Turns out heartbreak is excellent fuel. I barely slept. Nothing matters now, only the demise of Elle. If I keep riding Pepper across the country, barely stopping for anything other than to drop off traitorous papers, then I won’t think of him. That night, on my way back to my small fishing hut, tears brimming, I ripped his white shirt from my body and shoved it underneath the heavy metal chainmail left by the shore. The next day, they were gone. Ayr didn't follow me. He’d retrieved his shit and left me the hell alone. Fine. Good. He can take his useless offer and go jump in the sea. Or into Elle’s bed. Whatever he wants to do. Playing it tough is hard when everything hurts. Being so close to him, even for just a few hours, had inflamed my wolf beyond anything I’d ever felt before. To switch off and deny that surging excitement left me battling the darkest of thoughts. Proving my innocence had never felt further away. Ayr’s doubt in me inflamed the next few leaflets. The packho

My wedding day is looming. Just under four weeks to go. The entire cliff house is draped in long white and black fabrics to protect the new stonework. It reminds me of a shroud. Elle has declared that if the new carvings are wet, it will ruin the white effect she wants.The temptation to remind her the packhouse is a cliff face and meant to get wet is incredible but I don’t think I’ve found my fiance’s sense of humour yet. I dread to think how much it has cost. I don’t trust a single person inside this crumbling cliff. I’m only here because the longer I spend in Kallio, the more opportunities I have to try and find out the truth about what happened over four years ago. Most contract marriages just happen. The treaty is signed, and the couple lead their lives as required. Elle seems determined to make this a romantic match. It’s a ludicrous dance. Even if she does not know I am mated to her sister, she must know there is no romance on my part. It’s a contract. Nothing more.Raphael

“What the fuck?” I snapped, flinging the covers back with whiplash speed. In the dark of the room I could just make out Elle’s curves.With my cock standing to full attention I looked down the length of the bed in horror. Her dazzling amber eyes and smirking red lips were all I could see. It would be cruel to point out the way she had positioned herself, my dick obscured the bump in her nose. Almost perfection. But nowhere near.For a painful second, my entire body lunged in furious desire. It was so fucking close to being her. In the dark of night, a swirl of shadows and illusion, there are only the tiniest percentages between them. But I know. I don’t need my wolf to tell me this shit will never happen. “MOVE!” I yell as her sigh of frustration brushes against my groin again. I’m not entertaining this for a second longer. "Get the fuck off me!"I’m physically recoiling, dragging my pants back up and standing from the bed in less than a second.Elle crawls up the mattress and lies

I can’t disguise my attraction for a second. My eyes eat him up from head to toe. Every sinew on his body is on display, a slight sheen catching the sunlight. He’s only just shifted back, his breath misting on the autumn air. Tanned, golden skin with muscles stolen from the gods themselves. A heated blush hit me from head to toe when I looked at his cock and then immediately to his face. Both look good. I daren’t let my thoughts go any further for fear of everyone reading my filthy little mind. Everyone must be able to see how foolishly overawed I was. My eyes, helplessly roving over his bare skin, seemed to be broadcast to the dozens of busy townsfolk surrounding me.At least his face was as dumbstruck as mine. His sharp, rugged jawline softer, mouth open mid-shout at his Beta. But his eyes were a wild swirl of blue and green. Fixed on me. A whirlpool of colour I was completely sunk for. Everything that I said last time we met, rejecting his offer to hide me here, to never find me

I’m dying inside. I even said the words “I need you inside me.” I’d sworn never to beg again and there I was, legs spread begging the man who breaks my heart on a fucking whim to shove his way inside me. I just don’t learn. Every time. I fall, relax around him, around anyone really, I find myself standing over another trapdoor. Elle interrupting my mate bond, Ayr offering to hide me like a mistress. Now this. I’ve got my composure, that’s about it. As I quickly trotted my way down the steps, Ayr sprinted to catch up, buttoning his shirt. In the murky dark of the corridor, we were completely alone. “Hey! Cass!” he growled, grabbing my hand. “Let me go!” “Not until you listen to what I have to say,” but I have to get out of here. I won’t cry in front of him. I’m just going to find Robyn and get the fuck out. I’ll camp outdoors, find a shack. It can’t be too hard considering this pack is on its ass. “You’ve buttoned your shirt wrong dickhead,” wrenching my wrist out his grip, my