ログインIAN**“What do you mean it’s missing?”The anger and aura boiling off me was enough to rattle the glass bottles on Dr. Hera’s shelves. She flinched but held her ground—credit to her, most people would’ve backed up by now.“I’m telling you, I gathered everything myself.”Three months’ supply. Gone.Uncle Crane and I had spent months planning this. The wolvesbane I needed to suppress Fenris since I’d be away from my pack’s infirmary. “This doesn’t make sense.” Hera was shaking her head, her dark brows drawn together. “Nobody has access to that cabinet except you, me, and Elder Crane. The lock wasn’t forced. There’s no sign of forced—”The dread was settling into my bones now. Because this wasn’t a simple theft.Nobody in this pack would dare steal from my cabinet.Unless they knew what I was. A defective Alpha. A ticking bomb.Did someone find out?“Who came in here today?” I growled.“Nobody.” She answered a fraction of a second too fast, her eyes darting to the side before she caug
ELARA**The pack was buzzing. Families were preparing—mothers fussing over suitcases, fathers clapping sons on the back, younger siblings trailing behind their older brothers and sisters with wide eyes and heroic worship. I couldn’t feel any of it.I sat on the old swing in the garden and watched the world move forward without me. Again.My father used to prepare me for school this way when I was younger. Now, I could barely remember his face. My mother always did my hair, I remember my scalp always felt like it had been through a war. I miss every second of it now.I was pushing the swing gently, enjoying the one thing I hadn’t had in days—silence—when I heard it.A noise. Coming from the path. Getting closer.Two voices. Identical. Hell no.Absolutely not. Not today. Not again. I was not getting caught alone with those two. I launched myself off the swing. Too fast.My foot caught the chain, and I hit the ground gracelessly. Damn. I need to escape before they—“Well, well, wel
IAN**Flashback***She had actually climbed into my bed.I had been sitting on the mattress, trying to exit, when she just... rolled over and claimed my space.“S’cold,” she mumbled, her voice thick and slurred from the whisky. “S’cold. Everything is freezing.”Before I could even process the absolute audacity of a Muteblood invading my bed, she crawled closer. She didn't do it with any kind of seduction. It was the desperate, instinctual crawl of a freezing cat seeking a fire.Her soft body curved directly into mine, her arms wrapping around my waist, burying her face into my chest.I froze like a corpse, my chest locking up. She was tiny against me, but she felt like a lightning strike.“Mmm,” she snuggled closer, her damp, dark hair tickling my chin. “You’re so warm, Nate.”Nate.That name. That fucking name, whispered against my jawline while her body was pressed so tightly against mine I could feel the rapid beat of her heart.Something violent detonated in my chest.I grabbed he
IANI was on my tenth cigarette and still wanted to punch something.“If wolves could get human diseases, you’d probably have lung cancer by now, ” Adrian said from the couch in our hangout lounge.Fuck him.I was still seeing red that he’d stepped between me and Calloway.“Since when do you care about the human population?” I muttered.“I don’t,” Adrian replied, not even looking up from the leather sofa. “I care about the fact that you’re getting aggravated daily. I can see you losing control.”I stiffened. If he only knew what was actually happening inside my head—how close Fenris, my wolf, was to dragging us both off a cliff—he wouldn't be so casual.“So, what’s the real story?” Adrian continued.On his forearm, Black, his pet snake, flicked its tongue lazily. The damn thing had been hiding under Adrian’s wardrobe for two days, and now it was back to acting like a designer watch.“Nothing is happening,” I snapped, ashes falling onto my grey sweats. “Drop it.”Adrian lifted a single
ELARA * * “I already pushed him away, Kirsten!” “And yet he’s sitting in there with three broken ribs because he fought the future Alpha for you.” Kirsten let out a shaky, bitter breath. “He’s never going to move on, Elara. Not as long as you’re single. Not as long as he can see you, and talk to you, and... and hold you.” Her voice dropped, sounding smaller, more fragile. “You know this is the second time, right? The second time I’ve been rejected.” My chest ached. I knew. During a match against the MoonVeil Pack last winter, Kirsten’s wolf had recognized the captain from their team. Her first fated mate. She had been electric that night—glowing, breathless, running across the ice to find him. And the guy had looked her dead in the eye and told her he had a girlfriend. That he didn't care about a wolf bond. That she should go back to her own pack and forget he existed. Kirsten had been broken for months. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t talk. I spent three weeks dragging her out
ELARA**Nate sat on the examination table, shirtless, while Dr. Hera wrapped his ribs.Three of them. Broken.The bruising was already turning a deep, angry shade of purple—the kind of mark that doesn't fade in a week. Injuries caused by an Alpha carried a different kind of premium. They healed at a painful crawl.I winced just looking at the swelling. “You shouldn’t have fought him,” Nate’s eyes snapped to mine, fierce and bloodshot. “So I should’ve just stood there? Let that prick talk about you like you’re his personal property?”“He was baiting you, Nate. It’s what he does. You gave him exactly what he wanted.”“I don’t give a shit what he wanted. Nobody talks about you like that. Nobody touches you. Nobody—” He cut himself off, his jaw ticking.Dr. Hera finished the wrap with a sharp, no-nonsense tug that made Nate choke back a groan. She gave us both a lingering warning look and walked out.The exact second the door clicked shut, Nate reached out and caught my wrist.“What re







