LOGINRitaI'm still pissed with my thoughts, confused about what this woman truly wanted from me, and why she had been standing right there with me, interrupting that fragile, emotional moment with Kate, when suddenly, I felt a warmth wrap around me, something oddly too familiar, something that settled over my body without warning.I stirred only slightly, trying to ground myself in that moment, trying to steady the chaos swirling inside me, but almost immediately, a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck, spreading downwards, and then my arms registered the sensation of being pressed firmly against something solid.“Ahh…mm,” I whimpered under my breath, my body reacting before my mind could catch up, pulling myself just a little when that familiar mint-citrus scent flooded my nostrils, instantly jolting my senses awake, my eyes blinking repeatedly as they struggled to adjust to the dimness that now cloaked the room.In my hurried attempt to gather myself, I was unaware of the positi
RitaA certain kind of chill enveloped me as I dropped down on that couch. It felt familiar in a way, but oddly strange. I couldn't tell what that feeling was, just as I couldn't yet tell what all the other emotions I’ve been experiencing ever since the marking ceremony were either.I remained curled up, my knees pressed tightly together, my arms wrapped firmly across my chest, as my entire body coursed with that cold sensation, one that felt exhausting, yet deeply, unnaturally freezing.It tugged at me with a kind of determination I still couldn't comprehend. Every single day, something mysterious kept happening, unfolding without answers, without clarity. I ducked my head into my crossed arms, trying desperately to ground myself, to steady the storm of emotions threatening to consume me.*****“What's the issue? Why are you suddenly sad?” I asked Kate as she sat beside me, her gaze locked onto mine with an intensity I couldn't ignore.She didn't respond. Instead, she slowly turned a
Rita“I sleep here tonight?”“How?” The word slipped out before I could stop it, and somehow, I couldn’t even grasp its meaning, because it rang in my ears like a foreign language I didn’t understand.Marvin’s expression hardened instantly, his eyes darkening with something I couldn’t quite place, something that made my chest tighten.“You don’t question your Alpha for any reason,” he shot back coldly. “You sleep here tonight, and that’s final.” He roared, his voice cutting through the air like a blade, and I watched him throw a sharp glance at the door behind me before storming out.The door slammed shut with a force that sent vibrations through the entire room.Marvin’s words still didn’t make sense, even after he left. His scent lingered dangerously in the air, wrapping around me, thick and suffocating, mixed with the faint residue of his rage… and then…Then everything that had happened before this moment, came crashing down on me all at once.It flooded my senses, making it impos
Rita Marvin didn't just ask me to his bed… right?For a moment, I honestly thought I misheard him, because from where I stood, breath hitched, brows drawn together in stunned confusion, nothing about this felt real. My eyes slowly lifted to meet his, searching for some kind of contradiction, some sign that I had gotten it wrong. But there was none. His gaze was firm, unyielding, unrelenting, like stone carved with a single purpose.“I said, to the bed,” he repeated, sharper this time. “And don’t make me repeat myself.”His tone came out edged, cutting, yet beneath that cold authority, there was something else. Something faint, almost unnoticeable… a softness that didn’t quite belong.I sucked in shaky breath, the air trembling in my lungs, before turning toward the bed, which stretched before me like something out of a dream.A massive mattress draped in a thick, light-colored duvet that looked both inviting and intimidating at once. It was far too large, easily big enough to hold se
Silence, thick and pulsating, before he spoke again, and this time his voice dropped more sharply and firmly.“And you thought if you had escaped that you would have found peace outside of Silvermoon? You think whatever you carried with you wouldn’t announce you the moment you left this pack?” His voice dropped with barely restrained rage as his jaw clenched painfully.“You think for one second that your crimes and atrocities wouldn’t catch up with you?”I fought so hard to hold back my words as each of his words cut sharply into my heart with sheer brutality.He chuckled mockingly, and his voice dropped more subtly, “I bet I should fully remind you of your place in this pack house,” he started again. “You were… one… with me the moment you braced yourself for my mark and also marked me, which also means you stay and die here in Silvermoon, also at my service.”I looked up as I couldn’t hold back the rage that tore through me at those last words. “To die here in Silvermoon, you mean?”
RitaI woke up feeling unbelievably light, so relieved in ways that made me feel like a newborn baby. For the first time in what felt like forever, I was alive again… truly alive. My entire body felt free, no pain, no stiffness, no lingering ache. Just a deep, floating serenity that left me in quiet awe of myself.The herbs Beta Renz had given me must have been incredibly potent, strong enough to pull me under almost instantly. And in that blurred state, I drifted somewhere far beyond consciousness, somewhere soft and untouched. It felt like heaven, wrapped in the calmest, most peaceful, dreamless sleep I had ever known.A gentle warmth lingered over my skin, a soothing chill wrapped around my body in a way that felt almost unreal. It was too perfect, too comforting, and for a brief moment, I didn’t want to open my eyes again. I wanted to remain there, in that fragile illusion, until a loud knock erupted, pulling me out of the fairytale I had unconsciously sunk into.Two guards walked







