LOGINI walked out of my room and into the main clearing of the sanctuary.Darian stood outside the barrier, seething with a dark energy.He looked even more haggard than he had months ago, his eyes glowing with a crazed red light."Maeve!" he roared hoarsely. "Get out here!"I looked at him, my face impassive. "What do you want now?""She lied to me!" Darian raged, slamming his fists against the barrier. "Amara lied!""What about?""The baby wasn't mine!" he howled in agony. "There was no baby! It was all a lie!"I wasn't surprised.A fake pregnancy was exactly the kind of desperate trick Amara would pull."And?" I asked coldly."I lost everything," Darian's eyes were filled with despair. "The pack's trust, the elders' support, everything... I threw away my most precious mate for a liar."He pounded on the barrier frantically."But I get it now! Maeve, come back with me!""Back where?" I laughed, a mocking sound. "Back to your arms? Back to the place where you treated me like a tool?""I'll
Amara teetered on the edge of the cliff.Below, the rapids roared like an open mouth, ready to devour her."Darian!" she shrieked hysterically. "Choose! Her, or your child?!"Darian's face was ashen, his body trembling uncontrollably.He looked at the crazed Amara, then at my cold, indifferent face.An Alpha’s instinct to protect his bloodline warred with his desperate need to win me back."Maeve..." he looked at me, his voice pleading. "I...""Choose," I said, my voice flat. "But know this. No matter who you pick, you and I are already over."Darian squeezed his eyes shut in agony.The next second, he lunged for the cliff's edge."Amara!"He grabbed the falling woman, pulling her back from the brink.They collapsed in a heap of slush and tears.Amara sobbed in his arms."I knew it... I knew you wouldn't abandon our child..."Darian held her, the light in his eyes completely extinguished.He gave me one last look, an expression of utter despair and defeat.Then he turned his back on me
As Darian begged on his knees, I didn't even bother to look up.I just kept stroking the trembling snow wolf pup in my arms."Maeve, please..." Darian’s voice cracked with a sob. "I know Amara was behind the silver fox, that she cut herself at the clinic...""I know everything," he wept. "Please forgive me. Give me one more chance."I finally lifted my head to look at him."You think that's what I care about?"Darian froze."The real reason we're over," my voice was chillingly calm, "has nothing to do with her petty games.""It was when my wolf was shattering, when I needed my mate most..." I said, each word a shard of glass, "...and you cut me off."The color drained from Darian’s face."At the time... I thought you were just...""You thought I was just throwing a tantrum?" I laughed, a cold, mocking sound. "That I was just trying to stop you from being with her?""Maeve...""While I was calling your name, while my soul was breaking apart, piece by piece," I stood up, looking down on
Life in the south was better than I could have imagined.I was put in charge of the Silver Moon Pack’s most sacred sanctuary, home to rare silver foxes, snow wolves, and the legendary moon-stags.My innate bond with the wild finally had a place to thrive.Whenever I walked through the sanctuary, the animals would approach me on their own.Silver foxes would brush their fluffy tails against my palm.Snow wolf pups would roll around at my feet, begging for attention.The pack members looked at me with open adoration."Lady Maeve, the moon-stag gave birth to twins today," a young guard reported excitedly."That's wonderful," I smiled, walking toward the stables. "Prepare the best spirit-herbs for them."Three weeks after I arrived, I received an encrypted message.It was from Elena, my only friend from the northern pack."Maeve, you need to be careful."The message was short, but it radiated tension.I called her back immediately."Elena? What's going on?""Darian's lost it," Elena's voic
The plane dropped through the clouds, landing in the south—the sacred lands of the Silver Moon Pack.Outside my window, moonlight spilled like water over the endless snow-capped mountains.I took a deep breath.The ancient, powerful energy in the air soothed my shattered wolf.The plane came to a stop and the cabin door slowly opened.Two familiar figures were waiting for me on the tarmac, bathed in moonlight.My uncle, Marcus—one of the most powerful Alphas in the south—and my grandmother.The moment she saw me step off the ramp, tears streamed down her face."My child!" she cried, her hands trembling as she reached for me. "You're finally home!"I walked into her tight embrace."Grandma..." My voice choked.How long had it been since I’d felt love this unconditional?"Your parents died in that vampire raid, and you were lost to the north," she said, her voice full of pain as she stroked my face. "You've suffered so much all these years."A flash of angry gold sparked in her eyes."Yo
The next day, I couldn’t stand to be in that suffocating penthouse.I went to the animal medical center, hoping work would bring me some peace.I was checking the stitches on a wolfhound that just had surgery when the door was pushed open.Amara walked in.Her usual fragile demeanor was gone, replaced by a victor’s smirk.“Maeve, all alone in here?” she drawled. “Last night’s gala was wonderful. Thank you for giving me your Honorary Chair position.”I didn’t look up, continuing to change the wolfhound’s dressing.“You’re welcome.”Amara stepped closer, a malicious glint in her eyes.“You know, Darian told me I’m much better suited for the position than you,” she said, feigning a sigh. “He said you’re too cold, too strong. That you make him feel pressured. Not like me. I make him feel like a true Alpha, a protector.”My hand paused for a fraction of a second before I continued wrapping the bandage.The wolfhound sensed my turmoil and whimpered, nudging my hand gently.“And this Moon-sou







