ELIANA’S POVHe was so cold. Not the kind that seeped into my skin, but the kind that wrapped around my heart and squeezed, making it hard to breathe. I clung to Reed, pressing my forehead against his, feeling nothing but the steady warmth of his body. He wasn’t cold like I expected. Everyone else had flinched away, whispering about how he felt frozen—about how his body had lost its warmth. But I felt nothing like that.He was here.I refused to believe otherwise. My hands trembled as I cupped his face, brushing my thumbs over his cheekbones. “Reed,” I whispered, my voice barely there. My heart pounded against my ribs, my wolf restless, clawing at my insides, demanding him back. His face was pale. His lashes, dark against his skin, never fluttered. His lips, usually firm and full of life, were still.Too still. No. I refused. I shook my head, tightening my grip on him as a wave of panic surged through me. I had just gotten him back. He had torn through the realms for me, ripped
LILA’S POVI walked fast but not too fast. I couldn’t let Orion know that I knew. The city streets pulsed with life around me, the distant hum of traffic filling the air. I could feel Orion’s presence like a shadow at my back, lurking just far enough that if I wasn’t paying attention, I might have missed it. But I knew better. Kade had sent him. Of course, he had. The moment Kade handed me this errand, I knew I was being tested. And if I failed? I would die. Not just me—my daughter.Kade wasn’t a man that would let go that easy. It was even a miracle that he spared me earlier—all thanks to that silver shimmering light of redemption. A chill ran through me, but I kept my expression calm, my movements casual. Kade had underestimated me a bit, he thought I was too caught up in my own mess to notice the pieces moving around me. But I had learned from the best. I had learned from him. And I was not a fool. Yes, I was going to use the Silver Blade to get Reed’s attention. Yes, I had
MALCOLM’S POV I had just come downstairs to clean up the mess downstairs when Callum spoke from behind me, his voice sharp and edged with suspicion. “Why is she coming here?”I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I exhaled, running a hand down my face as I tucked my phone into my pocket. I wasn’t even sure what to make of the call I had just received. Lila had sounded… terrified. Her voice had been shaky, urgent, unlike the smooth, confident way she usually spoke. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t some act.“She didn’t say much,” I admitted. “Just that she was scared. And that she needed someone to come get her.” Callum scoffed. “Sounds convenient.” I turned to face him fully. “You don’t trust her.”He didn’t even hesitate. “There’s no one I trust.”I studied his face, the hard set of his jaw, the slight furrow of his brows. He wasn’t lying. But I knew this wasn’t just his usual caution. Callum had never trusted Lila—not from the very moment she set foot in our pack.“You think she
ELIANA’S POVReed laid flat on the bed, his body covered in sweat. His body temperature was now stable as the cold he felt before vanished the moment he opened his eyes. I stared at him, wondering what was on his mind. Ever since Malcolm dropped the call from one Lila, Reed had been troubled—troubled in a way that made me worry. Who was this Lila and why did he look troubled when he heard that she was coming here? The damp towel felt cool against my fingers as I squeezed out the excess water, my movements slow, deliberate. The bowl in my lap rippled slightly as I dipped the towel back in, then wrung it out again before bringing it to Reed’s forehead. His skin was warm—too warm. Sweat slicked his brow despite the room’s cool air.Mrs. Astrid had handed me the bowl and towel a few minutes ago, but I barely remembered taking them. My mind was elsewhere. On who Lila was. On him. And on the words he had spoken before exhaustion had weighed him down. A war is coming. People will die.
