When The Elder Comes

The sound outside kept getting closer.I crossed the room and peered out into the Darkwood night. I counted a dozen wolves at the tree line, maybe more lurking in the shadows. They moved with too much order, like they were following instructions—not panicked, not surprised. This was planned. Vance hadn’t scrambled to respond when he found out I was here; he’d been setting this in motion long before I showed up. Almost as soon as Marcus rolled up to my gate, with Selene trailing behind him. As soon as Vance realized his plans were unraveling—and the woman he’d spent four years trying to erase was now inside the pack’s territory he’d treated like his own fortress.He was waiting for the right moment. We basically handed it to him by putting everyone together in one place.I turned from the window. Damien was trying, not very successfully, to get out of bed.“Stay down,” I told him.“Aria—”“Damien,” I said, looking him right in the eye. “You can’t shift. You can barely stand. If you try

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The wrong enemy

I didn’t move. My phone was still in my hand, Damien’s hand was still wrapped around mine in the dark, and the connection between us felt alive in the silence. None of that changed what I’d just read from Wren. The investor’s name is Cassian. I read the words again. And then again. They didn’t become less catastrophic no matter how many times I looked. My mind spun through the last two days—Cassian arriving at the packhouse, Cassian watching Selene sign documents he’d drawn up before he even walked in, Cassian filing for an emergency hearing, his six wolves moving perfectly into position to keep Vance contained without a fight. Every detail settled into place too smoothly, like dominoes Cassian had started tapping weeks ago. And tonight, he’d told me on the steps: I have every authority. He didn’t look shocked when I showed him what I’d found. He looked impressed, almost as if he’d been waiting for that exact piece to slot in. Fourteen months of circling Vance and there was nothi

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The knock that wasn’t

The handle stopped. I pressed myself against the wall, right next to the door, clutching the heavy brass lamp base—the only thing nearby that wasn’t just for decoration—and waited. I didn’t breathe. My wolf was dead silent inside me.On the other side, everything was still. No footsteps, no shuffling. Maybe they’d heard something—a stray sound from Damien turning in his sleep—or maybe they just paused to listen before trying again. One. Two. Three. And then, the handle finished its turn, and the door opened—slow, careful. The hinges barely made a sound as whoever was there eased it inward, almost painfully patient.I tightened my grip on the lamp base, ready.A figure slipped through the crack. Smaller than I expected—a woman, moving with that practiced sort of quiet that says she’s done this before. Not Cassian.Recognition hit me a split second before she fully entered the room. “Aria, it’s me,” Nadia whispered. “Put that down before you break my skull.”The relief hit hard. I let

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Semua Bab His Shattered Luna : Bab 11 - Bab 13

When The Elder Comes

The wrong enemy

The knock that wasn’t