Raggedly breathing in that dank corridor, everything is madness. That was the purest, rawest form of pleasure I’ve ever experienced. Nothing like I expected anyway. I'd thought finally being that intimate with someone would be a purely physical sensation. Except every time her body fluttered and clenched around me, moving as one, I felt our connection strengthen. That grip wrapping around my lungs, my heart,powered my final thrusts inside, chasing the feeling of our wolves colliding, her eyes sparkling. It was overwhelming in every way..Laid in my arms, red-cheeked and smiling away, her chestnut curls were splayed across the wooden floor. She reaches up for me, and I doubt she has any idea how it feels to have her hands on my cheeks. To be wanted and brought down to her lips. I might have just stalked and possessed her like prey. Except, to feel her choose me, even if just to plant a simple kiss on my lips, made me soar. I’m so fucking in love with her. “I…yeah I don’t have words

“Are we going to war because of her? For your mate?”I don’t even wait for a second before replying. “Absolutely not.”“Then why now?” Raphael urged. I encourage my Beta’s to talk openly, but right now, I could really do with people just doing as I bloody ask. I’m the Alpha. I know what my plan is, can that not be enough for once. “Because how much more can we take?”“Are you hoping if you fuck up Fenton enough Locksley will back off too, then you don’t need to marry Elle? Then you don’t have to choose between her and the pack?”I wish it was that simple.“No. No because she doesn’t want that…she doesn’t want to be my Luna. So even if those other fuckers evaporated overnight and we had peace, Cass will still be sneaking back over the border into Kallio.”“She’s going to kill Elle?”“She’s going to kill a fair few Elders too I would imagine,” I add, rubbing my temple. “So no. Maybe finding her has made me kick into action, but this is for Volare. Not me.”“Okay. Then I’ve got your bac

We flew out of Volare and back into the lush green of Kallio. Heading north, we skirted the river as closely as possible until we hit forests. Talking for hours about anything and everything. Staying out of sight.Not just to avoid discovery, but because Kallio is starting to unravel. The newsletters are fanning resentment into outrage. Every outlying, tall cliff stack has black scorch marks. Things are finally happening.Resting the horses in the middle of the thick trees, I could have wept to realise Mrs Berrybrow had stuffed out backpacks full of baked treats. “She’s a good woman,” Robyn announces, biting into a wedge of pastry. Rooting through the bag, I notice the gold, twisted-vine necklace has been put back, too. Why would she do that? “Everything okay?” Robyn asked. I hesitated.“Just wondering how we’ll find your brother. Do you have any ideas?” “Keep going north? I wonder if they are behind this mayhem?” pointing to a burnt out granary. I try to eat, but the mate bond

Under the darkest of night skies, I forced Elle to stare at a pile of bodies. The Elle who simpered and fluttered her eyelashes in the carriage with me on that first visit would have shrieked and had a fit at the sight of a man's guts spilling out down onto the head of another. This Elle was cool, serious. Her simple gold jewellery shimmered under the cool moonlight. This woman was in no need of an Alpha to help her lead as she had so desperately declared. Studying the corpses closely, her amber eyes were constantly flushing with her wolf's golden hue. Studying her silently, I wondered how I ever found her to be identical to her sister. Everything about her features, by mere millimetres, is distorted, forced. At least when Cass waves her arms and calls me a callous bastard it’s genuine emotion. Elle continues staring down at the pile even after men like Beta Cesar look away. That jade-eyed Beta looks edgy, forever glancing over at my men like he expects an attack. Lucas isn't inti

Beta Cesar followed us down to the stables with two surly brown-haired deputies. His dark hair and sideburns made his jade eyes pop with colour. He was quiet, methodically prepping the horse's bridles and saddles, placing his heavy armour on his torso. I tried to imagine Cass existing with someone so comfortable with silence. Impossible.The three of us were dressed in black, Lucas and I wearing our heavy metal chainmail on top. The stable crackled with unspoken tension. It feels everyone has a different agenda to the one declared to Luna Elle.I snapped at the group, “Can we get moving?”“Of course, Alpha,” Cesar answered steadily, but without a trace of respect. Both of us are pretending Cass isn’t at the heart of this chase. He knows she is still alive. He was part of the group hunting her at Pemberton. Four years of guarding my mate, did he never look and realise the wonder of her? She struck me, and not just literally, since the instant we met. Has he really remained loyal to