LOGINKATARINAA knock on the front door jolted me awake, as if a hand had yanked me from deep water. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, my body heavy and my mind foggy from finally falling asleep after staring at the ceiling all night.But then the knocking began again, louder this time. My eyes opened to find the room still dark, and I turned to the clock on the bedside table, which read 4:35 a.m. My eyebrow furrowed. Who might be knocking at this hour? Greyson wouldn't knock. He had his own access.A cold ripple ran through me, and I pushed myself up, sleep still stubbornly clinging to my limbs. I had spent the entire night replaying Greyson's abrupt departure and his expression when he answered the phone that summoned him away. I had been trying to figure out what could have been urgent enough to wake him up in the middle of the night. But I'd come up with nothing.Swinging my legs over the bed, I stood up, grabbing my robe and pulling it tight around me. I rubbed my eyes as I app
THIRD-PARTY VIEWPOINTGreyson approached the bed in three strides, calling out his father's name. How could this be? How could he have gone? He hadn't even felt him go. His hands hovered before eventually gripping his father's shoulders.The skin remained warm, but there was no response beneath it, nor any powerful aura pressing back. He shook his father's shoulders, refusing to believe that this was the end.“Father," he exclaimed, his voice breaking as he pressed his ear to his father's chest, hoping that the doctors had made a mistake, but he was met with unmistakable silence.“No," he said louder this time. “You do not get to do this. Not like this." He clutched his father's shirt, as if he could will life back into him.“Please, I need you. I need you, Father!" His voice broke as he said the final word, and his mind spun out of control as none of this made sense.How could his father be so healthy and yet have a heart attack? Someone must have done something to him, he reasoned,
KATARINAI didn't realize I'd stopped breathing until the silence suffocated me as Greyson's eyes bore into mine in the darkness. My heart raced faster and faster as dread churned in my stomach, not knowing what would happen next. My palms dampened against the sheets, and my wolf's voice warned me to close my eyes, but how could I? What if this offended him? I was about to tell her this when the suite's phone rang.The sharp sound broke the silence, and I jumped, startled, releasing a small gasp before I could stop it. I had no idea who was calling or why, but I was relieved Greyson's eyes had left mine. I briefly considered moving and answering the phone. Greyson, however, made the first move. He walked across the room in an instant and picked it up.There was a pause, followed by, “What?!" The word exploded from him, and I bolted upright in the bed, the shock in his voice sending a new wave of fear through me. My lips parted, nearly forming the question, “What's wrong?" But I cou
GREYSONIt took me several long minutes to lift my head from the steering wheel and force my hands to stop trembling as I pulled out into the night. But calming my body did nothing for my mind. The seer’s voice echoed relentlessly in my head as she told me that Olympia wasn’t resting. Swallowing hard, I pressed my foot harder against the accelerator, as if speed might outrun my mind. My thoughts then drifted to the last option the seer had implied, the one so vile my body had recoiled even sitting in that chair. My stomach clenched hard; it was unthinkable.Cyra was my everything, my strength, my refuge, and the only person who ever truly understood me. I’d die before I hurt her. Katarina’s terrified face flashed before my eyes, the way she had looked at me that night, the shock that had morphed into terror. And the memory hit differently now, before a suffocating sense of being trapped closed around my chest.I should never have agreed to marry her. I should have fought harder; may
TWO HOURS EARLIERGREYSONIt was 10 p.m. when I arrived at the seer's building. The city had calmed, but my mind had not. It had become louder with each passing hour, with questions clawing at me and suspicions tightening around my throat like a noose. The upper floors of the building were dark, except for one set of lights near the top, on the seer's floor. I hadn't been here since the day I came with Cyra two years ago, and never thought I'd traumatize myself by setting foot here again. But here I was. For all I knew, the seer no longer resided here. But I was losing my mind, and I needed answers. I entered the building, the air inside as stale and untouched as I remembered. There were no guards to greet me this time near the entrance, as there had been previously, and I was glad. I strode to the elevator and pressed the button. The doors slid open almost instantly, and I stepped inside to select her floor. The ascent felt too fast, and the doors opened in an instant. The hallwa
CYRAAlexander's question hung thick between us, and I wanted to scream yes. Yes. Yes, I am fucking your brother in the same way that you do his wife. He reeked of her, and he dared to confront me?I wanted to ask what he'd do about it because, when it came down to it, there was nothing he could do to stop Grey and me except make noise, which Greyson was avoiding by keeping us hidden even from him. He wanted to keep the peace with this asshole, but he was constantly pushing me, and I began to wonder how long I'd be able to hold back. I didn't need him breathing down my neck, especially with that fucking omega constantly trying to spread her disgusting legs for my mate.I wanted to say yes, only to watch him feel the sting so bad that my hand shook at my side. But I restrained myself because this wasn't just about me and my irritation. Greyson was already falling apart because of what was happening to him. The last thing he needed was a conflict between his brother and me. I swallowe