LILA’S POVMy heart pounded violently in my chest as I stepped into the room, my breath caught somewhere between my throat and my lungs. I had prepared myself for this moment—for the confrontation, for the fear in their eyes when I told them what I knew and who I worked for—but nothing could have prepared me for this shock. Because the moment my gaze landed on the two people standing across the room, I felt the ground beneath me shift. Aurora. Eliana.The very faces I had seen in the photographs Kade had given me. The same faces I had been ordered to find. They were here. In this house. In this room. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. My body locked in place, the blood in my veins turning cold. Eliana was staring at me, her golden eyes sharp and unwavering. Her wolf’s energy pressed against mine, cautious but unreadable. Aurora, on the other hand, looked bewildered, her lips slightly parted as if she were about to speak but couldn’t find the words. And then there was Reed.He
REED’S POVI didn’t understand.How the hell was Lila standing in my house with pictures of Eliana and Aurora? I stared at the images in my hands, my mind running in circles. The ink on Eliana’s photo felt fresh, but I knew they weren’t recent. Eliana looked younger, her face tense with the weight of whatever she’sd been running from. And Aurora—Seraphine—her eyes in the image were wild, desperate, as if she had just broken free from invisible chains. Kade had taken these. Kade had been watching them.The realization made my stomach tighten. How long had he known about them? Had he been waiting for the right time to strike? And worse—how had he gotten these pictures without them knowing? It didn’t sit right. None of it did. My grip on the photos tightened as a single thought rooted itself in my mind: War is coming. One war was coming from Kade. That, I knew. But deep down, I had a gut feeling that Maddox was brewing something, too. Before I could voice it, Aurora—no, Seraphine
RAIDEN’S POV I never should have opened my mouth. The thought haunted me, gnawed at my insides like a disease I couldn’t shake. I had promised her. I had sworn to Seraphine that I wouldn’t say a word about her or her daughter to my father. And yet, here I was, standing in Maddox’s war room, watching as he strategized their capture. No, not their capture. Their destruction. And I had given him the key. I wanted to be sick. But I couldn’t afford weakness—not now. Not when I will be the reason for Seraphine’s death. Was my dream going to come true? Will Maddox really kill Seraphine like he did in my dream? Damn, I should have put on a tougher skin. I should have kept quiet when he asked, I should have taken whatever punishment he had for me, I should have taken his beating. It’s not like that would be the first time he was getting violent and brutal with me. But hell no, I had just opened my mouth and betrayed the one person who had stood between the heav
ORION’S POVI had lost her. The realization sat heavy in my chest like a boulder, pressing against my ribs, making it hard to breathe. Lila had vanished. One moment, I was tracking her through the city, keeping my distance but close enough to follow her every move. The next, she was gone—swallowed up by the fortress that was Crescent Group of Companies.I knew better than to go in after her. The moment I reached the building, I could feel it. The security was stronger than anything I had encountered before. Not just the human kind, but something else—something woven into the very walls of the place. Magic. Protection wards. Barriers that would sense me before I even stepped through the doors. Besides I wasn’t a familiar face here, so how the hell was I going to explain my being there? Hell no, Lila wouldn’t have saved me. I even doubted that she knew I was following her. If I had gone in, I would have been caught before I could blink. So I had waited. And waited. But she ne
FOUR MONTHS LATERThe morning sun streamed through the sheer white curtains, casting a golden glow over the grand dining hall. The long wooden table was set with an elaborate spread—pancakes drizzled with honey, fresh berries, and a steaming pot of coffee. The scent of roasted bacon and buttered toast wafted through the air, making my stomach grumble in anticipation. I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my swollen belly as I listened to the chatter around me. It had been four months since everything changed—four months since I had finally found my place, my home, my family. Reed sat to my right, his hand lazily tracing circles on my wrist as he spoke with Callum and Asher. My husband. The words still felt surreal, as if saying them would wake me from a dream. The mate bond between us had only grown stronger since our wedding, the kind of connection I once thought I would never have. “Callum can you please hand her another plate, it’s been five minutes since she asked for it,” Reed bl
ELIANA’S POVThe first thing I felt was warmth.Not the suffocating heat of fear or the numbing cold of rejection—just a steady, comforting warmth. It wrapped around my hand, grounding me before my mind could even piece together where I was.Slowly, I forced my eyes open.Blurry. Unfocused. The light overhead was too bright, making me wince. I blinked rapidly, willing my vision to adjust.Where am I? The ceiling above me was a bit familiar. The room smelled different, too—clean, with a faint hint of something I couldn’t quite place. Not the musky, indifferent scent of the packhouse I had come to despise. Then where…?And then it hit me. The pain. The sharp, unbearable pain that had gripped my body before I collapsed. My breath hitched as the memories flooded back—the searing agony, my vision darkening at the edges, the sound of my name being called in panic. Reed. Asher. My hand shot to my stomach. Still round. Still full. A shuddering breath escaped me. My baby. My baby was s
MALCOLM’S POVThe air in the room was suffocating.Not because of the space—we had more than enough of that in this damn house—but because of the weight of everything pressing down on us. The truth. The guilt. The realization that we had shattered something that could never fully be put back together.Callum and I talked on the way back home, but nothing could’ve prepared us for what we were walking into. Eliana was upstairs, unconscious. Reed had carried her in like she was the most precious thing in the world, like losing her would rip his soul apart. And it would.Because of us.Because we had believed what we wanted to believe. Because we had ignored the truth. Because we had taken the pieces of a story that suited our anger and ran with it—dragging Reed down with us. And now? Now, all we could do was sit in this damn living room, suffocating in our own regret while Asher paced like a man on the verge of shattering. His hands ran through his hair, gripping at the strands. His
