MasukEllie’s POVThe assassin was here.And the world tilted around me as my heart slammed too wildly against my ribs for my head to keep up.He was here. He was back. It was all happening again, just with slightly different details this time, and now…The last thing I saw before everything went dark was
“Thank you,” I finally managed. That was all.Dominic’s mother squeezed my hand once, then let go. “Speak of the devil,” she whispered, nodding her head toward a space a little ways down the field.Dominic was standing about thirty feet away, talking to one of the pack elders. He had his hands in hi
Ellie’s POVDominic’s mother was the last person I expected to step in. I especially didn’t expect her to stand up for me like this, out of nowhere, with absolutely no prompting whatsoever.I was pretty certain the woman hated my guts.Or so I had always assumed.Before Dominic and I were engaged, s
Ellie’s POVThe guests flooded in more quickly than I expected. At first, there was just a trickle, but then the line of cars along the roadway grew longer and longer, and the packs started coming out in droves, all clamoring to get a look.I was standing in front of the row of hay bales now, on my
Ellie’s POVI was already moving. Dominic called after me, but I didn’t stop to hear what he had said. The pull was too strong to ignore, like an itch that desperately needed to be scratched.A moment later, I reached the treeline. It was cooler here, shaded and quiet, the sounds of the festival set
Ellie’s POVFor a moment, I just laid there in Dominic’s arms, staring up at him, too startled to speak. He was looking down at me with an expression that seemed caught somewhere between surprised, annoyed, and amused.Either way, he didn’t put me down right away. His fingers splayed wide across my
Ellie POV The tent smells like antiseptic and damp canvas.Lucas lowers me onto the cot with too much care. His hands hover even after I’m settled, fingers flexing as if he doesn’t know where to put them now that I’m not actively falling apart.He starts with giving me some pain herbs and meds, “I’
Ellie POV There’s a shift.One i felt since the morning.But especially now.The way the air in the cafeteria thickens the moment I step inside, like I’ve walked into a room where a fight was about to start and I was center stage.My leg aches with every step. I favor it without thinking, my limp s
Ellie POV By the time I’m dismissed for break, my hands are shaking.Not from the work.Okay, a little from the work.But also from holding everything in.I make it outside before my knees finally give, sinking down onto the cold concrete steps behind the locker rooms. The chill seeps straight thro
My chest tightens. “You didn’t. But I can’t trust you.”The words surprise both of us.His form stiffens, slowly turning his head. “What did you say?”“You’ve lied,” I say. My voice shakes, and I hate that it does. “In the past. You used to use me. Treat me like crap. And I let you. Everything betwe







