LOGINMATTEOThe first thing I became aware of was warmth.Not the burning agony of silver chains or the cold emptiness that had swallowed me when Zephyr — no, Marcus — took my essence. This was different. Gentle and familiar.Her scent wrapped around me like a blanket — lavender and moonlight. Lara.I tried to open my eyes, but my body felt heavy, like it had been pulled apart and stitched back together with fragile thread. Memories flooded in fragments: the platform, the ritual, Marcus’s broken laughter, Lara’s desperate screams as she fought for me.*Baby… you have to get out.**I can’t leave you.*The bond. It had been severed so violently, and now it was humming again — weak, but there.When my eyes finally opened, the first thing I saw was her face.Lara.She was leaning over me, eyes red from crying but shining with relief and love so fierce it took my breath away. Her hand was gripping mine tightly, as if afraid I might disappear again.“Luna…” My voice came out rough, barely more
The silver blade’s poison had done its work. His stolen features had melted away completely, revealing the true face of the broken man beneath — the one who had once been a loving mate before grief consumed him.Elena’s own body was failing rapidly. The strain of the forced resurrection, combined with the emotional devastation of killing the man she loved, was tearing her apart from the inside. She coughed weakly, blood staining her lips as she looked up at me with fading eyes.“You…” she rasped, reaching out a trembling hand toward me. “Please…”I knelt beside her despite the pain screaming through my own body. My family stayed close, watchful but silent.Elena’s fingers brushed mine. Her voice was barely a whisper now. “Bury us together… anywhere is fine. In the forest… under the stars… it doesn’t matter. Just… don’t separate us again. I couldn’t save him in life. Let me stay with him in death.”Tears burned in my eyes as I held her hand. Despite everything, I saw the woman beneath
Lara's POVElena’s gaze shifted past him, taking in the destroyed platform, the blood, the warriors, and finally landing on me. Her brow furrowed. She looked down at her own hands — the black wedding ring still on her finger — then back at Marcus.“Whose life did you steal?” she asked quietly, her voice gaining a little strength even as confusion clouded her expression. “I can feel it… something else inside me. But it doesn’t belong to me. Tell me, Marcus. What did you do?”The question hung heavy in the air. For a moment, Marcus hesitated, the mask slipping further. He glanced at me, then back at Elena, his jaw tightening.“It was necessary,” he said finally, voice low. “The old power demanded a trade. A life for a life. Matteo’s essence…. His strength will make you whole again. It will let us have the future that was stolen from us.”Elena’s eyes widened in horror. She pulled her hand away from his, staring at her own body as if it were a foreign prison. “You… you killed someone? F
Lara's POVAround us, the battle intensified. Lucien moved like a whirlwind, his enchanted sword flashing as he cut through tendrils of dark magic Marcus flung his way. Dad’s massive wolf form coordinated with the elite warriors, flanking from the left. Ryker’s wolf snapped and lunged from the right, creating openings for me. For a fleeting moment, we had Marcus on the defensive.I pressed the advantage, silver blades forming around my fists as I closed the distance. “You won’t escape this time!” I snarled, landing a glancing blow that made him stagger.Marcus laughed through the strain, green and purple energy swirling faster around him. “Escape? Oh, Luna… I’m exactly where I need to be.”That’s when I saw her — Elder Valeria.She had appeared at the edge of the platform like a shadow given form, her robes billowing despite the lack of wind. Her eyes glowed with an unnatural violet light as she raised her twisted staff. Before Lucien could fully register the threat, dark vines of mag
LARAThe world shattered.Marcus’s final words echoed in my ears like a curse. *Perfect symmetry, don’t you think?*Everything inside me collapsed.I dropped to my knees, pulling Matteo’s lifeless body tightly into my arms. His head rested heavily against my chest, eyes closed, face peaceful in a way that broke me even more. No rise and fall of his chest. No warm breath against my neck. No familiar spark through our mate bond.Just… nothing.A raw, guttural sob tore from my throat as I buried my face in his hair, hugging him desperately to my chest. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood still leaking from my nose and side. My body rocked back and forth instinctively, the same way I had soothed our pups when they were newborns.“Matteo…” I whispered brokenly, voice barely audible. “Please… don’t do this. Come back. The children need their father. I need you. We were supposed to have more time…”I was completely lost in the grief, the battlefield fading into a hazy blur aro
MATTEOThe nightmare was only beginning.The ground trembled violently beneath us, the dark symbols spreading like cracks across the entire platform. Purple-black flames roared higher, licking at the edges of the wooden structure as if the earth itself was awakening something ancient and hungry. The air grew thick with the scent of ozone and burning wood, choking the night.Lara’s grip on Marcus tightened, her silver aura flickering dangerously under the strain of the dark magic pressing down on her. Blood continued to pour from her nose and the deep gash in her side, but her eyes remained locked on mine through the chaos. Even now, in the heart of hell, her love reached me like a lifeline.*Matteo…* Her voice echoed through our bond, weak but filled with desperate love. *I’m not leaving you.*I wanted to scream at her to run. To save herself. To protect our children and the future we had fought so hard for. But the silver collar around my neck burned like molten fire, sending white-h
Selene didn’t speak at first.She simply stood there, her expensive heels planted firmly in my line of vision, the faint scent of her rose perfume cutting through the damp, soapy air of the laundry room. I kept my head down, my raw fingers still moving mechanically over the last sheet, scrubbing ev
My heart rate rose sharply, despite being in a near-unconscious state. I've always been afraid of the dark. A natural phenomenon that werewolves loved and eagerly anticipated. The endless shadows between the trees, the suffocating silence, the feeling that something unseen was always watching... it
Overnight, everything had changed.I was no longer allowed to sleep in the bedroom I once shared with Matteo. Instead, I was ordered to move to the maids’ quarters. I had less than three days to gather my belongings and disappear from this pack forever.When I reached the small, dimly lit room, I p
"I, Alpha Matteo of the Red Moon Pack," his voice rang loud and cold across the packed ceremonial grounds, "reject you, Lara Alvarez, as my mate and Luna."The words slammed into me like a silver blade to the chest. For a second, the world went silent. My heart stuttered, then dropped violently int







