SEBASTIAN “Your little wifey is meeting with her ex today. —From Dove.”I stared at the paper, rereading the words that punched me straight in the gut. My jaw clenched. My hands balled so tight the damn letter crumbled inside my palm.I grabbed my phone. “Marcus,” I snapped.“Alpha?”“Find out what Ava is up to. Now.”“Understood.”I hung up before he could say anything else. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to *think* it.Ava wouldn’t…No.But why did this feel so damn real?I have warned and threatened Dante never to show his face again.Why would Ava want to see him?An hour passed.Every tick of the clock stretched my nerves thinner.Then the call came.“Alpha,” Marcus said quietly, “Jatina noticed movement.”“What kind of movement?” I asked, my voice dangerously calm.“She said Ava’s been pacing… checking her window. And earlier, she caught her staring at her phone for too long. There’s a strong chance she’s planning to sneak out.”Silence.I didn’t respond right away.“A
AVASebastian made sure the new mansion was heavily guarded.It’s been three days now. Three long, quiet, suffocating days…and I’ve been stuck inside like a prisoner. He hasn’t come to see me once. Not a single visit. Not even a message.He caged me in this place and walked away like I was some fragile thing he didn’t want to deal with.And that’s exactly why I can’t help but resent him.Maybe even hate him.I can’t just sit here and do nothing. That’s never been me.Never.I won’t.Jatina was in the kitchen fixing dinner. She was the only maid Sebastian allowed inside the mansion. No one else was here, apart from the silent guards stationed outside.And that made the whole place feel less like a safehouse, and more like a beautifully polished prison. A cold, high-walled hell disguised as protection.I was pacing near the living room when I caught a low murmur..two guards speaking just outside."One of our borders has been attacked,” one of them said.I froze.What?I shot up from the
SEBASTIANI drive into the courtyard of the newly built mansion, heart pounding. The headlights carve through the late morning haze. I park the car. Ava sits beside me, arms crossed, anger etched into every line of her posture.Her voice is sharp. “What the heck is this place?”I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror. “It’s heavily guarded and monitored. No one can have access.”Her lip curls. “You mean you want to lock me up?”I turn off the engine. “I’m not locking you up. I’m just trying to protect you.”She shoves open her door. “Protect me from what exactly?” she yells, stepping out onto the gravel.I follow. “From everything. Your home was invaded. So was mine.”Her fists clench. “I can manage myself.”“No,” I say firmly. “You’re under my watch from now on.”She scoffs. The muscles in her arms flex. “You can’t do that,” she mutters, voice low.“I can,” I responded quietly. I stand tall. “And I will.”I opened the door of the house. “Come on.” I step away and nearly lose my breath
AVA“I’m sorry, but I need to talk to you,” his voice came again…loud, firm, laced with that same frustrating mix of concern and command he always carried.Sebastian.He’d been outside my door for hours now.I’d told the guards to keep him out, made it clear I didn’t want to see him. But he was the Alpha.There was only so much disobedience they could manage before they were forced to let him through.I saw him drive in.And I locked my door.I didn’t care that I was Luna.I didn’t care that he could easily force his way inside if he truly wanted to.I was done.The argument from yesterday kept looping in my head like a curse. His words, the guilt, the confession. The moment Dove returned, everything fell apart. It wasn’t just the fact that she was alive…it was the way he reacted. Like she still owned a piece of him. Like I never mattered at all.I told myself I was just a replacement.And maybe that was always the truth.“Ava,” he called again, softer this time. “Can you let me in?”
SEBASTIANCaleb wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth like it was nothing. Like it wasn’t a reminder of the chaos he’d stirred.“I’m done here,” Ava snapped, voice cutting through the stillness like a whip. Then she turned and stormed out of the building.I chased after her without thinking. My legs moved on instinct, but my heart beat in panic."Ava..." I called.She spun around so fast I almost crashed into her."What?" she snapped, her eyes blazing."You knew she was alive, didn’t you?""I just figured it out. Pieced it together over time.""And you're getting ready to discharge me now?"That hit harder than any blow Caleb could’ve landed."What do you mean by that?" I asked, my throat tight.She stepped closer, jabbing a finger into my chest. “You said I was her replacement. Isn’t that what you told me the first day I entered this goddamn pack? When you forced me to marry you?”"I—""You what?""I didn’t mean it like that.""You didn’t fight for her," she threw back, louder n
AVAI already knew things wouldn’t sum up.Not in this palace.Not with these people.Not even with Caleb.And Jatina? She had loyalty stitched into her silence, but silence wasn’t the same as trust. As long as she kept hiding the truth, she wasn’t on my side either.The palace walls whispered more than they spoke. And I was drowning in a language made of half-truths and glances that meant too much.That’s when the letter came.Folded twice, tucked beneath my pillow like a secret lover’s confession.No name. Just shaky handwriting that read:“Meet me. The old stables. Midnight.”That was it.No explanation.Just like all the other times…times that always led to bruises and blood or some new discovery that cracked the world open wider. I’d lost count of how many letters had tried to lure me to my doom. But this one... this one made my pulse hitch. Because despite everything, I went.I told Jatina.I had to tell someone.“I’m meeting someone,” I said, pretending to adjust my scarf in t