Kane’s POV I sit in my dimly lit office, my fingers gripping a glass of whiskey that remains untouched. The ice has long since melted, the amber liquid swirling as I roll my wrist, watching the way the firelight catches its depths. But it does nothing to dull the storm raging inside me. The weight of my decision presses on my chest like a vice, tightening with every second. I had agreed. Agreed to take my Luna to bed. Agreed to give the pack the heir they demanded. It was logical. Expected. Yet, I feel like I’m suffocating. A muscle ticks in my jaw as I stare out the window into the darkened forest beyond the packhouse. The wind howls through the trees, rattling against the glass panes as though mocking me. The beast inside me stirs, pacing restlessly, snarling ay the very thought of what I am expected to do. "She’s not our mate." The words are a snarl in my mind, my wolf’s fury crackling like lightning through my veins. He refuses to accept Sophia, my Luna, refuses
Avery’s POV I wrap my arms around myself, staring out of the small window in my new apartment. The city lights outside blur in my vision, exhaustion pressing heavy on my shoulders.The entire day had been spent searching for a better paying job, scouring every corner of the city, yet I came up empty handed. Bills were piling up. Rent was due soon. And in just a few short months, I’d have another mouth to feed.My hand drifts to my belly.I did the right thing.Kane could never know.A sharp pang clenches my chest, but I push it down. I had made my choice.Even if it cost me everything.I take a slow breath and pull the curtain shut. The apartment is small, barely big enough for one person, let alone a mother and child, but it’s mine. It’s safe.Or at least, it should be.That feeling still lingers. The one that’s haunted me for months now.That I’m being watched.I shake my head, running a hand through my hair. It’s just paranoia. No one knows where I am. No one is coming.I glance d
Kane’s POVThe clash of metal fills the air, the grunts of my warriors echoing around the training grounds. I stand at the edge, arms crossed, watching them spar. My body moves through the drills automatically, but my mind is far away.Far away on her.Avery.No matter how hard I try, I can’t silence my Beta’s voice in my head.“Are you sure Avery was telling the truth?”I scowl. I shouldn’t be thinking about this. She made her choice, she lied to my face. Said the child wasn’t mine. Told me she had been with someone else after I rejected her.Then why won’t my wolf accept it?A warrior lunges at me, forcing me back to the present. Instinct takes over. I sidestep easily, gripping his wrist and twisting until he grunts in pain. With a sharp pull, I slam him into the ground, hard.The ground shakesA hush falls over the training ground. The warriors stop mid-fight, looking at me warily. I can feel their unease. They’ve seen me brutal in training before, but today ia different.Today, I
Avery’s POVFour Years LaterI tuck the blanket around my son, smoothing it over his small frame. His little chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm, his soft, dark lashees resting against his cheeks.My beautiful boy.My whole world.I press a gentle kiss to his forehead, inhaling his familiar scent of milk and baby soap. He sighs in his sleep, shifting slightly, but his tiny fingers remain curled into fists. so much like his father’s when he was angry.A lump forms in my throat, and I shake my head, pushing the thought away.I shouldn't think about him.I shouldn't think about how my wolf still yearns for him even after four yearsI shouldn't think about how I remember him each time I look at my son, they share such striking resemblance.I shake my head once again.Don’t think about him.The past is the past.I step away from
Kane’s POV The moon hangs low in the sky, casting a pale glow over the packhouse. I should be sleeping, but rest has eluded me for weeks. My thoughts are a tangled mess, circling around ruling the packs and handing my Luna who never fails to remind me of how I still let Avery to control my heart even though she is gone But no matter how much I try to push Avery from my mind, she lingers like a ghost, haunting my every waking moment. Her defiant gaze. The way my wolf still aches for her despite everything. I exhale sharply, dragging a hand through my hair as I step toward my office window. The forest stretches before me, silent and still, but something about the night feels off. The unease that has been clawing at my chest lately refuses to fade. A sharp knock echoes against my door. I turn just as my Beta, Liam, strides in, his expression grim. The tension in his shoulders is unmistakable. My muscles coil. I know that look. “There was an attack on the border,” Liam repor
Avery’s POVI wake up with a strangled gasp, my heart hammering so hard it feels like it might burst from my chest.My body is drenched in sweat, my breaths uneven, as I try to untangle myself from the suffocating grip of the nightmare. A man in the shadows had grabbed my son away from me. I had screamed my lungs out till I woke upBut even now, awake in the darkness of my room, the fear doesn’t fadeI force myself to sit up, my hands trembling as I push damp strands of hair away from my face. The room is silent, the only sound is my own ragged breathing, but it does nothing to calm me.Because it wasn’t just the dream.It’s the feeling.That same, relentless feeling that has been haunting me for days, wrapping around my throat like invisible hands, pressing down on my chest with a weight that refuses to lift.I turn my head sharply, my gaze immediately lan
