CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chapter NineThe Luna Council arrived at exactly three o'clock, and they brought winter with them.I watched from the drawing room window as five black SUVs rolled up the circular drive, each one disgorging women who moved with the kind of confidence that came from commanding packs and territories. They were all different—varying heights, builds, ages—but they shared the same predatory grace that marked apex wolves.My mother stood beside me, her hand resting lightly on my shoulder. "Remember who you are, Khione. Not who you pretended to be for him.""I'm not sure I remember anymore," I admitted."Then let them remind you."The women entered our home like they owned it, which in a way, they did. The Luna Council held power that rivaled the Alphas themselves—sometimes exceeded it. They were the wives, sisters, and daughters of the most powerful packs on the continent, and they answered to no one.The first through the door was a tall woman with silver-streaked black hair pulled into a

CHAPTER TWELVE

Chapter ElevenI watched from the second-floor window as Kieran's car disappeared down the tree-lined drive, my forehead pressed against the cold glass. The mate bond hummed beneath my ribs, carrying Emrys's fury and my father's restraint and my own devastation in waves that made it hard to breathe.Four months pregnant. Morgana was four months pregnant.My hands moved to my stomach automatically, doing math I didn't want to do. Four months back was June. Our seventh wedding anniversary. I'd made reservations at the restaurant where he'd proposed, bought him cufflinks he'd claimed to love, worn the dress he'd once said made me look beautiful.He'd canceled the dinner last minute. Business emergency, he'd said. Important client meeting that couldn't be rescheduled. I'd eaten takeout alone in our kitchen, telling myself it was fine, we'd celebrate another night.He'd been with Morgana instead. Getting her pregnant while his wife waited at home with cooling pasta and wilting hope."Khion

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Chapter TwelveMy mother returned within the hour, her face pale and her hands trembling in a way I'd never seen before. She'd been making calls from my father's office, doors closed, voices too low to hear. Now she stood in the doorway of the war room looking like she'd aged ten years in sixty minutes."Tell Marcus and Miranda to stay," she said. "And get your father. He needs to hear this."Something in her tone made my stomach drop. Emrys moved toward the door immediately, returning minutes later with my father. The Primal Alpha entered the room like a storm front, all coiled power and barely restrained violence. He'd heard about Kieran's performance at the gates. I could see it in the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his hands kept clenching and unclenching like he was imagining them around someone's throat."Isadora," he said to my mother. "What did you find?"She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she moved to the table and spread out a series of photographs she'd printed fr

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Chapter ThirteenThe safe room door sealed behind us with a hydraulic hiss that made my wolf want to claw its way back out. Every instinct screamed at me to be on the other side of that reinforced steel, standing between Khione and whatever was coming for her.But the Primal Alpha had given me an order, and my job was to protect his daughter, not indulge my mate bond's possessive fury.The safe room was twelve by twelve feet of concrete and steel, designed to withstand siege conditions. Monitors lined one wall, showing security feeds from across the estate. I watched three wolves—huge, easily two hundred pounds each in animal form—split up as they approached the main house.One headed for the front entrance. One circled toward the kitchens. And one went straight for the window I knew led to Khione's bedroom."They know the layout," Marcus said quietly, watching the same feeds. "This isn't random. Someone told them exactly where to go."Khione stood pressed against the far wall, one ha

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

# Chapter FourteenMorgana's second call came at dawn, just as weak sunlight was beginning to filter through my bedroom curtains. I'd spent the night in the safe room at my father's insistence, but now that police had finished processing the scene and the estate was on full lockdown, I'd been allowed to return to my own bed.Not that I'd slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that brown wolf crashing through the safe room door, saw Emrys covered in blood, felt the twins moving restlessly inside me like they could sense the danger.When my phone rang, I almost didn't answer. But something made me reach for it, some instinct that said this call mattered."What do you want, Morgana?""To meet." Her voice was different from last night—softer, almost uncertain. "Face to face. Just you and me.""So you can finish what your hired wolves couldn't?""I told you, that wasn't me. And I can prove it." She paused. "I have information you need, Khione. About Kieran. About what he's planning next

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Chapter FifteenThe photos on Morgana's phone blurred as tears I refused to let fall burned behind my eyes. My sister. Lyra. The golden girl who'd been everything I'd tried and failed to be—confident, powerful, beloved by everyone who met her. She'd died in a car accident when I was sixteen, and the grief had nearly destroyed our entire family.And Kieran had loved her first."I don't believe you," I said, but my voice shook."Of course you don't. You never believed anything that didn't fit your fairy tale." Morgana swiped to another photo. "This is his private office. The one in the downtown building, not the home office you were allowed to see. He kept it locked, told you it was for classified business meetings. Remember?"I did remember. Seven years of marriage and I'd never been inside that office. He'd said it was company policy, that sensitive documents required restricted access. I'd believed him because I'd believed everything.The photo showed a room that looked like a memori