POV: MiaIvory's struggle with her past demons was similar to watching a hurricane rip across the coast; it was strong, destructive, and seemed unstoppable. Being her closest friend, I had seen firsthand the fallout from the hurricane that had ripped through her life, leaving a path of emotional devastation that seemed unmanageable.All the same, our relationship held strong, a lifeline keeping us together in the middle of mayhem. The sister I never had, Ivory was the kindred spirit who knew me better than most people could.I was therefore there for her when the waves of her history crashed down on her again, prepared to ride out the storm as I had done innumerable times before."Mia," she would murmur, a tiredness in her voice that went right to my heart. I'm not sure whether I can handle much more of this.I would hug her at those times, trying to ease her pain as much as I could. Ivory was a force of nature a woman whose fortitude and resiliency had been developed in the furnace o

POV: Ivory WellsI felt more and more like Alice falling down the rabbit hole the farther into the maze of mysteries surrounding Jeremy's beginnings and my own turbulent past I dug. Every new discovery, every turn, just served to completely upend my perception of reality, leaving me clinging to straggles in a world that appeared to change and warp in front of my very eyes.It was a bewildering, dizzying trip that made me face the hard realities I had been burying for years. As the layers of dishonesty came off, I started to doubt everything I had ever believed and assumed to be true about myself.And yet, motivated by an unquenchable need for the truth that burned hotter than any flame, I continued even when the ground beneath me appeared to be collapsing. It was an unrelenting search that left no trail untrod and no opportunity untapped. It engulfed me."Ivory," Mia would reply, worry tinged in her voice. "You're overdoing it. Just before you really burn out, take a break."But I'd s

POV: Jeremy Williams.Though I knew better, I was unable to stop listening. There are a lot of secrets being kept from me, I've felt since Dad brought me to the pack area. And I might have found something today that will completely transform everything."Alpha, are you sure it's a good idea to keep looking?" Through the study door came a harsh voice I recognized as Hardin's. "Too deep a dig could have disastrous results.""I have to know the truth, no matter how painful it may be," Dad said, his voice firm. "The events around Ivory's exile have affected too many lives."The name Ivory sent my heart thumping. The enigmatic woman who, from our first encounter in the human realm, had piqued my curiosity. There was a draw toward her that I couldn't put my finger on."What if the truth irreparably harms your relationships with people closest to you?" Hardin pressed her. It is better to bury some truths.I leaned in closer, my wolf ears straining to pick up every syllable, as an uncomfortab

POV: Mia.Watching my closest friend Ivory gradually become enmeshed in the seemingly never-ending inquiry into her history was like watching her sink in pain. Every insight just served to drive her farther into the gloomy depths of hopelessness, not to offer clarity.Her lovely features were marked by the toll: her cheeks hollowed from hunger, her eyes smeared purple. Her normally vivacious personality grew less and less each day.She had slipped totally out of my grasp, so I realized I had to act. It was time to pay it forward. Ivory had been my lifeline throughout my own worst moments.Once inside her little cabin, I saw her bent over the old desk, her forehead furrowed as she worked through a never-ending pile of papers and notes. She was so focused in her search that she didn't notice me right away.I said, "Working yourself into an early grave," and settled down on the worn couch. Ivory gasped, staring owlishly, then sank her shoulders in surrender. Well. You are it."Don't so

POV: Ivory Wells.My mind hammered, the continuous pounding beating time with the bouncing ideas that would not let me have a moment of quiet. After yet another night of idly staring at the disorganized papers and files strewn across my desk, bone-deep fatigue bit me.I knew the solutions were buried in those damning papers, the jigsaw pieces that would at last bring the whole picture into clarity. However I organized the truth's pieces, important pieces were always absent, the whole picture permanently hidden.A shocking insight struck me like a stray wave on the shore, just as I thought my stupid pride and stubbornness would make me oblivious to what was in front of me. I had assumed for all of this time that Darrel Williams was entirely responsible for what had happened to me when I was banished from the pack. I had without a second thought thrown my suffering, my exile, my entire reason for being in the ordinary world squarely on his shoulders.What if, though, I had been seein