KADE Hold on. Please just hold on. ‘He dared to hurt Mate,’ Tyre snarled in my head. Failure again. I promised her that she would be safe, but I could not even keep her safe when I was three feet away from her. My body would not stay still, so I was pacing the length of the hallway while I waited to hear an update. Anything. I just needed to know that she was okay. It was like a clip stuck on repeat. Apollo must have picked something up from Troy because he lunged for him, but the hidden knife left his hand before Apollo ripped him away. The knife was thrown straight for my mate’s neck and hit the mark. I would never be able to unsee what she looked like with a knife sticking out of her neck. I was a shit mate. Elle deserved so much better than me. My love was not enough to keep her safe, and I never once thought that my fucking pack would end up causing my mate so much pain. Troy was a dead man. I would bask in his screams of agony as I fileted his flesh from his fucking body.

ELLE It was the following morning when we decided to gather those that Troy named. I wanted to do it individually, but I learned from Blue Crest that showing support right away can help promote long-term acceptance and strength. Brianna and Tinsley were both more than happy to help out. I had given them the brief overview of what went down with Troy. They wanted all the details, but I just told them that I made him cry before breaking his nose. Cara showed us to a large sitting room. It was once used for entertaining guest packs. It had plenty of comfortable seating, and the window wall was one-way, so nobody could see in. It gave us a beautiful view of the woods though. The kitchen arranged to bring in carts with drinks and snacks just incase anyone wanted anything. It was 10:00 A.M. by the time everyone showed up. They all looked confused and nervous, so I encouraged them to get something to drink or eat if they would like and find a seat. There was a variation in ages of the

ELLE I had been nervous as I was getting dolled up, but it all faded away when I looked in the mirror. All of my nerves were thrown to the side. The off-shoulder maroon satin dress dipped into my cleavage but in a classy way. The bust had diamond embellishments and was cinched at the waist before it flared just a little until it hit my ankles. It was an open back, and there was a side slit that ran the length of my right leg, showing off the high heels that laced up my calf. My hair was loosely curled with gems pinned throughout it and was draped one shoulder so that Kade’s mark was shown off. It was the Nightshade crest with one change. The two wolves looking up both had marks on their foreheads. Those in the know understood what it symbolized, but the rest would not detect anything. My makeup was dramatic but classy at the same time. Black double wingtip eyeliner, silver and bronze smokey eye, with maroon lipstick which all made me feel like royalty. I had never looked like this

ELLE My mind only picked up the word heat from what he said. The rest did not matter because that single one explained what was going on with my body. Heat occurred anywhere from a week to a month after being marked. I would guess that it was divine intervention that protected us until just now for this. It would have been disastrous if I had gone into heat anywhere else. Heat caused the female she-wolf to emit pheromones to entice their mate essentially into a fuckfest which encouraged procreation, but Faye was blocking that until the four of us were ready. It threw the she-wolf and their mate into a frenzy, but it also attracted any unmated male. It would not matter if the wolf was their mate or not because the she-wolf would be fueled by their need to mate. Luckily, my mate was all I needed and had. His grin was filled with so much promise that my entire body shuddered with anticipation and need. His hand went around my throat as he pushed my back against the wall. My legs circ

ELLE Doctor Silva was not joking when she said that my heat would be more intense. Kade and I had both thought the regular heat was overwhelming, but it did not even come close to comparing. There was typically time between heat flares where you could rest and recoup. What averaged a couple of hours became anywhere from twenty to thirty minutes. Our entire suite was christened as was my entire body. I had not anticipated how good anal would feel with my mate. Oh, and I won the game but just barely by ten seconds. It was still a win though. Kade said that he had ideas for what the extra bedroom in the apartment could be used for. He would not tell me anything other than it would be a surprise that I would thoroughly enjoy. Snickers sounded from the room as we entered. I snarled at all of them because that was the most that I had any energy for. It might take me years to get back to normal at this rate. I would never do that again if I did not need to for any future heats that would