LOGINHAYESThe last layer of fabric fell to the floorboards, leaving Ciara standing bare in the golden warmth of the hearth light.My breath locked tight in my chest. For two long, agonizing years, I had starved for her touch. I had craved the sight of her skin, the sweet scent of her wild lavender hair, and the gentle curve of her waist. But more than anything, my wolf starved for the quiet, beautiful truth that she was finally standing in front of me of her own free will. Her tits were full and heavy, her nipples hard peaks in the cool air, her skin glowing in the firelight. I could see the faint silvery lines on her stomach from carrying our pups, and my cock twitched at the sight of her.She did not step back. She did not hide her body behind her hands. Her dark eyes remained fixed on mine, clear, steady, and blazing with a fierce, unmistakable heat. I could smell her arousal already, sweet and musky, pooling between her thighs."Hayes," she whispered, her voice low and heavy in the si
HAYES I stood by the driver's side of my black car loading the last of Ciara’s heavy leather travel bags into the broad storage area in the back. The morning air was crisp and cool, carrying the sharp scent of damp earth and fresh pine needles.There were no armed pack enforcers standing guard around the vehicle. There were no heavy armored escort trucks idling in the dirt, no flashing red security lights, and no royal Alpha banners fluttering from the wooden side posts.It was just us. Just a male, his marked mate, and their two young children sitting inside a normal family truck, getting ready to head back down the long open road toward the north.Julian walked out from the shadowed edge of the tall pine woods, his broad hands shoved deep into the side pockets of his dark trousers. He stopped a few feet back on the green lawn, watching me close the heavy rear tailgate with a soft, solid thud.I stepped around the back of the SUV to face my brother in the morning light. The dark pur
HAYES“That crown destroyed me, Julian!" I snapped back, standing up from the table so fast my chair scraped hard against the wooden floorboards.I paced across the small cabin, my heavy boots thumping against the wood as I gestured wildly with my hands."I spent eight years carrying that bloody crown!" I shouted, keeping my voice just low enough not to carry down the path to the villa. "I thought being Alpha meant holding total power. I thought it meant controlling every border, every guard, every breath that people took around me! And what did it get me? It made me paranoid. It made me look at my own brother like an enemy. It made me look at my innocent mate like a traitor! It turned me into a tyrant who couldn't even keep his own children safe in their cribs!"I stopped pacing, leaning my flat hands against the edge of the rough wooden table, looking straight into Julian's shocked face."Ciara told me the truth this morning," I whispered, my voice thick with bitter clarity. "She to
HAYESI stood motionless on the damp grass outside the iron fence long after the wide glass doors of the villa had closed. The soft click of the lock had echoed across the lawn like the slam of an iron vault, but for the first time in weeks, the air in my lungs did not feel like ice.My children had looked at me. They had recognized my face. They had heard my voice, and Ciara had let them stand on the open patio to see me.Slowly, I stood up from the cold dirt. My broad shoulders were stiff from chopping wood, my ribs still throbbed from the brutal brawl with Julian in the dark forest last night, and the cut on my lower lip stung in the evening wind. But as I turned my boots back toward the dirt path leading to the small guard cabin, my mind was sharper than it had been in two long, dark years.I walked back through the tall oaks, my hands shoved deep into the pockets of my black trousers.The forest was completely quiet, save for the dry crunch of leaves beneath my boots and the dis
HAYESThe narrow dirt path through the southern pack trees was quiet.I walked slow, my heavy leather boots dragging slightly in the damp pine needles. My broken nose throbbed with a dull ache every time I took a breath, and my right ribs felt tender from Julian’s heavy knee last night. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the quiet emptiness in my chest.Half a mile away from Ciara's villa, hidden behind a thick stand of tall oak trees, sat the small guard cabin.It was a simple wooden building with a dark tin roof, a small stone chimney, and a wooden front porch with three steps. Julian was sitting on the top porch step, holding a ceramic mug of hot dark coffee. His face looked just as beaten up as mine—his jaw was bruised purple, his upper lip was swollen, and his left eye was half-closed.He heard my boots crunching on the dry twigs, but he did not pick up his black hunting knife. He just took a slow sip of his hot coffee as I stepped out of the shadows."She sent you dow
HAYESThe early morning sun rose slowly over the pack.I walked up the dirt path toward the villa alone. I wore a plain black shirt and trousers, leaving my heavy leather jacket, my tactical vest, and my heavy silver broadsword inside the SUV parked in the woods. My hands were empty. My knuckles were bruised and dark red from the fight in the woods, my broken nose swollen, and a cut on my lower lip still stung in the cool morning wind.I had stripped away every piece of military gear. I had left my pride buried in the dirt beside my brother's broken blade.I stepped onto the clean stone patio, my leather boots making soft sounds against the floorboards. The glass doors of the villa were closed, but the inner curtains were drawn back slightly.My wolf inside my chest was completely quiet, standing low and still, waiting for my marked mate to make her choice. The mate bond pulled hard against my heart, but I forced my heavy body to stay still. I did not knock loud on the wooden frame. I
~CIARA~The ride to Alpha Graham’s house was quiet to the point of suffocation. He wasn’t saying anything, and my mind was stupidly replaying the moment he said ‘you belong to me now’ like I was just property to be owned. Fidgeting with my fingers, I stole a quick glance at him, and he seemed rath
My breath caught in my throat.Husband?The word shouldn’t have affected me, but it did anyway. I forced myself to look away from Alpha Graham, but it felt impossible. There was something about his eyes—the way they effortlessly held me in place, like I needed his permission to move my own body.“C
~CIARA~No. No. No.My fingers trembled around the contract as my eyes scanned it again.Graham Hayes.The same Alpha from earlier.The same man whose touch still burned against my skin.I’d heard rumors about his ruthlessness. Cruelty. Unhinged personality. He didn’t seem like the polite man that
~CIARA~Tomorrow was the day my life would end. And the text on my screen did a great job reminding of it. “Miss, your coffee’s getting cold.”My head snapped up to meet a brunette’s warm gaze. She pushed the cup forward until it touched my palm. “You’ve been standing here for several minutes. Ar







