The next morning, I woke with another beaming smile on my face.My lower belly still radiated with warmth, a delicious reminder of the night’s activities. We had made love well into the night after the party had ended, over and over until we were both sore.Now, with sunlight streamed through the curtains, my eyes found my pink dress from the party hanging on the back of the closet door. It was miraculously intact despite Noah’s feral passion last night. We’d hardly made it back to the room before he was growling in my ear and ripping my dress off of me.I rolled over, reaching for him, but found his side of the bed empty and cool.Frowning, I sat up, wrapping the sheet around me as I looked around the room. “Noah?” I called out, but there was no response.Slipping on a robe, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. The smell of fresh coffee filled the air, and I found Ana bustling about, cleaning up some remaining platters and bowls from the party.“Good morning, Luna,” she greeted m
HannahMy mind reeled as I stared at those words.Notice of Divorce.The world seemed to tilt on its axis as I read them over and over and over again. If I’d had the strength to do so, I might have even pinched myself to find out if I was having some kind of nightmare. But I just stood there, frozen
I turned to head upstairs and pack my things, but then paused at the foot of the staircase. My fingers curled around the banister, my arm trembling.“I died and came back for you,” I said softly, my voice breaking. “Now I just see it was a waste.”Noah simply shrugged, unmoved by my revelation. “The
HannahIt was well past midnight by the time I stumbled into my family’s mansion, my vision blurred by tears and my throat raw from sobbing.The familiar scent of the home I had grown up in barely registered as I collapsed to the floor just inside the doorway. My claws extended involuntarily, scrapi
My father’s fists clenched. “I’ll kill him,” he growled, his eyes flashing gold. My mother put a hand on his arm, but that fire didn’t go out.“No,” I said firmly. “I don’t want anyone to do anything. I just want to put it all behind me.”A heavy silence fell over the room. Finally, I looked up at m
HannahI was in my room, trying to distract myself with a book, when I heard the crunch of tires on gravel.My heart leapt as I immediately recognized the red car pulling up the sunlit driveway. Viona.Without thinking, I tossed the book aside and raced down the stairs, nearly tripping over my own f
HannahThat gaudy ring flashing on Zoe’s finger felt like an insult.And it was. Noah had gotten engaged to her mere days after our own divorce had gone through. Three days—that was all it had been since I collapsed in the foyer of my childhood home. Three days since I had keened and dug gouges into
“I want lots of red and gold,” I told my father. “And I want a banner with a phoenix on it.”My ceremonial gown was the real star of the show. Bright red and gold skirts that glittered when I moved, made of the finest silk that pooled around my legs like liquid fire. The neckline was off the shoulde
Noah pushed himself harder, letting out a playful howl as he gained on her, the hunt pulsing through his veins like a drug. She glanced back, her ears twitching, and he saw her eyes flash with excitement before she put on an extra burst of speed. It became a game of cat and mouse, each of them pus
Noah For the millionth time that morning, Noah’s gaze drifted from the stack of papers on his desk to the stretch of forest that was visible through the office window. The afternoon light filtered through the trees, casting that familiar, deep green hue over the landscape. Just seeing the expans
Noah didn’t say anything, just looked at it with a faint smile, his hand sliding over Melody’s stroller handle. I could tell that he liked it. A lot. “That’s beautiful,” I said, glancing at the price tag. “If you want it, you should buy it.” I gestured to my own bags sitting in the back of the str
Hannah Amber’s big move weighed on me for days. I was happy for her, genuinely. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss her like hell. And with her going-away party coming up, I wanted to do something special before she left. I thought about finding her a small going-away gift, just a
Amber shook her head, blinking quickly to dispel her tears. “It’s like this weight I can’t shake. No amount of therapy is helping. And I realized... I think I just need to get away. I need to start over, somewhere far from here. Somewhere I can figure out who I really am, without all the... the bagg
Hannah When Amber called and said she wanted a girls’ night, I nearly dropped my phone. The last time we had all had a proper girls’ night, just us, had been… Well, I actually couldn’t remember the last time. Maybe not since Melody had been born. Of course I said I would go even though it was a
Noah took a deep breath, nodding. “You’re right.” “And then there’s your father,” he mused after a beat of silence. “He thought he was protecting you, setting you up for a safe future by arranging our marriage, but… he never really stopped to think about what you were getting into. He never took t
Hannah It took some time to get Melody to bed that night, what with all the sugar and excitement of the overwhelming day. Noah and I had to take turns pacing back and forth across the nursery, bouncing her and cooing to her until she finally gave up and let her eyes flutter closed. By the time s
Sighing, I said softly, “I could say the same for myself. But people change.” Her gaze lifted to mine. “Yeah, I guess they do. Thank you, Hannah. Really. I wouldn’t have even thought about it if you hadn’t put in a good word for me.” I shrugged, brushing it off with a smile. “I just suggested th