LOGINCULLEN'S POV
"The word 'fake' is strangling me, Meghann," I murmured, my voice vibrating with a fierce, desperate intensity. "Every time I have to stand in front of the elders and pretend our bond is just a political convenience, I want to tear the room apart. I can't do it anymore. I cannot stand the thought of you walking out of my gates."
A single tear spilled over her lower lash line, tracking a slow, wet path down her pale cheek. I wiped it away
CULLEN'S POV"The word 'fake' is strangling me, Meghann," I murmured, my voice vibrating with a fierce, desperate intensity. "Every time I have to stand in front of the elders and pretend our bond is just a political convenience, I want to tear the room apart. I can't do it anymore. I cannot stand the thought of you walking out of my gates."A single tear spilled over her lower lash line, tracking a slow, wet path down her pale cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb, feeling the heat of her skin against my calloused flesh."I lied to you," I told her, stripping away the final layer of my armor. "I told you I brought you to the North for a treaty. I didn't. I brought you there because the moment I pulled you from the mud at the border, my wolf went completely still. You weren't a pawn. You were the only thing that mattered."Meghann’s hands tightened on my jacket. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
CULLEN'S POV"An Arden key."Maddox’s words barely carried over the drumming of the freezing rain against the glass, but they hit my chest like a sledgehammer.My blood turned to ice. I stared at my lead enforcer, the dim light from the bedside lamp casting long, harsh shadows across his scarred face. The small brass keycard reader he held in his hand mocked me.Bronson hadn't sneaked past my guards. He hadn't picked the locks on my doors. He had reached directly into my inner circle. He had found a weak link in my chain, bought them off, and used them to slip a death threat onto the exact pillow where my mate slept.I looked down at Meghann. She stood perfectly still beside the bed, her pale hands trembling slightly as she stared at the crumpled black paper resting on the woven rug. The foul, bitter stench of damp earth and burnt ash still clung to the fabric of the room,
I couldn't speak. My throat was completely dry. I just shook my head, my chest rising and falling with quick, terrified breaths. I raised my trembling hand and held the crushed black paper out to him.Cullen snatched the note from my fingers.He smoothed out the crumpled page. His eyes scanned the messy, jagged handwriting.The reaction was instantaneous.A deep, primal snarl ripped from Cullen’s throat, vibrating so fiercely it rattled the glass panes in the windows. His entire body went completely rigid. The temperature in the bedroom plummeted, flooded instantly by the terrifying, dominant aura of a furious Alpha. His silver eyes turned pitch-black in a fraction of a second.He didn't just look angry. He looked entirely lethal.Cullen dropped the note onto the floor. He stepped forward and grabbed me, his massive arms wrapping tightly around my waist
The quiet of the neutral compound felt heavier than usual, pressing against my shoulders as I walked down the long, dimly lit corridor toward the Arden wing. Outside the high arched windows, a fierce storm was brewing. Thick sheets of freezing rain lashed against the glass, blurring the courtyard into a wash of gray and black.I pulled my knit shawl tighter around my chest, shivering as a cold draft swept across the stone floor.My mind was a chaotic, tangled mess. The stolen medical ledgers locked inside Cullen’s desk replayed in my head on a continuous loop. Dreda’s impossible pregnancy timeline. The missing bone density markers. The horrifying reality that Esme wasn't Caomh's daughter, but the biological child of Bronson Riordan.The betrayal was so deep, so completely vile, it made my stomach churn. Bronson had stood beside Caomh for five years, playing the loyal Beta, while secretly planting his own bloo
CULLEN'S POVI stared down at him. The sheer, staggering audacity of the question was almost laughable."You are asking me to share classified Arden intelligence regarding your own Luna," I said, my voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register. "That is a very pathetic question, Caomh.""I just need to know!" Caomh pleaded, his hands curling into tight fists at his sides. The mask of pride cracked completely, leaving him raw and bleeding in the open air. "I need to know if the dates line up. I need to know if she saw a healer in November. Please, Cullen. If you know something, you have to tell me."I stepped away from the stone wall. I closed the small gap between us, using my height and my broad shoulders to tower over him. He instinctively shrank back, his chin tipping up to maintain eye contact."You want the truth?" I sneered, letting the icy disdain coat every single word. "
CULLEN'S POVThe eastern pavilion of the neutral compound was entirely exposed to the elements, a wide expanse of pale gray stone held up by tall, ancient columns. The morning air was freezing, biting through the fine charcoal fabric of my suit jacket. A steady, freezing rain fell in thick sheets just beyond the stone steps, filling the space with the loud, rhythmic drumming of water hitting the courtyard.I stood near the edge of the pavilion, a cup of bitter black coffee turning cold in my hand.The dark, rich taste of the coffee did nothing to settle the feral, restless energy pacing just beneath my skin. My mind was still trapped in the quiet, dusty aisles of the grand library from the night before. I could still feel the soft, frantic heat of Meghann’s mouth against mine, the way her nails had dug into my shoulders as she surrendered completely in the shadows. For five years, I had kept my distance to keep her







