FAZER LOGINKATARINAAlexander’s lips collided with mine, and my mind went completely blank, every thought vanishing as mortification locked my body in place.But it lasted only a heartbeat before reality crashed in all at once, and I shoved him back with all my strength. “What are you doing?” I exclaimed, my voice trembling while my heart pounded against my ribs. He’d never just walked in here and kissed me like this before. He staggered a step back, looking just as shocked, like he had lost control of himself and had only now realized what he had done. He turned to look at my aunt, who stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock. For a moment, none of us moved, and then Alexander found his voice. “Mrs. Sanders—” he started, greeting her stiffly, but my aunt couldn’t even respond and just stared at him. He swallowed hard, then turned back to me, and I could barely breathe as I whispered. “Please go.” He didn’t argue, and his face bunched in what looked like shame before the door closed beh
GREYSONI stood there for a long time, saying nothing, while Cyra walked slowly and carefully toward me, as if she were approaching a wounded animal that could lash out at any moment.“Greyson..." she whispered, her voice trembling, but she kept moving. “I was scared. I was afraid of losing you.” Every word scraped against my nerves. “I heard your father speak to you that morning, and I panicked when I saw the disgust in his eyes, the contempt with which he confronted you about me."My jaw tightened, but I was still unable to speak or move. “He told you that he wanted me to leave the stronghold, which meant leaving you with her. I was afraid she'd take you from me." Something inside me finally snapped, and I closed the gap between us in long strides before she could take another step.“So you killed my father? " I growled, reaching out and roughly grabbing her shoulders as I shook her. “You took him away from me! You broke my heart." Her eyes widened with fear as I continued. “Who el
GREYSONThe fire had long since burned down to embers, and only faint heat remained where the pyre had stood, glowing red beneath a blanket of ash. The forest had grown quiet in the clearing, but I could still hear the pack beyond the trees. It was like a distant engine, low voices and laughter breaking through grief, along with the clatter of mugs. No one slept after the warfire of an alpha; his life was celebrated until dawn. Meats were roasted while ale and stories flowed over and over again until they became legend. But my brother and I hadn’t joined them.We had stayed in the woods, leaning against an old oak a few feet from the ashes of our father. A bottle hung loosely from my hand, and I had lost count of how many we had opened. I just knew that we should have been drunk enough, but we weren’t. Our hearts were too heavy for that mercy.Alexander let out a quiet laugh beside me, shaking his head. “Remember when he caught us trying to sneak out to the lower cliffs?” I huffed a
CYRAI kept pushing, elbow to shoulder and shoulder to back, until the clearing in front of me began to open, and the torches expanded into a ring of firelight. The pyre crackled louder, the heat brushing against my face from a distance. And then I saw him: my Greyson. He stood at the head of the massive wooden pyre, the firelight illuminating his features, and he didn't look like the man I knew. He looked like the king of grief, and my legs locked.I couldn't move any further, despite my decision to stand in the front line and let him see me. Instead, the lake came rushing back behind my eyelids, and I saw his eyes, unrecognizable and wild, as he dragged me out of the car. I felt the rage that radiated from him as he threw me into that water, and I could feel his hands around my neck, my throat burning as if phantom fingers were pressing on it.I tried to take a step forward, telling myself time had passed since then—trying to remember everything I told myself back in my apartment—b
KATARINAI looked in the mirror as I fastened the final button on my red dress, each one more difficult than the last. After breakfast, I took a long shower, allowing the hot water to wash over me as my mind replayed everything that had happened between Greyson and me. I was still afloat. Still flushed and warm. But now, as I zipped up the back of my dress, reality set in. We were about to say goodbye to Alpha Gerard, and every movement and quiet breath I took brought my heart down.I was just about to finish fastening my earrings when a knock came at my bedroom door, and I froze in surprise, realizing I hadn't even heard the front door open. But then a familiar scent hit me—the scent of home—and my heart skipped a beat. I gasped, dropping the hairpin I had in one hand as I dashed toward the door and ripped it open so fast I almost tore it off the hinges. “Aunt Nora!" She stood there smiling, and I threw myself in her arms.She laughed as she wrapped her arms tightly around me, just
CYRAOpening my eyes, I didn’t know where I was. The ceiling above me wasn’t the one in Greyson’s suite. It was lower and wooden, and the faint scent in the air wasn’t polished marble and expensive cologne. It was herbs and soap, and my heart began to beat faster. I pushed myself up on the bed, blinking as I took in the unfamiliar room, floral curtains, a small dresser, and a woven rug. Then it all came crashing back, Greyson’s hands around my throat, the lake, the water forcing itself into my lungs and then… Olympia. I sat up so abruptly that the room tilted and my fingers flew to my neck. It still ached, but it was now bandaged, and it was then that I realized I could feel my wolf again, but she was weak. A knock sounded at the door before I could call out to her, and I froze.My heart raced, suddenly unable to find my voice, and the knock came again. I swallowed and forced my voice to work. “Y-yes?”“It’s Nora.” A woman’s voice came from the other side, and it was familiar too. “







