Tamara’s POVThe world spun violently as I felt my legs give way beneath me. Distantly, I could hear Alpha Jonathan’s voice barking out orders.“Call the doctor! Now!”No. The thought pierced through the fog clouding my mind, sharp and urgent. I couldn’t let them call a doctor.Thoughts of my secret abnormalities flashed in my head—the strange way my wolf’s thirst for blood surged uncontrollably at times, the lingering sensations I sometimes felt after drinking the potions, even though it shouldn’t affect me. Then there was the fact of my rebirth I couldn’t risk anyone examining me too closely incase they see these things. Gritting my teeth, I forced my eyes open and willed myself to sit up.“No doctor,” I croaked, my voice weak but firm.Alpha Jonathan’s expression twisted in irritation as he hovered over me. “Tamara, you nearly collapsed. You need help.”“I’m fine,” I lied, my breath still shaky. “I just need rest.”Jonathan crossed his arms, his jaw tightening. “What the hell was
Tamara’s POVJonathan had offered Sophie and me separate rooms, but I’d insisted we stay together. I needed her close. Sophie had been a rock through everything, and despite my condition, I could tell something was weighing on her mind.The room we were given was luxurious, with a massive bed draped in silk sheets, a plush sitting area, and a balcony overlooking the dense forest surrounding Alpha Jonathan’s packhouse. Sophie helped me settle in before sitting at the edge of the bed, her brow furrowed in concern.“Luna Tamara, this isn’t right,” Sophie began softly, her voice laced with worry. “We should go back home. You’re not well, and it’s getting worse. What if something happens to you here?”I sighed, leaning back against the pillows. “Sophie, you know I can’t leave. Dante means the world to me, and I’ll do whatever it takes to protect him.”She opened her mouth to argue but stopped, her shoulders slumping. “I know how much he means to you. I just… I’m scared, Tamara.”I reache
Tamara's POV The tension in the room felt suffocating as the alphas settled into their seats. The long table stretched across the room, and Jonathan sat at the head, his face hard with the sobering situation. I stood at his side, feeling the weight of every eye on me. juding, scrutinizingThis wasn’t just a meeting; it was a chance to prove that my Dante was being framed, and I had to do everything I could to expose the truth. Jonathan banged his fist on the table, signaling the start of the meeting. "We all know why we're here. Let's get to the point," he said, his voice carrying authority. The alphas murmured their agreement, their eyes flickering to the prisoner still shackled in the center of the room. He looked disheveled, his clothes stained with dirt and blood. His eyes were wide with fear, and he trembled under the scrutiny of the alphas. One of the older alphas, his graying hair making him appear even more imposing, spoke up first. "We’ve all been attacked by strange wa
Tamara's POV The meeting was finally wrapping up and the tension in the room dissolved when Alpha Jonathan declared it adjourned. The alphas murmured amongst themselves, some exchanging lingering glares while others offered me congratulatory nods. I tried to shake off the exhaustion from the day’s revelations. Dante’s name had been cleared, but the fight wasn’t over yet. There was still Reuben and whatever dark game he was playing. I had stood up to leave when the strange scent hit me—a sweet, intoxicating aroma that wrapped around my senses and pulled at something deep within me. It was unlike anything I had ever smelled before, a blend of honey and cedarwood, warm and inviting, yet completely disorienting. My steps faltered, and I felt an invisible string tugging me toward the door. The room blurred around me as I moved, as if the scent itself was a spell, clouding my mind. I tried to think of Dante, to ground myself in his image, but for some reason, his name slipped t
Tamara's POVAdrian’s lips were on mine before I could process what was happening. The warmth of his touch, the press of his mouth—it all felt so familiar, yet completely new. It was like he knew every corner of my soul, every unspoken wish and hidden desire. The kiss was perfect, achingly perfect, and for a moment, I found myself melting into him, letting the world blur away.I didn’t mean to enjoy it. But I did.It wasn’t just the way he kissed me—it was the way it felt right, like coming home to something I’d been searching for my entire life. His hands cupped my face with such tenderness, his scent wrapping around me, pulling me deeper into the moment. My heart thundered in my chest, and for a second, I thought maybe—Dante.His voice broke through the haze like a sharp blade, shattering the spell.“Tamara,” Dante’s voice echoed in my mind, tinged with urgency and confusion.Reality crashed over me. My mate. My love. My Dante.I shoved Adrian away so hard he staggered back. “What
Tamara's POV Adrian stood in front of me, his face was a mix of utter heartbreak and pain. The sting of my rejection hung in the air between us, and We waited for the pain, the searing agony that was supposed to come when a mate bond was broken. But it didn’t. I glanced at Adrian, confusion mirrored in his dark eyes. “Why don’t we feel anything?” I whispered, my voice shaky. Adrian shook his head, his brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Maybe… maybe it’s because the goddess approves of the end of our bond.” The realization struck us both at the same time, and Adrian’s shoulders sagged. He let out a bitter laugh, running a hand through his hair. “So, this is it. The goddess herself is telling me I was too late. I’ve truly lost you, Tamara.” “Adrian—” I started, but he cut me off. “I should have claimed you in our past life,” he said, his voice thick with regret. “If I hadn’t been so blinded by Amanda, if I had seen you for what you were to me… Maybe things would have been dif
