LOGINELOISE’S POVWhere was I? The building looked nothing like others I’d seen before. It was old, with vines crawling up its cracked walls and floors. Whoever stayed here must have long abandoned the place—or so I’d thought. Then, I heard the soft music—there were no words to the song, but still it sounded sad, like a plea for help. I followed the beautiful sound, desperate to find its singer. The further I went, the darker and mistier the place became. I stepped into a room which was almost completely overgrown with vines, and there a woman sat. Huge chains had been secured around her wrists, ankles and neck. She had red hair strangely similar to mine and I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I knew her. Her song came to an end and finally she stared up at me. She had blue eyes—dreamy, hypnotizing, eyes that seemed to steal the breath right out of my lungs.“I know who you are,” I said to her.“Yes, you do.” Her voice was just as beautiful as the music she’d been singing and I couldn’t
GIDEON’S POVI’d gotten used to the voices now that I only ignored them. They weren’t real—all ghosts, or as Darth called them, umbrae. That’s what I’d thought until I felt something grab onto my arm, those cold, bony hands were real.“So… so hungry,” it gritted, like a starved creature. “Maybe I’ll eat you,” it whispered, as if in thought. I shoved it off me, pulling free from its grip. I took a step backward, but its cold hands found me again and this time it wasted no time in digging its teeth into my neck. I gripped his head, tightening my hold until its bony skull cracked apart and his body went limb. I let go and he fell to the floor with a clatter, like a sack of bones.How many more of those were here? How long would it take before the voices got to me?My stomach grumbled in hunger and I found myself wondering how long I could hold on before I turned to the very creature I’d just killed.Then I saw the flicker of light. The light got brighter, and I blinked letting my eyes ad
CASSIAN’S POVI’d been heading into my office when I spotted her. She knocked on the door to a guestroom—only, someone was inside. Jefferson Scott. The first thing I wondered was what he was doing here. But I figured he wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t agreed to this.I tried reaching for the anger I once felt whenever I saw him, but there was nothing, and while I found that very strange, it was more proof that Eloise was right, a part of me was missing.The look in Jefferson’s eyes was one I'd seen before, it was of a man who was madly in love. Eloise stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.She’d told me he was the father of her daughter and they’d separated, but there didn’t seem to be even an ounce of animosity between them, on the contrary, they seemed comfortable around each other.A flicker of jealousy rose in my chest. Jealousy that she was with him, and not with me and that made zero sense because until yesterday, I didn’t even know her. I thought about last night, h
KATALIER’S POVI never believed it’ll be possible to have feelings for a man ever again— at least not after what Nathan had done to me. The ex-alpha had damaged the part of me capable of those feelings.It was true that he’d damaged me in more ways than one, and yet it had always been different around Gideon. He wasn’t like every other man I knew, he was… a good person and believe me, this wasn’t something I said about men.He was the reason I could stand unafraid at the face of another man, he was the reason I could fight—not only to protect myself but for other women facing the same thing I suffered. I had been ready to give him anything in return for that gift—anything, but what surprised me more was that he never asked for anything.Never once had he made any kind of advances towards me. To the world, I was a figure to be feared, but to him I was a woman to be protected. I hated it, but certainly not as much as I should have. The pills I took each day kept Nathan from my thoughts
I knocked on the door to Jefferson’s room, but there was no response. I was about to knock again when the door was pulled open, revealing a freshly out-of-shower and neatly-shaved Jefferson.“Hey,” he said, surprised to see me.“Can I come in?”“Y—yeah, I mean of course.” He stepped aside and I walked in.“I came to check on Layla.” I’d asked that she stayed overnight with him as I didn’t know if this Cassian was ready to have her around. There was a brief look of disappointment on his face, but he quickly masked it.“She’s still asleep,” he said, motioning to the inner room. “I could wake her—”“No, there’s no need for that.” “I heard about Cassian.” He said, “I’m glad he survived.” I nodded. “Yes, me too.”“You don’t look so happy.”“I am—really, it’s just…” I shook my head, “It’s nothing.”“Eloise, you know you can talk to me, right?”I let out a breath. “There’s something wrong with him, the Council—they messed him up and… he doesn’t remember me.”“What do you mean?”“I mean,
ELOISE’S POVHe was back—that’s all that mattered, every other thing could simply be… fixed, right?Yet watching those familiar blue eyes stare at me like I was no more than a stranger had to have been one of the most painful things I’d ever endured.I walked out of the shower, wrapped in a towel to find him laying on the couch.“You should take the bed,” I said to him and his gaze fell on me. He had that all-too-familiar look in his eyes as he took me in, but just as he’d done before, he looked away. “I’m fine.”I changed into my night dress, before laying down on the bed. I missed his warmth, it was harder now, having him so close and yet so far away.“Tell me about you.”“What?” I hadn’t quite caught his words.“You’re not my ideal type; I want to know why I choose you.”The words had hurt, but I swallowed down my emotions, reminding myself all the reasons I should be happy.“You brought me here as your mistress,” I began, “We made a deal actually, and being your mistress was
CASSIAN’S POVShe knew.I should have been able to tell the moment I’d returned to see her staring at me with that strange longing in her eyes. I should have been able to tell from the way she’d kissed me, there was something passionate and sad about it and I thought I’d seen a single tear escape h
I felt numb as I walked into my chambers and was relieved to discover Cassian wasn’t yet in.I led Layla to her room, before slumping down on the couch. I didn’t know how long I sat there staring into nothing, but her voice had drawn back my attention.“Elose, are you sad?” Layla asked, her big gre
The outdoor swimming pool was shielded with a see-through glass slide. I worked the mechanism so the glass slide retracted. The smell of chlorine filled the air. The blue water glowed under the moonlight. I took off my clothes, before diving in. I broke through the surface, running my hands throug
GIDEON’S POVIt was past midnight.I walked down the pack hallways for a routine check. Most of the public rooms were empty, the bar still had a few pack members drinking away their sorrow but no one seemed to be making any trouble, so I walked past there. Finally, I came to a stop before the train







