LOGINThird Person's POVThe knots in Trista's nerves finally loosened a fraction.She reached into her bag and pulled out a voice recorder with crisp, decisive movements. "You've always been a man of your word. I'm recording this as proof—from this second on, no one from Ironthorn is allowed to interfere with my career or use my family to threaten me. In exchange, I will cooperate unconditionally for the sake of the pack's interests."Howard glanced at the recorder in her hand. A faint, almost imperceptible glimmer of approval flashed in his eyes.She knew how to turn words into evidence; she knew how to use the system to trap the system.Once the deal was struck, Trista and Cassian headed back to the villa.The drive was silent.The air in the car was a heavy cocktail of blood and medicinal salve. The wounds on Cassian's back were still seeping, but he didn't utter a word about it.Trista didn't ask. Silence was the cold, hard line that kept them on opposite sides.The moment they stepped
Third Person's POVBack then, when the whip had lashed across her back, her whole body had jolted. She had turned deathly pale in an instant, but she hadn't budged.He had called her a fool under his breath.She had been shaking from the pain, yet she still managed to give him a small smile.It was a stubborn, genuine smile, carrying the raw, unpolished spark of a young Luna.She said she was willing.She said she just wanted to be his shield.But now, she stood only a few feet away.She was close enough to touch, yet it felt like they were separated by an uncrossable border.She wouldn't even grant him a glance, as if she had personally buried every trace of that past impulsiveness and devotion.Alaina stood beside her mate, her fingers twisting unconsciously.She watched her son kneeling on the floor, taking the hits with a rigid spine, his eyes rimmed with red—yet he refused to stop staring at Trista.In his gaze, there was a messy tangle of lupine obsession and the sheer instabili
Third Person's POVCassian followed her out.He spent the entire drive managing the fallout through the Mind-Link with Humphrey. His orders were short and razor-sharp, like a blade scraping across stone.But even as he worked, his peripheral vision never left Trista.She looked indifferent. Her scent was so clean it was almost a void, as if this entire storm had nothing to do with her.The car crossed the Ironthorn boundary line.A thin layer of frost seemed to settle on the windows as the city noise died away, replaced by the damp, cold air of the forest and stone paths.The sound of tires crushing gravel felt unnervingly loud in the night.The house was ablaze with lights—a fortress that never slept.Trista was out of the car first, with Cassian right on her heels.He'd just cut the link and reached out to stop her. "Wait a second—"Trista shook his hand off with a sharp, fluid motion. She didn't give him a chance to speak.Instead, she walked up and greeted Wynn as if nothing had h
Third Person's POVTrista tilted her head back slightly and took a long, slow breath.Her chest felt like it was being squeezed in a vise, but her head had never been clearer.She could actually hear her own pulse—steady and rhythmic, like a high-performance engine idling in the cold.A few minutes later, she drifted into the toy department.The place was a sensory overload of neon colors and sterile white lights, with shelves packed to the ceiling with everything a pup could dream of.She hung back behind a display rack, watching Cassian from a distance.He paused at a shelf, weighing two different water guns in his hands before settling on the pricier model and grabbing a matching electronic target to go with it. He moved with a practiced ease, the casual efficiency of a man who'd been playing "Daddy" for a long time.Trista pulled out her phone, killed the screen brightness, and focused the lens. She didn't hesitate when she hit the shutter.She caught a perfect shot of Cassian's b
Third Person's POVSamantha scrambled to explain. "Algernon isn't just physically hurt; he's traumatized. He cried all through the night. His water gun is broken, and he's been throwing a fit for a new one since dawn. My mother took him out to try and calm him down."Cassian's brow twitched at the mention of the boy "crying all night," but he didn't immediately take the bait.He stayed silent for a beat before offering a steady, grounded warning. "Don't spoil him too much. If you indulge him now, he'll be impossible to handle when he's older."Samantha lowered her eyes guiltily, but then, as if finding a better angle, she looked up at him. "Cassian, you can't blame Algernon. I tried to be polite and greet Luna Trista, but she just kept glaring at me. Algernon is just so sensitive about manners; that's how the misunderstanding started."She chose the word "manners" carefully, wrapping a blatant provocation in a layer of innocence.Cassian's expression soured instantly, the warmth drain
Third Person's POVShe hadn't waited up for him, and she hadn't left a single light on in the house.This wasn't an oversight; it was a clear statement.Cassian entered the bedroom, switching on only the dimmest strip of floor lighting.The faint amber glow snaked along the baseboards like a smoldering fire kept on a short leash.He stood by the bed, silently watching Trista sleep.She was on her side, her breathing shallow, her shoulder blades looking sharper than he remembered. With the blanket pulled to her chest and her hair spilled across the pillow, she looked like a piece of silent, still art.In the past, no matter how late it was, she would always wait for him.Even later on, when she found out about him and Samantha and they were at each other's throats, she might have stopped leaving the light on, but she never actually slept.She would toss and turn, like a restless she-wolf constantly patrolling the borders of her territory.Back then, she was always picking fights over S







