LOGIN"Eat," he commanded softly. "You need your strength."My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the spoon, but the second the hot broth touched my tongue, I nearly cried. It was the most incredible thing I had ever tasted. The heat rushed straight to my freezing stomach, bringing a rush of life back into my numb limbs.While I inhaled the stew like a starving animal, Stiles sat cross-legged on the rug beside me. He didn't eat his own food yet. Instead, he reached out and gently pulled Mael into his lap.I instantly tensed, my maternal instincts flaring, but I forced myself to stay still.Stiles just looked at my baby with pure, unadulterated adoration. Kaelen had looked at Mael like a defective tool, a useless piece of trash that couldn't serve his political agenda. Riven had looked at him like a puzzle to be solved, a pawn to be protected out of duty.But Stiles? He just looked at him like a baby.He smiled down at Mael, using a rough fingertip to gently stroke the pup's sof
"Eat," he commanded softly. "You need your strength."My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the spoon, but the second the hot broth touched my tongue, I nearly cried. It was the most incredible thing I had ever tasted. The heat rushed straight to my freezing stomach, bringing a rush of life back into my numb limbs.While I inhaled the stew like a starving animal, Stiles sat cross-legged on the rug beside me. He didn't eat his own food yet. Instead, he reached out and gently pulled Mael into his lap.I instantly tensed, my maternal instincts flaring, but I forced myself to stay still.Stiles just looked at my baby with pure, unadulterated adoration. Kaelen had looked at Mael like a defective tool, a useless piece of trash that couldn't serve his political agenda. Riven had looked at him like a puzzle to be solved, a pawn to be protected out of duty.But Stiles? He just looked at him like a baby.He smiled down at Mael, using a rough fingertip to gently stroke the pup's sof
"Eat," he commanded softly. "You need your strength."My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the spoon, but the second the hot broth touched my tongue, I nearly cried. It was the most incredible thing I had ever tasted. The heat rushed straight to my freezing stomach, bringing a rush of life back into my numb limbs.While I inhaled the stew like a starving animal, Stiles sat cross-legged on the rug beside me. He didn't eat his own food yet. Instead, he reached out and gently pulled Mael into his lap.I instantly tensed, my maternal instincts flaring, but I forced myself to stay still.Stiles just looked at my baby with pure, unadulterated adoration. Kaelen had looked at Mael like a defective tool, a useless piece of trash that couldn't serve his political agenda. Riven had looked at him like a puzzle to be solved, a pawn to be protected out of duty.But Stiles? He just looked at him like a baby.He smiled down at Mael, using a rough fingertip to gently stroke the pup's sof
I braced myself as Stiles carried me deeper into the valley of WhiteWaters. My entire life had conditioned me to expect the worst. Pack settlements were built on rigid, suffocating hierarchy. I fully expected Vanguard-style guards to step out of the shadows with halberds. I expected omegas to drop to their knees in the snow, pressing their foreheads to the dirt until the Alpha passed. I expected the heavy, toxic cloud of fear that always clung to Frostbane and Valrok.But as we crossed into the heart of the village, none of that happened.The settlement was alive. It was loud, chaotic, and incredibly warm. Log cabins with thick, smoking chimneys lined a winding, frozen river. People were bustling about their morning chores. Men were chopping firewood, their breath pluming in the freezing air, while women carried woven baskets of winter roots between the houses."Hey, Stiles!" a voice called out.I flinched instinctively, waiting for a reprimand. But then a snowball sailed through the
I was too exhausted to solve the puzzle. My eyes fluttered shut.The journey to wherever he was taking me felt long and incredibly cold. The wind howled through the barren trees, biting at my exposed face. But I found a profound, unnatural warmth in this stranger’s body. He was like a walking furnace. I pressed myself closer to his chest, soaking up his body heat to keep my violent shivering at bay.The agonizing mate-sickness still throbbed behind my eyes. My body was quietly, desperately craving the dark, violent King I had left behind in the fortress. But my mind was incredibly grateful for the gentle, sweetgrass-scented man currently carrying me through the snow.After walking through the dense brush for what felt like twenty minutes, the tree line suddenly broke."Wake up, little wolf," Stiles murmured softly, giving me a gentle jostle. "We're here."I forced my heavy eyelids open.We were standing at the edge of a massive, hidden valley, completely shielded from the brutal winds
I tried to lift my arm, to reach out and take his offered hand, but the pain searing through my muscles was excruciating. My bones felt like they were made of liquid lead. My arm dropped back down into the bloody snow, entirely useless.I was completely naked, shivering so violently my teeth were clicking together.Stiles noticed. He didn’t hesitate. He immediately dropped his outstretched hand, shifting Mael securely into the crook of his left arm. He stepped carefully over the gruesome, decapitated remains of the wererat and crouched down right beside me in the snow.His large, warm hand brushed the wet, snow-crusted hair away from my face. His fingers rested gently against my cold forehead, perhaps to feel my temperature."You're burning up on the inside, but your skin is like ice," he murmured, his brow furrowing in concern. "And you're in a lot of pain. I can... feel it. Are you lost out here?"His words were soft, dripping like warm honey. I just stared at him, my mind spinning.
Tears of sheer, human humiliation leaked from the corners of my eyes, rolling down my temples into my hair. I was trapped. I was listening to my own mouth spout the most filthy, submissive, degrading pleas, begging a man who had just sold me out to a council of warlords.Riven’s golden eyes flared
LioraI woke up in a bed.That sounds like the smallest, most unremarkable thing. But after three years of a husband who monitored my pillow count and two weeks on a clinic cot with straps on my wrists, the weight of a real mattress beneath me — thick and warm and clean — felt so foreign it trigger
My knees gave out on the second step.The guards didn't care. They didn't stop dragging me.My bare feet slapped against the freezing stone of the grand staircase, my toes leaving small, pathetic smears of blood where I dragged. The rough fabric of the hospital gown rode up my thighs, exposing the
LioraEight months pregnant!I chuckled, tracing the tight, swollen curve of my belly. I raised my chin and looked at myself in the rearview mirror, a massive smile spreading across my cheeks. I was finally giving an heir to my mate. I was finally going to be a true Luna for the Alpha. Kaelen was







