LOGINAcross the hall, the doors creaked open as more guards entered - late, tense, confused by the sudden shift in power. Boots halted. Conversations died mid-breath.The room still smelled like violence.The young Alpha lay groaning at the base of the pillar, not dead - unfortunately - but broken enough to serve as a warning. No one rushed to help him. Not one of his witnesses. Not one ally. In this world, weakness invited silence.Cameron stood motionless at my side, blood seeping steadily through the fabric stretched across his ribs. His breathing was controlled, measured, but I felt it - felt the strain through the bond like a low ache behind my eyes.The older Alpha - silver-haired, sharp-eyed, dangerous in the quiet way - took a slow step backward. His gaze never left Cameron.“Then this gathering,” he said carefully, every word weighed, “has just become something far bigger than proposals and politics.”A ripple moved through the room. Not panic. Not fear. Recognition.He bowed his
I turned. He stood at the threshold, dressed in black borrowed clothes that fit him like they’d always been his. Kieran hovered half a step behind him, ready to catch him if he swayed, but Cameron stood tall, shoulders squared, eyes burning with quiet, lethal promise.The bond surged. Not wild. Not frantic. Claimed. Just Claimed.Rhys sniffed the air, than stiffened. “You’re injured.”Cameron smiled thinly. "You’re alive. For now"He took another step forward. The room reacted instinctively - Alphas shifting, wolves bristling, witnesses going silent.I walked toward him without hesitation, stopping just within arm’s reach. “You should be in bed.” I murmured.He dipped his head closer, voice just for me. “I'd missed the show.”I turned back to the room, lifting my chin.“For the record,” I said clearly, “any future proposals should be addressed to both of us.”Rhys’s gaze flicked between us, sharp now. Calculating.“You’re not fully bonded,” he said. “I’d know.”Cameron’s hand slid to
Rowan waited for me outside my bedroom door like a man escorting someone to a duel rather than a meeting.“You ready?” he asked, voice neutral. Too neutral. The kind he used when he expected blood.I adjusted the cuff of my jacket, the dark fabric hugging my shoulders just right. Power dressing wasn’t about flash - it was about control. And tonight, I intended to own the room.I stepped into the doorway, paused just long enough to glance back.Cameron lay propped against the headboard, pale but awake, dark hair still damp from the doctor’s last round of potions. He lifted his brow, watching me with that quiet, dangerous focus of his.I winked.“Oh,” I said lightly, “this should be fun.”His lips curved, slow and knowing. “Try not to start a war without me.”“No promises.”Rowan cleared his throat pointedly.I turned and swept past him, heels clicking against marble as we descended the grand staircase together. The mansion felt different tonight - coiled. Waiting.The main hall was alr
The stairs creaked under my bare feet as I climbed back up, the sound too loud in the stillness of the mansion. Downstairs, my brothers were already arguing about strategy, retaliation, politics, the usual bloody symphony of Vale crisis management. I needed a moment where none of them could reach me.I pushed open my bedroom door softly.Cameron was awake.He lay propped slightly against the pillows now, dark hair damp at the edges, eyes tracking the door the second it opened. Relief hit me first - sharp and sudden - followed by something warmer, deeper, that sank straight into my bones.“You weren’t gone long,” he said.“I wasn’t planning to be,” I replied, closing the door behind me.I crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed again. The scent of him - pine, night, something dark and wolfy - wrapped around me instantly. The bond stirred, not frantic this time. Aware. Curious. Like it was listening.“You look… different,” Cameron murmured.I snorted. “Let me guess. Murder-y?”H
The war room smelled like coffee, iron, and barely restrained violence. Which, frankly, felt appropriate.Rowan stood at the head of the table, sleeves rolled up, hands braced against the dark wood like he was holding the house together through sheer will. Damon leaned against the window with his arms crossed, watching the grounds like he expected another ambush to leap out of the hedges. Silas was already seated, flipping through a tablet with a scowl carved permanently into his face. Kieran lounged in his chair, boot hooked over one knee, pretending this was all mildly amusing instead of deeply infuriating.I closed the door behind me.Every head snapped up.“Well,” Kieran said lightly, eyes flicking over me. “Look at that. She still walks. Miracle of the century.”“Careful,” I replied, taking a seat. “I’m still in a ripping-hearts-out mood.”That earned me a few grim smiles. Damon’s, especially, was sharp with pride.Rowan’s gaze softened just a fraction. “How is he?”“Healing,” I
The mansion was too quiet.Not the peaceful kind of quiet - this was the kind that followed violence, when everyone was listening for echoes that might come back wrong.Cameron lay in my bed, sheets dark against his skin, bandages wrapped around his ribs and shoulder where the worst of the damage had been. The pack doctor had worked in silence, efficient and grim, stitching flesh and coaxing bones back into place with practiced hands and low murmured commands.“He’ll heal,” the doctor had said finally, straightening. “Strong wolf. Stubborn one.”I snorted softly. That tracks.“But he needs rest. No shifting for at least a week. Two if he’s smart.”Cameron cracked one eye open at that. “I’m not smart.”The doctor huffed. “Clearly.” Then his gaze shifted to me, serious. “He lost a lot of blood. Keep him warm. Keep him fed. And don’t let him leave this room.”Cameron waited until the door closed behind him before speaking again.“You look like hell,” he murmured.I crossed my arms. “Funn







