KADE Tyre was beside himself, humming Mission Impossible music as we used the cover of our handy shadows to keep an eye on everything that was going on. ‘You’re just jealous that you don’t know the entire tune,’ he said after pausing his humming. Of course, I fucking knew the entire tune. I scoffed at him and began humming it. I got about thirty seconds into it and paused, trying to remember what came next. FUCKING DICK WOLF! He was howling up a storm at being proven right. Luckily, I was saved from finding the perfect retort when two hushed voices caught my attention. Thankfully, my dick of a wolf knew when to be serious, so that howling went away at once. “The perfect time will be when they are coronating them. It will cause the most panic, allowing you a chance to escape in the chaos. There is a magically-coated silencer on the gun, so nobody will hear it,” a man said. “Are you certain it will kill him though?” a female asked. I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. Was

ELLE Imeela had been through so much shit in her life and survived unimaginable odds. I knew that I would not have been strong enough to survive what she did. “Lord Pavlo, I am not certain where you got your information from, but I can assure you that I did not abandon anyone, nor did I live a life of luxury. Let me clear up any misconceptions there might be about what truly happened. Andrei Moretti stormed into this very coven on my tenth birthday where he and his followers massacred everyone. My father, King Desmond, entrusted my safety to my bodyguard Emilio who had only been twenty-one at the time. The life that we led was the furthest thing from a life of luxury. We spent six years together on the run, evading bounty hunters sent by none other than Andrei Moretti himself. When I say that we were on the run, I mean that literally. Staying in abandoned buildings, caves, or anywhere else that we could find, which would provide us enough security before we continued on. We spent day

ZIYAH I was not certain what those two were planning, but Imeela must have wanted to talk to him about something important since Jackson led me all the way over to the other side of the dance floor. He was actually not a bad dancer at all. Sure, he was a little uncertain about the moves at first but caught on fairly quickly. “I’m incredibly happy for both you and Zeus. There is not a single thought in my mind about you failing here because you came into it with pure intentions and a need to protect those who need protection. Lean on your mate and your advisors. However, don’t be afraid to reach out for help and advice. We’re here for all of you,” I told him. Jackson smiled and thanked me. My words reassured him, and that made me happy to hear. Zeus shimmered through. I knew that only Alphas had the ability to share control like my mates did, but that was not what these two were. It made me wonder if being coronated made a difference at all because they were both essentially Alpha

ELLE Livestreaming the coronation had been the right call. Not only could our packs witness history being made but also got to share in the crazy ass epic shit that went down too. Chris’ overview of the entire thing had us all cracking up. That guy was one of the funniest people I had ever met. When you had him and Dante together, though, that was when the magic happened. Magic in this case referred to the insane comedy that was created. Imperial Duke and Duchess. That was a huge deal. Knowing what the role consisted of, I could not imagine people better suited for it. Their combined extensive knowledge of the supernatural definitely worked in their favor. I jotted down a couple of notes regarding that role because it also aligned with what our mission of the Council was. On a side note, we were all incredibly happy for Imeela, Jackson, and Zeus. I knew how much it meant to all of our wolves that Zeus was also recognized alongside Jackson and Imeela. That was a surprise that they

KADE Apollo, Dayton, and I were trying to figure out how many sphinxes we could accommodate in this pack and where to put them. Nailah had been able to track fifty-three of them so far, but that did not mean there were only that many. She had mentioned that it was possible that some might have their locations cloaked either by someone cloaking it like her handlers did or if they were in a location that had magic that cloaked it. Both Nightshade and Shadow Falls were constantly expanding. Their pack was damn near five times its original size. Both packs needed to accommodate for future growth, so we had been in discussion about how to do that. Our packs would eventually run out of territory to build on. There was a large plot of land owned by the Cloverfield pack, the one closest to our pack and was actually where Dante apprehended the three assholes who had brutalized his mate while she was held captive by the Darkies. Come to find out, they were actually from the Slater pack. Not