*Ember*I hadn’t seen Alec since the day after I woke up alone in his bedroom, but this morning I was planning to invite him to have breakfast with me. As I approached Alec's office, I grew a little nervous. I knocked lightly, but the door swung open. “Good morning,” I said as I pushed the door open. As expected, he was sitting at his desk, his focus fixed on the papers on his table as he scribbled on paper and muttered to himself. The air in the room felt heavy, charged with tension despite the early morning light and the breeze coming through his open window. The air was so crisp. "I thought we could have breakfast together and maybe go for a walk after?"His response was barely a murmur. He didn’t even look up at me. "I'm busy, Ember. Perhaps some other time."“Oh…” I swallowed. “Okay… Maybe lunch?”“No,” he said, flipping a page. “I have a meeting then.”The chill in his tone pierced through me, and I could feel my heart sink. My shoulders slumped. “Dinner?”He

*Ember*I couldn’t sleep much after talking to Cassandra. The more I tried to push her words and my suspicions from my mind, the more they seemed to consume me. Before I knew it, the moon had risen, fallen, and the sun was rising. The caravan’s watchers blew the horn to get everyone up and start packing. Exhaustion made every movement hard, but eventually, I got back into the cart with Lauryn. Lauryn looked like she always did, but when I saw Sawyer, he seemed stiff, like he was avoiding coming over and pretty much ignoring us. I looked over at Lauryn suspiciously. Even though I was exhausted, the situation was weird. As the caravan started to move again, the rhythmic clip-clop of hooves and the soft murmur of conversations faded away as I looked at Lauryn. She cocked an eyebrow at me. “What is it?”I shook my head, blinking slowly as Sawyer started to come towards us. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all,” Sawyer grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I shook my

*Ember*I got out of bed and headed out. My mind was still churning about Alec and that woman. The sultry way she purred to him. The fact that his door was open only made it hurt more. Then, her words rang through my mind.Exclusive…My lips trembled, and all my doubts started to creep up again. Alec wasn’t mine. He still wasn’t my Alpha. I was little more than a guest and occasional lover. Maybe he was tired of me. I crossed my arms and wiped away the tears before they could fall.I hated that she’d said that to me. I hated the situation, but as much as I didn’t like her, and didn’t like the idea of her around Alec, I couldn’t find it in me to hate her. No matter how I looked at it, she was right. Alphas got to do just about anything they wanted. They could have a Luna and fifty breeders. They could trade them out at will and without reason, but if a woman, no matter her class or station, was found to even have more than one lover, she’d be torn to shreds by their pack and may

*Alec*I grimaced as Cassandra drew closer to me. I caught her hands in mine and pushed her away gently, not missing the look of surprise on her face.“Stop it.”“Alec,” she whispered. “What—”“I saw the way you looked at Ember,” I said. “I don’t appreciate it.”Her eyes narrowed briefly. She didn’t pull her hands back, and she didn’t move as she looked up at me as if she was trying to figure something out.“Are you and the Shadow Walker mates?”Her words struck me breathless as I stared down at her. She cocked an eyebrow at me. Her eyes were still searching my face. I swallowed down my answer and focused on what she was saying. She didn’t deserve the answer before Ember did.Shadow Walker? I had heard of the term maybe once or twice in my life, but it still sent a chill through me. I could almost taste the ozone in the air as I thought back to when Ember had injured Bryan. Then, I narrowed my focus on Cassandra. While she was still a beautiful woman, there was somethin

*Ember*Alec left me in the gazebo after fixing my clothes. He kissed my forehead and told me he’d be back when it was time to go. As I looked out over the lake and across it to the mountains, I sighed with relief. All my fears about Alec’s plans for me were gone.Better than that, we were mates. The joy that filled me made my toes curl. My stomach was filled with butterflies at the thought. I couldn’t even feel the soreness from earlier. I was so happy and relieved. Alec wasn’t going to give me back to Lukas. He wasn’t choosing Cassandra over me. He wasn’t going to give me up at all. We would be together just like I’d hoped. I had never imagined that I would have a mate. In all the years of living with the Alpha King, I had never imagined much of a future. Finding Alec had been more than I had ever imagined. Now, there was so much more I could look forward to. I couldn’t stop smiling if I tried. Would I be the next luna of Whitelark? I rolled my lip between my teeth. What did t