Semua Bab HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE: Bab 11 - Bab 20

ELARA POVWe made it back to Shadow Creek covered in blood and barely standing. Seven rogues. We'd fought seven enhanced rogues and somehow survived. Kai had three deep gashes across his ribs that needed immediate attention, and I was pretty sure I'd cracked something when one of them threw me into a tree. But we were alive. The twins were still safe. That's what mattered.Marcus met us at the border with medical supplies and half the pack's warriors. One look at our faces told him everything had gone wrong."Conference room. Now." I didn't wait for acknowledgment, just headed straight for the packhouse. "Get Dr. Chen, Elder Iris, Zara, and the senior warriors. And someone check on the twins. Make sure they're secure.""They're in the safest room with Harper and four guards," Marcus said, falling into step beside me. "What happened out there?""Melissa's working with them. The Collector, the rogues, all of it. She's been sabotaging Thornwood from the inside." Kai's voice was rough wit

ELARA POVWe made it to the old church in forty-seven minutes. Thirteen minutes to spare before the Collector started mutilating my children. Thirteen minutes that felt like thirteen seconds and thirteen years all at once.The church was abandoned, rotting from decades of neglect. Perfect place for an ambush. Perfect place to die. I didn't care as long as I got Aiden and Luna out alive."Twenty rogues inside, maybe more." Marcus's voice came through the mind-link. He was circling with half our warriors, looking for alternate entrances. "Heavy fortifications on the main door. They're expecting us.""Good." I checked my weapons one more time. Silver-coated blades, backup knives strapped to my thighs, claws sharp and ready. "Let them expect us. We're coming in anyway."Kai stood beside me, similarly armed and radiating barely controlled fury. We hadn't spoken much on the drive here. Didn't need to. We both knew what we had to do. Get in, get the twins, kill anyone who stood in our way. S

ELARA POVAlpha Dante Corvus was waiting in my office like he owned it, leaning against my desk with the kind of casual confidence that came from never being told no. He was handsome in that classical way, all sharp features and dark hair, expensive clothes that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. Everything about him screamed power and wealth and control.Everything Kai wasn't three years ago when he rejected me. Everything I'd once thought I wanted in a mate."Alpha Reed." He straightened when I walked in, his smile warm but calculated. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I heard about the attack and wanted to offer my assistance.""Your assistance." I moved behind my desk, claiming my territory. Kai followed me in and positioned himself at my side, which was possessive and annoying and exactly what I expected from him. "That's generous, but Shadow Creek handled the situation.""So I heard. The Collector is dead, the twins are safe, and you've undergone a full Tru

ELARA POVThe drive to Thornwood took two hours but felt like two minutes and two years all at once. Every mile closer made my chest tighter, my breathing shallower. I hadn't been back here since the night Kai rejected me. Since the night I'd run bleeding into the forest thinking I was going to die.Now I was driving straight back into my nightmare, and I couldn't even explain to the twins why my hands were shaking on the steering wheel."Mommy, are you okay?" Luna's voice from the backseat was small and worried. "Your feelings are all jumbled. Like scared and angry and sad all mixed together.""I'm fine, baby." Another lie. I was getting good at those. "Just thinking about grown-up stuff.""Is it about Daddy's old pack?" Aiden asked. He was too perceptive, always had been. "Marcus said they weren't nice to you before. Is that why you're scared?""I'm not scared." But my voice shook on the words. "I'm just being careful. Daddy's pack has some wolves who don't know how to be respectful

ELARA POVI woke up to Luna screaming and for a second I thought we were back in Shadow Creek, safe, that Thornwood was just a nightmare. Then I saw the unfamiliar ceiling and reality crashed back. We were in enemy territory. In the place that had broken me. And my daughter was having another nightmare."Shh, baby, I'm here." I gathered her into my arms, feeling her small body shake with sobs. "You're safe. Mommy's got you.""The mean lady was here." Luna's voice was muffled against my shoulder. "She was looking at us and her feelings were all sharp and hateful. She wanted to hurt us.""It was just a dream." But my instincts were screaming otherwise. Luna's gifts were usually prophetic, not random. If she dreamed about a mean lady with hateful feelings, someone like that was probably real. "No one's going to hurt you. I promise."Aiden appeared in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "I felt it too. Someone bad is close. Really close."Before I could respond, there was a sharp knock on the