Kane’s POVI sit at the head of the dining hall, my fingers drumming against the polished wood of the table, my plate untouched. Across the room, Sophia, my chosen Luna, is speaking with a visiting Alpha. Her laughter is soft, too sweet, her hand lingering on the man’s arm for just a second too long.It’s supposed to be harmless, a diplomatic show of hospitality. But something about it irks me. It seemed like she was deliberately doing everything to get my attention.My wolf growls low in my mind, restless and on edge. I shove the irritation down, forcing myself to look away. This isn’t what should be consuming my thoughts. I have bigger problems.The attack.The message."A pup for a pup."The words have been gnawing at me all day. A threat, a warning… or something more?I take a deep breath, pushing back my chair. The visiting Alpha turns toward me, expecting me to rejoin the conversation, but I lift a hand."Enjoy the feast," I say, my voice even. "I have matters to handle, but I’l
Avery’s POV I had fallen asleep in the living room after putting my son to sleep and cleaning the house. But the sound of shattering glass suddenly rips me from sleep. For a split second, I think I imagined it. The room is silent except for the rapid pounding of my heart. My breath is uneven, my body frozen as I try to distinguish between dream and reality. But then, a gust of cold air brushes against my skin, unnatural and sharp. And I know. Something is wrong. My son I sprang up, my bare feet hitting the floor with a loud thud. The sound barely registers in my ears as I sprint down the hall, my pulse hammering louder than my footsteps. The hallway has never felt this long. Every second drags. By the time I reach the bedroom door, my hands are trembling so badly that I nearly rip it off its hinges. And then I see it. The window........ wide open. The night air rushes in, making the curtains snap and billow wildly like ghosts in the dim moonlight. The glass sh
Avery’s POVI stood in the middle of it all, caught between two Alphas, one from my past and one from the fragile peace I had found in the present. The air was thick with tension, so heavy I could hardly breathe. All around us, the Midnight Hollow Pack had gathered and they stood frozen, their eyes flicking between Callum and Kane, waiting for a blow that hadn't yet landed.And then there was Callum.He didn’t speak right away. He didn’t react like I expected. No snarling, no immediate rejection of the challenge. Just.… a smirkIt curled slowly at the corners of his mouth, twisting into something dangerous and curious. His golden eyes weren’t filled with anger, no, they gleamed with something else. Amusement. Amusement at Kane’s presence. Amusement at his demand. Amusement at me, perhaps, for being the center of it all“You’re bold, I’ll give you that,” Callum finally said, his tone almost lazy, laced with mock a
Kane's POV"They belong to me"My wolf roars inside me as I stand in the middle of the garden, the cool wind biting at my skinMy eyes are locked on him, Callum. He’s standing too close to her, too damn close to what’s mine. Avery stands just behind him, her hand hovering protectively near our son’s shoulder.I can barely look at her without the fury building in my chest. But it's not just rage. It’s pain. Betrayal. A yearning so deep it feels like it’s been carved into my bonesI take a step forward, my voice low, steady, yet filled with every ounce of authority I’ve earned through blood and war.“That woman,” I say, my gaze cutting straight through Callum, “and that child…. they are mine. They belong to me”The words echo, slicing the air between us like a blade.Avery’s face pales. Her lips part, but no words come. Her eyes, those damn eyes I’ve seen in every dream, go wide
Kane's POVThe wind howls as we ride into the unfamiliar terrain, a biting cold cutting through even the thickest of furs. The Midnight Hollow Pack.The name alone has haunted me these past few weeks, lingering in the back of my mind like a whisper I couldn’t shake. Every instinct screamed she was here. And now that I’m standing at the edge of their territory, I can feel it, like a current in the air, electric and impossible to ignoreAvery.My heartbeat thunders in my chest as I step past the final tree line. As we discreetly entered into the pack, we entered a large garden at first. And, in the center of the field, framed by moonlight and pine, is her.Avery.My legs nearly give out.She’s alive.Hair wind tossed and wild, eyes sharp like I remember. She’s dressed simply, but she stands tall.... proud, whole, no longer the woman who once fled from me in fe
