LOGINShare
18. The Forest They Won't Name
publish date:
2026-07-09 15:54:00I arrived twenty minutes early, the way I always did, and let my security team sweep the room while I read the proposal one more time.
Old habits die hard. Even now I checked the exits before I sat. Back to the wall. Every face in the room, catalogued for threats that probably weren't there.
Latest chapter
Too Late To Claim Me 37. What the Wall Keeps Out
"Can you show me?" I kept my voice as steady as I could manage. "Can you explain how you did it? I want to understand, baby, not because you did anything wrong."Caelum tilted his head, thinking, his small brow furrowing with real effort. "It's like... wrapping you in a blanket. But the blanket's made of something else. Something that smells like me?" He frowned, chasing the right words, clearly frustrated that they weren't coming easily. "No, that's not right. It's like I put a wall around you. It keeps things in and keeps other things out.""A wall made of what?""I don't know. It doesn't have a name. It's just there when I want it to be." He looked between me and Mara, uncertain now, picking up on the weight in t
Too Late To Claim Me 36. The Mask I Didn't Know I Wore
The drive back to the cabin was a blur of winding roads and racing thoughts.I kept checking my mirrors, certain someone was behind me. Twice I changed direction, cutting through towns I'd never been to, doubling back until I was sure I'd shaken anything following. Every headlight behind me felt like a threat until it turned off onto some side road and proved itself ordinary.The feeling of being watched never fully went away. Not once, the entire drive.It wasn't until the cabin came into view, weathered walls, smoke curling from the chimney, the porch light Mara always left on, that I let myself breathe again.I made it. I'm safe. Cae
Too Late To Claim Me 35. The Mask
SeleneImmediately the door clicked shut behind me, I let the tears stop.Not all at once, because that would be too obvious. I let them taper off slowly, until my face was dry and my expression was smooth and blank. It's the kind that said I've been hurt but I'm holding it together.It was a look I'd perfected over the years.I walked down the corridor with measured steps, anyone watching would see a woman who'd just had an emotional conversation with her Alpha, and was struggling to maintain her composure.What they wouldn't see was the cold satisfaction that's curling in my chest.Got him exactly where I want him.I'd known for years that Remus does not love me. I wasn't stupid. I'd seen the way he looked at me. I knew from the beginning that he'd chosen me because I was the logical and the safe choice, the choice that would strengthen his pack and secure his alliances.He'd chosen me because I wasn't Aria.And that was fine. It was more than fine. Because I'd chosen him for reaso
Too Late To Claim Me 34. The File
The file was sitting exactly where Caius had left it. Aurora Vance's name typed across the tab in plain block letters, giving nothing away.The woman with the familiar eyes.I opened it and started reading, telling myself it was nothing, that I was simply doing my due diligence on a business partner, the way any careful Alpha would.Her history was sparse. Too sparse. She'd appeared in Millbrook five years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back, no prior address, no family listed, no paper trail leading anywhere before that date, like she'd been born the day she walked into that town. She'd worked as a dishwasher at a diner called Mae's Place. And according to the intake form from the clinic two streets over,
Too Late To Claim Me 32. What I Owe Her
Remus"Do you still love her?"Selene's voice cut through the quiet of my office like a blade sliding free of its sheath. "Do you still love Aria?"I hadn't heard that name spoken out loud in this room in five years. Selene had always been careful about that, careful in the way people are careful around a wound they know hasn't finished healing. Tonight, apparently, she'd decided the wound needed opening.I wasn't expecting the question. Not tonight. Not like this, with her hand still resting against my arm and the fire in the hearth still burning low between us."I don't know," I said, and even to my own ears the words sounded like a lie dressed up as honesty. "I buried it. Moved on. But sometimes... sometimes I still wonder.""And now? After meeting this woman…this Vance woman?""It's not about her, Selene." I shook my head, though the denial felt thinner than I wanted it to. "It's about the past. Things I can't undo."She studied me for a long moment, her eyes searching my face for
Too Late To Claim Me 32. The Ghost in the Room
RemusI watched as she walked out and the door closed behind her, and I stood there for a long moment, staring at the wood door like it might offer me answers.What the hell was that?My wolf was pacing restlessly beneath my skin, he's agitated in a way I hadn't felt in years. Not since...No. I wasn't going to think about that. Not her...the girl I'd sent away with an envelope full of money and a cold dismissal that still haunted me in my dreams.But I couldn't stop thinking about Aurora Vance's eyes.Those eyes. The way they'd held mine without flinching, or fear or any of the deference I was used to from humans who ventured into the wolf territory. She'd looked at me like she was measuring me, and trying to decide if I was worth her time.And there was something familiar about them that made my chest ache in ways I can't seem to be able to explain.Stop it, I told myself. She's just a businesswoman. Another human trying to make a deal and there's nothing special about her.But my
You may also like
Timber Alpha
Marie Night610.5K viewsAlpha Asher
Jane Doe10.0M viewsMark Of The Alpha King
~S.Y959.3K viewsThe Alpha and His Contract Luna
Evelyn M.M817.7K viewsMated to the Hybrid Alphas
DDream 305 viewsThe Alpha’s forgotten daughter
Feesat pen 58 viewsFAKING IT ON ICE: DATING THE SPORT KING
Healing73 viewsGhost In The Pack
bri bri492 views
