FAZER LOGINAmira’s POV The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was that I wasn’t outside anymore. I blinked my eyes a few times, staring at the wooden ceiling above me before turning my head to look around. A small window let the morning light spill into the room, illuminating a battered wooden table, two chairs, and a fireplace that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. The air smelled of dust, old wood, and the faint scent of pine drifting in from outside. I had absolutely no idea where I was. I pushed myself upright and glanced down at my arms, flexing my fingers before cautiously rolling my shoulders. I remembered the chains. The crowd. Edward’s face as he ordered the guards to punish me. I remembered the pain of every lash striking my back, and the awful feeling of my body giving out before I could do anything to stop it. But the pain was gone now. I reached behind me, feeling along my back through the thin shirt I was wearing. There was no blood, no open wounds, and no fre
Edward’s POV I stood there staring in the direction King Luciano had disappeared, struggling to believe what had just happened. He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t just walk away from my ascension because of some fucking girl who wasn’t even worth the trouble she’d caused. I was supposed to become Alpha today. The entire pack had gathered for it, my father had arranged everything, and the King of the North had shown up only to turn around and threaten to leave without doing the one thing he was required to do. “What the fuck?” I spun around, my anger finally finding somewhere to go. “What the hell does he mean he’s not performing my ascension? He owes me! Everyone owes me! This is my fucking day!” A few people standing nearby suddenly found something very interesting to look at elsewhere. I didn’t give a shit. “That fucking bitch!” I shouted. “Amira has to ruin everything, doesn’t she? She couldn’t leave me alone for one fucking day? No, she had to start trouble on the day I’m su
Luciano’s POV I hated being summoned to an Alpha ascension. Not because I objected to welcoming new Alphas into my territory, but because too many of them seemed to believe that being born into a powerful family automatically made them worthy. Most weren’t worth the leather on the boots they wore, and Edward Blake was a perfect example. I’d met the little prick during Alpha training. Arrogant, self-absorbed, and so convinced the world owed him something that I was surprised he’d managed to survive without someone knocking his teeth down his throat. His father wasn’t much better. “You’re going to put that expression on your face when we arrive?” Dante asked from the passenger seat. I glanced at my Beta. “What expression?” “The one that says you’re considering whether murder would be worth the paperwork.” He laughed as he shook his head. Malachi, my gamma, laughed from the back seat. “Depends on who he’s murdering. If it’s Edward, I’ll help with the paperwork.” “How generous of
Valerie’s POV I stayed where I was, barely daring to breathe as I watched Amira hanging limp against the chains. My best friend, the girl who had stood beside me when everyone else turned their backs, looked like she didn’t have an ounce of strength left in her body. Her head hung forward, her hair falling across her face, and her legs barely seemed capable of supporting her weight. If the chains hadn’t been holding her upright, I wasn’t sure she would have been able to stand at all. My hands curled into fists at my sides. I wanted to run to her. I wanted to tear those chains off the beam and take her somewhere nobody could ever hurt her again. I wanted to scream at Edward until he understood what he’d done, and I wanted to slap that smug expression right off Lena’s face. But wanting to do something and being able to do it were two entirely different things. If I ran out there now, every eye here would turn toward me. They knew I was Amira’s best friend. Hell, I was her only frien
Edward’s POV Mate? What the fuck? I stood frozen, staring at Amira as the word echoed through my head. My wolf was practically clawing at me, but I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened. Out of every female in this pack, out of every woman I could possibly be mated to, the Moon Goddess had chosen Amira? No. There had to be a mistake. I looked at the girl standing several steps above me on the staircase. Her brown hair fell around her face, and her emerald-green eyes were fixed on mine. She looked just as stunned as I felt, but there was something else in her expression that I couldn’t identify. She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t reaching for me. She wasn’t acting like a female who had just discovered that the man standing in front of her was her mate. Good. At least we agreed on one thing. I didn’t want her. And by the looks of it, she didn’t want anything to do with me. “Mate?” Lena’s voice broke through my thoughts. She grabbed my arm, giving it a sharp tug. I barely felt
Amira’s POV Valerie and I looked toward the bedroom door at the same time. The sound of Edward’s voice still seemed to hang in the air, and I could feel the tension settling over the room as my best friend slowly shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.” She stepped in front of me, blocking my path to the door. “You are not going down there, Amira. Whatever he thinks happened, we both know Lena is going to make this ten times worse. You heard him. He's already decided you're guilty.” I swallowed hard, looking past her toward the door. “What choice do I have?” “You have a window.” She pointed toward it as if she'd just discovered the solution to every problem in the world. “You can climb out, run across the grounds, and get the hell away from here before anybody realizes you're gone.” I stared at her. “Valerie, we're on an upper floor.” “So? You have a wolf now. Maybe you can land on your feet.” She said it like that was an option. She was so sure of herself. Despite everything, a s







