All Chapters of WICKED PROVIDENCE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Forget about a pup, Avery. You didn’t even bother with the suppressant herbs after last night, did you?"Hudson’s voice was a low vibration in the cramped space of the carriage. His eyes, glowing a predatory amber in the dim light, tracked the pulse jumping in Avery’s throat.Avery lifted her hands, her movements sharp and jagged. It wasn't my fertile window. There’s no risk."Good," Hudson grunted, leaning back into the leather seat. The scent of his irritation—like ozone and wet earth—filled the cabin. "At least you’re being practical. A wolfless heir is a death sentence in the Silver Ridge. I don't need that headache."Avery looked out the window. The jagged peaks of the Montgomery territory blurred behind a veil of freezing rain. She was a 'Ghost'—a high-born female whose wolf had never surfaced. To the pack, she was a defect. To Hudson, she was a silent contract meant to keep the Council off his back."The scent of the city is all over you," Hudson muttered, a sudden shift in hi

"You want to break the blood-bond?"Hudson’s laughter was a serrated blade. He didn't even look at the parchment Avery had laid on the obsidian desk. He swiped it aside, the paper fluttering into the embers of the hearth. "You’re going to walk away from a Montgomery because of a few insults in the mud? Grow up, Avery."Avery retrieved the document, her fingers trembling but her eyes hard. She slammed it back down, her palm flat against the mahogany."You’re serious." Hudson’s face darkened, the air in the room thickening with the heavy, suffocating pressure of an Alpha’s intent. "Fine. Leave. But you leave with nothing. Every scrap of silver, every garment, every ounce of meat you’ve eaten in this territory—pay it back. Then you can go be a rogue for all I care."He expected her to crumble. Instead, Avery reached into her tunic and pulled out a single, leather-bound pouch. She emptied it. The heavy gold coins and the black credit-talisman he’d given her clattered onto the desk. She si

“Where the hell did this come from?”Hudson’s voice was a low-frequency vibration that rattled the crystal decanters on the sideboard. He didn't look at the wooden box Avery had set on the stone counter; he looked at her, his amber eyes tracking the frantic pulse in her throat. His scent—heavy with the metallic tang of an Alpha's suspicion—filled the kitchen.Avery’s fingers blurred in the dim light, the motion jagged. I went to the archives to finish my resignation. I'm done.“And who brought you back to the territory? Who’d you share a kill with for lunch?” He moved closer, the heat radiating off his massive frame pressing against her.Avery’s hands froze. The lie tasted like copper in her mouth. It was the first time she’d ever deceived her Alpha, and the sweat slicking her palms felt like a confession. Harper. She drove me. We ate at the border tavern. She bit her lip, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She raised her hands again, a small, daring spark in her e

Hudson’s jaw rippled as he stepped back, a low, guttural snarl vibrating in his chest.Avery couldn't move. The room spun in a blur of grey stone and flickering torchlight. She reached blindly for the napkins on the mahogany table, her fingers fumbling as the sickness clawed at her throat.Hudson didn’t storm out. To her shock, he knelt. His large, calloused hand cupped the back of her head, stabilizing her as he wiped the bitter mess from her lips with a piece of linen. He didn't flinch at the smell. He didn't show the typical Montgomery disgust for weakness. He just held a glass of cool spring water to her mouth, his eyes tracking her pulse."Rinse," he commanded, his voice a low rumble.He helped her back against the furs of the sofa. Avery’s eyelids felt like lead. She drifted in the heavy silence of the room, hearing only the distant scrape of a servant’s mop against the stone and the clink of glass. Then, the scent of warm, frothed milk hit her."Drink." Hudson helped her sit up

"Get the hell out then. Don't come crawling back when the shadows catch up to you!" Hudson’s roar rattled the glass of the medical ward. He pivoted, the heavy oak door slamming with a crack that sounded like a bone snapping.Dr. Ryan Mercer didn't flinch. He leaned against the silver-wash basin, a cynical glint in his eyes as he watched Avery huddle into her thin hospital furs. "You’re a walking disaster, Avery. Too soft. In this pack, the submissive ones get eaten first. You need to start biting back."Avery looked up, her throat working as she swallowed. Her fingers were too shaky to form the signs."Look, the game is simple," Mercer continued, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. "Keep him on a leash. Make the Alpha crave you until he can’t breathe, then cut the cord. Who cares if your wolf is dormant? That face is a weapon. Use it."Avery’s head snapped back in a frantic shake. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table, her thumb flying over the screen. I can’t. I hav