The body of Lila was brought back just before the sun reached its peak.Eugene sat on a wooden bench outside the room, eyes closed, fists balled in his lap. He hadn’t spoken much since Becca’s outburst in the infirmary. Now, with the weight of death and insult heavy on his chest, he found himself wrapped in a silence that pulsed like a second heartbeat.Max stood nearby, arms folded.“I’ve assigned guards to every gate,” he said, breaking the silence. “And doubled patrols inside the estate. No one gets in or out without your clearance.”Eugene opened his eyes slowly. “Good.”Max studied him for a moment. “You think this was an inside job?”Eugene’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know what to think yet. But someone wanted that girl dead—and they made sure she suffered.”Before Max could respond, the door to the room opened, and Becca emerged. Her face was calm, but her eyes were dimmed with grief.“She was strangled,” Becca said, her voice low. “There are bruises on her wrists and ankles.
The morning sun filtered through the high glass windows of the mansion, casting golden shards of light across the marble floors. Birds chirped beyond the garden walls, the air still thick with dew and the musky scent of old roses. It should have been an ordinary day. Peaceful and predictable.But the mansion was far from calm.Servants scrambled through the long corridors like panicked ants, whispers flying on the backs of their breaths. Footsteps echoed down the stone halls. Doors slammed open and closed. The kitchen had gone silent, the clanging of pots replaced with the frantic murmuring of frightened maids. Something terrible had happened.And it started with a scream.Max had burst into the pool area, his usually calm face pale and tight with tension. He didn’t say a word at first. Just stood at the edge, his breathing ragged as he tried to collect himself. Eugene was now reclining on a chair near the pool, his shirt half unbuttoned and damp from a quick dip, laughing casua
The late afternoon sun began its slow descent beyond the treetops, painting the sky in shades of rose and amber. In the upper wing of the grand mansion, Becca stood shrouded in shadow behind a tall window draped with heavy crimson curtains. She had intended to take a moment for herself, to gather her thoughts, to remind herself of the resolution she had made countless times these past weeks—that she was done with Alpha Eugene, that the fracture in their bond was irreparable.But the soft sounds of laughter from the courtyard below pulled her in like a magnet. She had told herself she wouldn’t look. She had promised herself she didn’t care. And yet… here she stood, her knuckles white around the edge of the curtain as she watched Eugene and Kaelyn by the pool.The two were sitting so close their shoulders almost touched. Eugene’s head was thrown back in laughter, the sound carrying up to Becca’s window like a ghost. Kaelyn’s hair tumbled over her shoulder, glinting gold in the sun a
The afternoon sun shimmered off the surface of the pool, dancing in ripples against the white marble tiles that surrounded the grand courtyard of the mansion. The air was warm, but a gentle breeze carried with it the faint scent of pine from the forest beyond the estate’s high walls. Kaelyn sat at the edge of the pool, her legs dangling into the cool, soothing water, her toes curling as the gentle waves lapped against her skin.She drew in a deep breath, the scent of freshly cut grass filling her nose. Her reflection on the pool’s surface wavered with every ripple, just like her thoughts. Mira’s words played over and over in her mind.Kaelyn clenched her fists at her sides, her knuckles pale against her beautiful skin. "I don’t have feelings for him," she insisted silently. "I admire him. He’s a powerful Alpha and a protector."But even as she told herself that, heat spread across her chest, a shameful warmth she couldn’t quite smother.Mira’s recent behavior hurt almost as much.
Lila’s hands trembled as she slipped out of the grand double doors of Desmond’s wing. The polished marble floors glistened under the afternoon light streaming through tall arched windows, but all she felt was the cold echo of Desmond’s words still reverberating in her ears."I can’t keep this to myself," she told herself, clutching her maid’s apron so tightly her knuckles whitened. Each step felt heavy with dread, but the thought of Becca’s kind smile and Alpha Eugene’s fair leadership pushed her forward. She had overheard Desmond and Luna Seraphina whispering in the study just an hour ago—plans to hire rogue wolves to attack Alpha Eugene and Becca, his beloved mate. The words had been hushed, but unmistakable.Lila’s stomach had twisted painfully then, and it still did now. She hurried down the long corridor, passing the portraits of past Alphas and Lunas staring down with regal indifference. Her old shoes barely made a sound on the expensive rugs as she navigated the long hall
The late afternoon sun filtered through the thin veil of clouds, casting a pale, golden light across the courtyard of the mansion.The air was cool and crisp, scented with earth and pine needles. Inside, tension crackled like an electric storm.Kyra walked with purpose, her boots hitting against the floor. She held a letter in her hand, its creamy parchment already creased from being read too many times. The wax seal, broken cleanly, bore the emblem of the Steel Jawbone Pack—Kaelyn’s family crest. Kyra’s eyes lifted to where Kaelyn stood near the window, staring out as if the answers to her turmoil lay somewhere among the swaying trees.“Kaelyn,” Kyra began, her voice low but firm. “I’ve received your father’s response.”Kaelyn turned slowly, her long blonde hair catching the light. She tried to hide the way her heart twisted in her chest. “And what did he say?”Kyra took a deep breath. “He has ordered us to return to the Northern cliffs at once. He fears for your safety, especia