REED’S POVI didn’t think. I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t wait for permission. The moment I saw her—Eliana, crumpled in the doorway, her body trembling, her skin pale and damp with sweat—everything else ceased to exist.I was at her side before my mind could even catch up, scooping her into my arms. She was so light. Too light.Her breath was uneven, shallow, her body barely responding.“Asher,” I barked, my voice tight with urgency. “We’re taking her out here.”He was already ahead of me, moving fast, clearing the way as I carried her through the castle halls. I didn’t care about the whispers, the wide eyes of pack members watching us go. I didn’t give a damn about their judgment or their curiosity. They had failed her. They had stood by while she was beaten, humiliated, starved. And now, she was barely clinging to life because of them. I would not fail her too. We reached the car, and I slid into the backseat with her cradled against me. Her head lolled against my chest, her face
ELIANA’S POVPain.It started as a dull ache, twisting deep in my stomach. I barely noticed it at first. My body had endured so much these past months—hunger, exhaustion, bruises, the sharp sting of words meant to break me. What was one more pain added to the pile?I thought maybe it was the weight of my dress, the heavy fabric pressing against my skin. That had to be it.I forced myself to stand, my fingers trembling as I reached for the laces of the gown. Each breath I took felt shallow, strained, but I ignored it. I just needed to change. Get comfortable. Then the pain would go away. I peeled off the dress, my breath catching as the cool air kissed my overheated skin. My body ached everywhere, my muscles screaming in protest. Slowly, I slipped into a loose gown, something softer, something that didn’t suffocate me. But the pain didn’t stop. I pressed a hand to my stomach. My heart pounded against my ribs. This was different. A sharp, searing pain shot through me, knocking the
REED’S POVI didn’t know what to do.My body felt too heavy, my mind too loud. I wanted to scream, to rip at my skin until I felt something other than this suffocating regret. But nothing would change. No matter how much I hurt, no matter how much I wanted to turn back time, I couldn’t undo what I’d done.She hated me.I’d called her a whore.I’d let my rage speak louder than reason, and now I had lost her in a way that I wasn’t sure I could ever fix. Eliana had always been strong, but the woman I had just seen—this new version of her—she was unshakable. And I had pushed her there. I had driven her to the point where she didn’t just refuse to listen to me; she didn’t even care to. I pressed my hands against my face, dragging them down slowly. My chest burned, and the weight in my throat grew unbearable. I tried to swallow it down, but it rose like bile, hot and acidic. I sucked in a sharp breath, but it didn’t help. Then, before I could stop it, my vision blurred. A warm line of w
ELIANA’S POVThe dress felt heavier than it should have.Silk, soft against my skin, clean, free of blood—yet I still felt stained.I adjusted the cuffs of my sleeves as I walked down the corridor leading to the Grand Hall, my heels clicking against the polished floor. The path felt longer than usual, the air thick with tension, but I kept my head high. There would be no sign of weakness tonight.The investors were waiting. So was Ronan. My godforsaken Beta.The doors to the Grand Hall were already open when I arrived. The room was grand, high ceilings adorned with golden chandeliers, the long table in the center lined with crisp documents, and men and women dressed in sharp suits. Humans. Our potential business partners. My people were gathered too. The elders, the council, warriors standing at the edges like silent shadows. Asher was seated at one end, his expression unreadable. Raiden was on the opposite side, his arms crossed, eyes trained on me the second I entered. And then
ASHER’S POVI was losing my mind.Hours had passed since she walked out, and no one knew where the hell she was.I should have stopped her. I should have gone after her the second she stepped out with that bloodied gown clinging to her like a second skin. But I hadn’t. I’d been too stunned, too fucking caught up in my own emotions to move. Now, she was out there—alone, hurt, and wearing the same damn nightgown she almost died in. My hands curled into fists as I stormed across the main hall. Every available pack member was searching for her. Even Ronan, despite his silence, was out there looking. The elders were restless. Not because they cared about her, but because of the investors meeting. “Find her, now,” one of them growled at the warriors. “We cannot afford to miss this deal over one reckless woman.” I clenched my jaw. She wasn’t just a woman. She was their Alpha. My wife. Or at least, she had been. And they still spoke about her like she was nothing. I exhaled sharply, s
CALLUM POV The sheets were soft. The woman beneath me, softer. She moaned against my mouth, her fingers tangled in my hair as her bare thighs tightened around my waist. I smirked, trailing kisses down the curve of her throat, my hands gliding over smooth, warm skin. “You’re insatiable,” she purred, her nails dragging lightly over my shoulders. I chuckled. “And you love it.” She didn’t argue. My lips traced down her collarbone, my fingers dipping lower when— Knock. Knock. Knock. I froze. The woman beneath me let out an irritated groan. “Ignore it.” I wanted to. Fuck, I really wanted to. But whoever was at the door was persistent. Knock. Knock. Knock.I clenched my jaw, pressing my forehead against hers with an exhausted sigh.“This better be good,” I muttered. Then, raising my voice, I barked, “Who the fuck is that?” There was a pause before a familiar voice answered. “It’s me, sir.” I sighed again. Benson. My butler. The man had impeccable timing. “What do you want?”