Tamara's POV"Every one makes mistakes I'm sure Dante will understand." Sophie said “he kissed me Three times, Sophie. And I didn’t stop him. What kind of person does that?”Sophie exhaled slowly, sitting on the edge of my bed. “oh I get it now, Adrian is your anchor. That’s why this happened.”Her words made my heart sink further. “I don’t care if he’s my anchor. I shouldn’t have let it happen. I rejected him immediately, but what if Dante --Sophie cut me off, waving her hand. “You rejected him already?""yes""then there is nothing to worry about, It was just a kiss, Tamara. It doesn’t mean anything. You rejected Adrian, didn’t you?”“Yes, but—”“Then that’s it,” she said firmly. “The bond is gone. What happened with Adrian is in the past. You don’t need to drag Dante into this.”I frowned, confused by her sudden shift. “You told me I had to tell him, Sophie. You said the truth was the only way.”“I know,” she admitted, her expression conflicted. “But now that I think about it… wh
Dante’s POV I stood by Tamara’s bedside, my chest tightening at the sight of her pale face. Her shallow breaths were like a blade slicing through me, each one more agonizing than the last. Poisoned. My mate had been poisoned, and no one could tell me how it happened. Anger surged through me like wildfire. “What the fuck happened to her?” I demanded, spinning to face Sophie, who hovered by the door with guilt written all over her face. “I… I don’t know, Alpha Dante,” she stammered, her hands fidgeting nervously. “She was fine before we left Alpha Jonathan’s territory. I swear I don’t know what happened!” “Not good enough,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended. “Someone must know. She didn’t just get poisoned out of thin fucking air." Sophie flinched but held her ground. “I wouldn’t have let this happen if I knew. You have to believe me alpha. I rubbed a hand over my face, forcing myself to calm down. Yelling at Sophie wouldn’t help Tamara. “Fine. Then we’ll ask som
Kayla's POV Adrian sighed and my heart dropped, then he looked at me."No,” he said firmly. “I swear to you, Kayla. I would never hurt Adrian. Not even with all this… between us. I didn’t plan anything. I didn’t know anything. I had nothing to do with it.”I looked into his eyes for a long moment, then gave a slow nod. “Okay.”Because I believed him. He’d never lied to me before, and I didn’t think he would now. Not about something like this.The doctor came in shortly after, and I stood aside to let them work. Once Hector was bandaged and checked over, I thanked Connor quietly before slipping out.I didn’t go to Adrian’s room right away.I couldn’t.I felt… awful. For threatening to leave. For not telling him about the kiss. For letting things get this far. I hated what this was turning into—how everything good between us was cracking at the edges.So I avoided our room. I wandered the halls, spent time with Ingrid, helped the healer with some supplies, tried to pretend things were
Kayla's POV I didn’t even realize I’d said it until the words had already left my mouth.“If you banish Hector… I’ll leave with him too.”The room went silent.What the hell was I thinking when I said that? I hadn't even actually meant it. I was just desperate to not let Adrian make such a stupid mistake that he'd regret, so I continued talking until I had said my piece.When I was done, even Hector stopped breathing for a second, his face bruised and bloodied, but stunned all the same. Adrian looked like I’d slapped him—like the floor had just crumbled beneath him. His jaw twitched, and the rage in his eyes flickered into something else—something sharp and painful.Goddess, why did I have to say that? It sounded like Hector was more important than my relationship with Adrian.But I truly didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t threatening him. I just… I needed him to know that he was crossing a line. Hector was his stepbrother who had occasionally fucked up yesterday, but he didn’t des
Adrian's POV "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” I roared, lunging at him again. But before I could land the hit, two sets of hands grabbed me. “Alpha stop! Alpha Adrian please stop! —fuck, Adrian, stop it!” Logan’s voice was right in my ear, struggling to pull me back.He had forgotten all courtesy and had began to call me by my real name which he and Connor only did when they were either desperate, pissed, frustrated, worried or scared.He sounded like he was all of the above in this moment but I couldn't give a damn about that right now. “Let go of me!” I growled, thrashing against him. “Calm the hell down Adrian!” Connor snapped, shoving me away from Hector. I threw them both off like they were nothing, shoving Logan into the wall and elbowing Connor in the ribs. They tried again, but I was a storm now. Wild. Unraveled. And then I heard her voice. “ADRIAN!” I froze at the familiar feminine voice."What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed with horror in her voice. Everything insid
