Bastien’s POVThis isn’t right.The lab report in my hand is as clear as day, and its conclusions unmistakeable, but it can’t be right. I’ve read it at least ten times now, scanning the page over and over again, looking for any sign of hope, any hint that the samples got mixed up or were contaminated in the lab. Yet every time the information remains the same. Beneath columns full of DNA markers I cannot even begin to understand, read the damning words:Probability of Paternity: 0%I don’t believe it. She has to be mine.Selene, who turned pale and ashen the moment my mother revealed the envelope, squeezes the pup in her arms a little tighter. I can’t see Lila’s face, but I can hear the delicate wafts of her breath as she slumbers in her mother’s arms, completely oblivious to the disaster unfolding around her.Selene furrows her dark brows and pouts her full lips, her beautiful face sullen and wary in equal measure. My stomach is in my throat, and the room around me is spinning out of

Odette’s POV I don’t transform very often anymore. It hasn’t felt the same since Gabriel died, and though my wolf gets restless like any other, this freedom has a cost. I always miss my mate more when I shift. The pain of his absence is most acute in my soul’s truest form, and I feel eternally guilty for going on without him. Even so, there’s no avoiding it tonight. Bastien disappeared into the darkness in such a fit of rage I’m afraid of what he might do if he’s left alone. Aiden and Donovan went after him, but I do not trust them to pull him back from the edge, and I know they will not tell him what he needs to hear. I follow Bastien’s path at a steady lope, trotting along in his footprints hoping he’s not so far ahead that my efforts are in vain. If he gets it into his head to kill Cavanaugh or seek retribution, wa

Bastien’s POVI close the bedroom door as quietly as I can, unsurprised to find my mate waiting on the other side. I almost smile; some things never change. My little mate seems just as prone to eavesdropping as ever, and just as bad at disguising her misbehavior. She leapt halfway across the room when I came out, and now stands with her arms coiled defensively around her body, eyeing me with apprehension.“Still listening at doorways, little wolf?” I ask, striding forward until I’m towering over Selene and she’s forced to back away to escape my shadow.Rather than answering, she glowers and says, “Why did you do that?”“Do what?” I feign ignorance, “Put your pup to bed?”“No.” She corrects me immediately. “Why did you say those things to her?”“Because Lila wanted a bedtime story.” I shrug, watching her skirt away from me with amusement. She should know better than to run from a predator – especially her mate. I follow her at a distance, never coming close enough to make contact, but

Bastien’s POV I’ll kill them all. Every last wolf who laid a paw on Selene will pay, followed by that coward they call an Alpha. It was bad enough that Drake wasn’t man enough to fight his own battle, but to let his men attack an innocent she-wolf is a new level of abhorrence. I thought I was hallucinating when Selene joined the fight. After all, my mate doesn’t have a violent bone in her body, but I suppose her wolf had other ideas. Everything should have stopped then and there, but I wasn’t near enough to help her, and Drake’s guards were so blinded by bloodlust they never even registered that the obstacle blocking them from their target was the mother of their Alpha’s child. In fairness, Drake is almost as angry as I am. We both moved for Selene the moment we heard her yelp, surging forward to protect her even as the scent of her blood seeped into

Bastien’s POV “Bastien, I’m fine!” Selene insists, spreading her arms wide to show me the veracity of her words, “See, all healed.” It’s true that the gashes and bite marks that once littered her body have already faded to the faintest scratches and bruises, no doubt accelerated by the healing power of her Volana blood. Even so, I refuse to risk it. “It’s too soon.” I decree, nudging her back towards the bed. She’s been trying to convince me to let her leave the makeshift infirmary all day long, too anxious about everything going on to stay put. Wrangling her has been surprisingly difficult, it seems I can’t turn my back without her trying to sneak out. If I had any doubts that my little wolf found her strength during our time apart, her rebellious behavior today has certainly erased them. As if reading my mind, my mate