Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 6

"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