers were trembling as I grabbed my jacket from the bed and pulled it over my shoulders."Viktor's mother is dead," I said quietly. "He's in the clinic."Aisha's face fell. She didn't say anything else. She just stepped aside and let me go.***The drive to Viktor's pack felt longer than it ever had before.I kept my hands tight on the wheel and my eyes on the road, but my mind was somewhere else entirely. I kept thinking about Nora. Her warm smile. The way
•LEO•The Stormfield elders had been waiting for nearly an hour by the time I returned to the council hall.They sat in a straight line along the long wooden table, their expressions serious and guarded. These were the same people who had once watched Catherine suffer without lifting a finger. But now they wanted her back to their Alpha. I folded my arms over my chest and slowly walked toward them.“Have you spoken to her?” Elder Tobias asked immediately, leaning forward. "The entire pack is waiting to hear if she will rejoin our pack as the Alpha." I stopped a few feet away from the table. “Yes,” I answered. "I've spoken to her." Every pair of eyes in the room focused on me at once. “And?” another elder asked.I exhaled slowly before responding. “She needs time to think about your request. The news came suddenly to her, but I assure you, she will get back to you.”Elder Tobias frowned. “She needs time?”“Yes,” I repeated calmly. “Catherine didn’t expect this. You can’t walk into
•CATHERINE•For a moment I could only stare at her. I couldn't believe she was standing right in front of me, looking at me as if she had never wanted me dead a few days ago. She betrayed me and didn't even care that Killian wanted me gone. She knew what he wanted to do with me, but lied to me anyway. “What are you doing here?” I muttered. “After everything that happened and what you did? You shouldn't be here.”Aisha’s lips trembled.For a second I thought she might try to defend herself or pretend nothing had happened, but instead, she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me.I was so surprised that I stepped back from her, and watched as her hands clasped together. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.Her voice cracked, and when she looked up at me, I saw tears already spilling down her cheeks.“I’m so sorry, Catherine. If I could take back what I did to you, I would do it without a second thought. You are my sister and I never meant to betray you.”My hands curled into fists at my
•VIKTOR•My mother, Nora, sat across from me at the small wooden table, her fingers slowly folding a cloth as she listened to me speak.“Catherine will be back soon,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair while I rubbed the back of my neck. “She went back home to make sure Julie is well. You know how she is. She won’t leave someone who needs her.”My mother nodded, though I could see the concern in her eyes.“That girl carries too much on her shoulders,” she murmured. “More than she should.”I exhaled and looked toward the door.Catherine had been gone longer than I liked, but I trusted her strength. She had survived things that would have broken most people. Still, a part of me always worried when she was out of my sight.“She’ll be fine,” I answered. "We spoke and she promised to tell me if anything unusual happened." My mother looked at me for a moment before a small smile touched her lips. “You care about her.”"If she never left, she would be here as my fiancé," I replied, smilin
•CATHERINE• I swore under my breath when I received Viktor's call in the morning. I hadn't realized he'd call so early in the morning when I turned on my cell phone.My heart skipped a beat as I sat up on the bed, wondering what I'd say to him. He was probably mad with me and wouldn't listen to any excuses I'd have. But I also didn't want him to think something had happened to me. So, I answered the call. "Hey, baby." "Catherine, where are you?" "I'm sorry, Viktor, but I had to rush back home last night because Julie wasn't feeling okay. She needed my help," I replied. "I didn't know how to tell you because you were still busy with the event, and I didn't want to disrupt it.""You should've said something to me," he answered. "I was worried about you, and I didn't even know what to do." I got off the bed and went to the bathroom, where I pulled out the pregnancy test kit I had bought the previous day on our way home. "I am very sorry, I should've told you," I said as I sat on t