Kane's POVSearching relentlessly for months.For months, I’ve been chasing ghosts.Each day starts with hope and ends in bitter disappointment. Every trail I follow turns cold. Every whisper fades into nothing. I’ve scoured villages, burned through resources, turned allies into spies and enemies into informants. All in the name of two people, one of whom I barely got the chance to know, my mate.… and my son.And now, I’m running out of places to lookI sit alone in my war room, the firelight flickering over maps and reports littered across the table. My hands are clenched, knuckles white against the parchment. My wolf paces restlessly beneath the surface, snarling at our helplessness. The silence around me is suffocating.Then, there was a knock.Dylan steps in without waiting for my permission, a scroll clutched in his hand, eyes unreadable. He’s been with me long enough to know better th
Avery's POVThe scent of pine and damp earth fills my lungs, grounding me as I sit beneath the old cedar tree that overlooks the training field. The moon hangs low in the sky, casting a gentle silver glow over the clearing. My son is a blur of motion, darting after fireflies, his laughter spilling into the night air like a song I never want to forget.It’s peaceful here nowIt’s not something I take for granted. Not after what it took me to finally get this peace.I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, my eyes never leaving him. Every step he takes in joy is a reminder of why I had to leave. Why I had to disappear from the only life I’d ever known. Why I endured so much to get here.This place… Midnight Hollow… it is now unlike any other pack I’ve known. They didn’t welcome me with open arms at first. They were wary, curious, they literally bullied me at first. But I didn’t come here seeking approval. I came seeking safety
Kane’s POVWeeks. Endless, goddamn weeksEach morning I wake with fire in my blood, and each night I fall into restless slep with nothing to show for it but empty trails and false hope. It’s as if she never existed. As if my son had been nothing but a dream conjured in the haze of pain and regret.But I know better. I saw them. I felt her presence, her fear, her defiance, when they were ripped away from me. That memory haunts me more than the scent of blood in battle. And the silence that followed? It’s the loudest torment I’ve ever known.I stand in my war room, maps and intelligence reports strewn across the table like a battlefield. Pins mark every rumored sighting, every report of a she-wolf and child passing through human territories. We’ve scoured border towns, questioned informants, turned rogue packs inside out. And still...... nothing.“Still nothing?” My voice is low, but the threat in it is undeniable.Dylan stands acr
Pain. That’s the first thing I feel as I drift into the realm of the living, raw, agonizing pain that claws through every muscle, every joint, every memory I’ve buried deep.I try to move, but my limbs are dead weight, like they belong to someone else. The darkness clings to me, thick and suffocating, until a dim flicker of candlelight filters through the fog in my mind. My eyes flutter open. The ceiling above me is is unfamiliar. The scent of medicine hangs in the air, laced with something metallic, blood, old and bitter.I’m alive.But at what cost?A presence stirs beside me. I turn my head slowly, every muscle screaming. It’s Dylan, my Beta. Loyal, dependable, always by my side. But there’s something in his eyes. A shadow. A hesitation that doesn’t belong there.My throat feels like sandpaper, my voice little more than a croak. “Where is she?”He stiffens.
Avery’s Point of ViewI walk through the pack grounds this evening, and it’s… strange.The air feels differentNot in the way a storm brews or when something ominous lingers in the shadows. No, this was more subtle, like the pack itself is holding its breath. As if something fundamental had changed, something they couldn’t quite name but felt in their bones. And I could feel it too.Once, they only sneered and hissed at me.Once there was only scorn, mocking laughter, sneers, pointed fingers but now.... now there is hesitation. The Alpha’s children still glare at me, their hatred far from extinguished, but even that looks different now. Duller. Muted by uncertaintyI'm no longer the easy target they used to enjoy tormenting.I see it in the smallest ways.A warrior, Kyle, I think his name is, passes me near the training grounds. Before, he wouldn’t have looked twice at me, mayb
Avery’s POVFor days, I pondered over the knife I had gotten. Should I really use it to just end them all myself?But that would make me a killerThat would make my hands stained with the blood of the Alpha and his children.How will I still be able to use the same blood stained hands to raise my innocent son?No, I cant kill them.Not now.So I hid the knife, waiting for a day when I would have no choice but to use it.......To day was another weekly pack meeting day.The mansion buzzed like a disturbed hive. Whispers flitted through the halls like venomous wasps, my name being the subject of discussion.Their faces were laced with surprise, curiosity, and barely veiled contempt.“Did you hear? Avry snapped at the Alpha’s son a few days back”“She threatened them.”“I heard she nearly clawed his face off.”None of it was true. But none of it was false enough to be ignored either. And the more they whispered, the more I felt their eyes on me. Some filled with scorn, others with some