Mag-log inSage.
They were stuck. I watched the four Betas think about their next choice of action. I knew that they could not run because it was the word would get out that four strong werewolves ran from a fight and it was a female low-ranking werewolf they ran from.
Sage"So you're using me to secure your position here," I said, and the sadness in my voice surprised me. I hadn't expected it to hurt quite this much, hearing the truth laid out plainly."Among other things," Dominic replied, calm as ever, as though we were discussing the weather rather than the systematic dismantling of my autonomy.My appetite vanished entirely. I pushed my plate away. "Why else would you trap me here, then? Enlighten me.""To keep you away from the others." He didn't need to clarify who he meant. Asher. Kieran. The two men who had each, in their own complicated ways, wanted me and lost their chance to claim it."I didn't realize the three of you were enemies," I said, letting sarcasm bleed freely into my voice. "I assumed Alphas shared everything, thoughts, feelings, strategy sessions over tea.""We were never friends to begin with," he said, unbothered by the bite in my words. "I was counting on their pride to make them underestimate exactly what you're capable o
SageI wanted to ignore him out of pure spite, but he wasn't wrong. I was hungry, and whatever fight was coming would require more than righteous fury to sustain me through it. I was acutely conscious of every movement I made as I ate, aware that I had become, against my will, a person other people watched closely, cataloguing every small detail for reasons I didn't fully understand yet."You don't need to be so tense," Dominic said, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Try to enjoy yourself, Sage."I wiped my mouth with a napkin and reached for my water with more force than necessary. "I hate this attention, Dominic." The words came out sharp, unmistakable in their irritation.
SageAs someone who had never understood how power worked from the inside, I found the weight of it suffocating, a pressure that sat across my shoulders and along the back of my neck like something physical, something I could have reached up and pulled off if it had been made of anything as simple as fabric.I hated Dominic already. What he'd done in that meeting, trapping me here with a title I'd never agreed to, never been consulted on, never even been warned about, pushed that hatred somewhere I doubted I'd be climbing back out of anytime soon.I followed his scent through the winding corridors until I found him surrounded by a crowd of werewolves, every one of them hanging on his words with the particular rapt attention of people who understood, instinctively, exactly where they ranked beneath him. I could read their hierarchy without needing introductions, the way some nodded eagerly at his every syllable while others held themselves at a careful, respectful distance, waiting for
SageI stepped in beside Dominic, still trying to identify the strange new weight settling into my body, when Lady Baron appeared in the corridor ahead of us, clearly waiting, clearly intent on something I doubted either of us would enjoy."Still," she said, voice tight with barely restrained fury, "you would deny me justice?"Her body had coiled into something tense and ready, and I could see, even from several feet away, the visible effort it took her to keep herself from lunging."What exactly has made you so fearless of me?" Dominic mused, regarding her with an expression of profound, almost insulting boredom, as though her threat b
SageI was fuming through the entire meeting, and the worst part was that I had no acceptable way to show it.Standing up and walking out would have meant something to every person in this room, a crack in whatever image Dominic had just built for me, a weakness handed to men who already looked at me like I was something to be tolerated rather than respected. So I sat. I kept my spine straight and my expression carefully arranged into something that resembled composure, and underneath all of it, I burned.He had announced it. Out loud. In front of seven of the most powerful men in Black Crest, without a single word of warning to me beforehand. Luna. As though it were a small thing, a footnote, a detail that didn't require my consent before being broadcast to an entire room of strangers who would now carry it through every corner of this city before sundown.If he expected me to simply accept that, he understood me even less than I'd given him credit for.The longer the meeting continu
Kieran"Why is an Omega here?"The First Clan Chief's voice cut through the room before any of them had even taken their seats, his gaze fixed on Sage with open disdain.I did not appreciate that. Not remotely."This Omega is not your concern, First Clan Chief," I said, my voice flat and final."This meeting is for members only," he pressed, undeterred. "And she is not a member.""She is with me, First Clan Chief." I let the casualness of my tone do the work that anger would have undermined. "You are, of course, free to leave if her presence troubles you so deeply."I had built my entire reign on a single operating principle: I would be the one needed, never the one needing. Black Crest required me far more than I required any single family's continued patronage, and every man in this room understood that math even when their pride made them reluctant to acknowledge it aloud."We mean no disrespect, Prince Dominic." The Third Clan Chief's voice was measured, the calmest of the seven b
Asher“And what if I killed you all right here, right now?” I asked Magnus, letting the threat hang in the air between us.I expected fear. I expected at least a flicker of self-pres
Sage.“I don’t quite understand you, Sage,” the woman said in an exasperated manner as she watched me with an intense interest in her gaz
Sage.He was very timid for a warrior. I had heard near mythological exploits about him and yet here he stood awkwardly before me like he was afraid if embarrassing himself before me.
Sage.I trembled with fear and worry as I stepped into the Manor. The only person that was aware of my children was Marcus, my father’s best friend and archivist. I was sure he would not have told anyone because he too would be complacent in covering up my escape which would put him in a terrible p







