All Chapters of Pandora: Hunted by the Two Alphas She Abandoned: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

I entered Asterion's study without knocking and immediately realized I had behaved like the woman whose portrait I had ordered removed. My hand remained upon the open door.Old habits returned too easily inside Seitz Manor. I had once entered every room as though walls, possessions, and privacy existed only when I permitted them.Asterion looked up from his desk. "My moon." His voice remained cold. The warmth that entered our bond was anything but. His expression lightened so subtly that anyone else might have missed it. I felt the full force of his excitement before he rose and crossed the room to meet me."I should have knocked," I said."No."I arched an eyebrow. "No?""I spent five years wishing you would enter any room I occupied." He stopped before me. "I will not complain about your manners now."Before I could answer, his arms closed around me. The embrace contained none of his usual hesitation. He drew me against his chest and lowered his face toward the mark on my neck as th

Asterion's study looked as though the Goddess of War had attacked it.Technically, she had.Reports covered the floor. One map hung from the edge of the desk while another had disappeared beneath the couch. The inkpot had survived, although a dark stain spread across the trade agreement Asterion had been preparing.The desk itself no longer stood at the precise angle it had occupied when I entered. Neither did my dress.Asterion bent to retrieve his discarded white shirt from the floor without allowing me to leave his lap. "Lift your arms."I narrowed my eyes. "I am capable of dressing myself.""I know." He waited.With a quiet grimace, I obeyed.Asterion slipped the shirt over my arms and fastened several buttons, his knuckles occasionally brushing my bare skin. The fabric fell nearly to the middle of my thighs, carrying his warmth and cedar scent around me. His gaze lingered upon the sight."Stop looking at me like that.""You are wearing my shirt.""Because you ruined my clothes."

The scent of burnt sugar and spice filled the small kitchen, a sharp counterpoint to the heady silence that fell between us after the bolt slid home. Faolan moved with deliberate, controlled motions, transferring the blackened pastries to a wooden platter and setting them far from the hearth. His back was to me, the muscles in his shoulders tense beneath the thin fabric of his shirt. He was fighting for control, warring with the very desire I had just invited. It was a fascinating struggle to witness, the carefully constructed armor of good humor and easygoing charm visibly cracking under the strain. I could feel it through our bond, a roiling, tempestuous sea of need held back by a rapidly crumbling dam.When he finally turned to face me, his hands were empty, but his expression was full. The familiar, teasing smile was gone, replaced by something raw and predatory. He took a step toward the table, then stopped, gripping the back of a chair as if to anchor himself. "Pandora," he w

I had never been jealous when Asterion belonged to me. Possession did not fear competition.Choice did.I discovered this shortly before breakfast ended, when Lady Lysandra Veyne entered the private dining room and spoke my mate's name as though she had earned the right to soften it."Asterion."Not Alpha.Not Lord Seitz.Asterion.He rose from his chair beside mine. "Lady Lysandra."Faolan stood as well. "We did not expect you until noon, Lady Lysandra.""The condition of my northern village did not permit a leisurely journey, Faolan."She used his name too, but it sounded different. Warm. Familiar. Friendly. Asterion's name had left her mouth like something she had repeated privately.I lifted my teacup and drank before anyone could notice that my wolf wanted to remove Lysandra's tongue.She appeared close to Asterion's age, perhaps thirty, with dark red hair bound at her nape and a pale scar cutting from her left temple toward her cheek. She wore no jewels beyond the iron insignia

"The butcher of White Thorn Pack has returned."I had been called monster, tyrant, and war-bringer. None of those names had sounded as honest as butcher spoken by a woman whose sons I had ordered killed.The wolves surrounding us became silent. Fear soured their scents, mingling with the smoke still clinging to Frostmere's ruins.Lysandra stepped forward. "Elder Maura—""No." The woman lifted one trembling hand. "She came to our land. She can answer me herself."I moved away from Asterion and Faolan. Both followed.Maura stared at my face as if searching for the sixteen-year-old girl who had watched White Thorn's gates fall."Do you remember my sons?""Yes."Pain tightened every line of her face. "You remember ordering their deaths?""Yes.""Did you watch them die?"The memory waited where I had buried it: two young warriors refusing to kneel, Father's soldiers forcing them against the stones while I gave permission with one careless movement of my hand."Yes."Her arm rose, but I clo