Adrian’s POV My knuckles were bloodied by the time I realized how many times I’d punched him. My chest heaved and my heart was thundering like it was trying to beat its way out of my ribcage, and still Hector just stood there leaning against the wall with his bloody face.He was swaying slightly from the pain but the asshole was still not fighting back and it made me fucking furious! He wasn’t even trying to defend himself like he'd normally do when our father made us wrestle to prove who was better.Hector was often the winner when we were younger and that made me feel like he was just intentionally allowing me to beat him right now. That made it worse. "You love her?" I growled, my voice raw, trembling. "You love my Kayla?" Hector didn’t speak, didn’t meet my eyes—his jaw was bruised, blood trickling from his nose—but he didn’t take it back either. He’d said it. Out loud. Boldly. That he loved her. My fists clenched again. This fucking shameless asshole! It wasn’t just that
Hector's POV I had to keep reminding myself that I truly hadn’t chosen this life. This life of constant competition for love from my father, and now from Kayla too. But I had been thrust into it anyway. Every day, it felt like I had to prove myself that I could be better, stronger, smarter than Adrian for the pack and for Kayla.And what did I get for it? Nothing except being called a Traitor and being imprisoned. Adrian would always get everything without lifting a finger. I see that now Maybe I should just accept it and accept my role as the villain, at least maybe I could get something from it, right?Because the rivalry my father had created between us, made it impossible for Adrian to see me as anything other than his enemy. Even when I tried to help him, tried to offer him something real, he only saw me as a threat.A bang on the door jerked me out of my thoughts.I looked up, my heart sinking as the door opened, and Adrian stormed into the cell, his expression livid."Hec
Hector's POV After Kayla ran after Adrian, I willingly let the guards to put me in chains and shove me in front of themThe chains clinked with every step as I was roughly escorted down the cold stone hallways toward the prison.The guards barely spared me a glance, their eyes hard and judgmental. They treated me like I was already guilty, as if my fate had already been sealed. It stung more than I cared to admit, but I kept my face neutral.I had never felt so disgusted with myself, or with Adrian. Betrayed wasn’t even the word for it. He had accused me—his own brother—of trying to kill him. We were rivals for the position of alpha yes, but we weren't enemies! I didn't hate him. I was a little envious of his life yes, but I would never actually raise my hand against him.Never!So this was my reward for protecting Kayla? For trying to turn over a new leaf? For doing what I thought was right?Adrian was the one who had always preached for us to stop fighting, to stop hating each oth
Kayla's POV I could feel my heart breaking. I couldn’t believe he was accusing me of something so terrible. After everything we’d been through, after everything we’d shared, why was he pushing me away like this? I turned back to Hector, my heart pounding in my chest. "I’m sorry, Hector. I’ll fix this. I swear." Hector gave me a soft, apologetic look. "It’s not your fault, Kayla. We both never wanted this to happen." "I know. But I have to make Adrian understand," I said, my voice shaky. "Can you just go with the guards for now? I’ll talk to him. Please, Hector." Hector hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I’ll go. But make sure you talk to him, Kayla. I'm innocent of all his accusations but he's refusing to see things clearly." I nodded, trying to hold back tears. As Hector followed the guards down the hall, I hurried after Adrian. He couldn’t just do this. He couldn’t throw everything away because of his own insecurities. He had to know I would never leave him. I wasn’
Kayla's POV I stood in the hallway, watching Adrian storm out of the room with his usual intense expression. He was furious—his fists clenched, his jaw set tight, and a fire burning in his eyes that I hadn’t seen in a long time. The moment he’d said the word traitor, my heart dropped into my stomach. I couldn't believe it. Hector, a traitor? No, that wasn’t right. Hector had been nothing but kind to me, helpful to the the wolf less women and then he’d apologized for kissing me and promised me that he’d stop the ridiculous rivalry between him and Adrian. I had just started to thank the goddess for some peace between them, and now Adrian wanted to arrest him? I couldn’t let this happen. I hurried after Adrian, calling his name as I caught up with him in the hallway. "Adrian! Wait please!" I grabbed his arm, trying to slow him down, but he just pulled away from me. "Kayla, stay out of this." His voice was cold, like it always got when he was angry. "I need to deal with this. It’
Adrian's POV I paused and tried to recall the memory of that day. The fight with Xavier was still fresh in my mind, but there was something... something else that happened. “I met someone who said they had information on how to find you,” I said slowly, “we had a fight, but then... something attacked me from behind. I can’t remember much after that.” Kayla looked at me, concern evident in her eyes. “Something attacked you from behind?” “Yeah,” I said, rubbing my temples as I recalled the foggy details. “The memory’s a little unclear. But there was definitely someone else involved. I’m just... not sure who.”I made sure I didn't mention to her that it was probably her ex husband who had intentionally set me up and invited his friends to help him get rid of me.But that didn't make sense. Why would Xavier simply poison me and not just kill me off immediately.How did he even get the audacity to attack me when he knew that I could have defeated him especially when I wake up.Plus