DEREKSix and a Half Years AgoThe safehouse was barely more than a converted hunting cabin tucked into the edge of the preserve—far enough from Silverclaw territory to avoid suspicion, but close enough that I could keep watch without losing sleep.I hadn’t planned on bringing her here. Hell, I hadn
Her hands were doing the same thing to me. Her fingers, long and efficient, were burning their way over my body. I imagined them leaving afterimages, like traces of light.I bent down to kiss a scar that ran through her eyebrow and then slid my teeth to the seashell curve of her ear. She moaned soft
DEREKElena hadn’t left my side since I’d nearly collapsed.She kept glancing over at me, eyes flicking to my face, the line of my jaw, the color of my skin. She passed me water before I even thought to ask for it. Pressed the protein bar into my hand again when I let it sit too long.Sat beside me
She shook her head, tears glinting in her eyes but refusing to fall.“And I knew I couldn’t risk you rejecting him the way you rejected me. I couldn’t bear it, Derek.”My name on her lips felt like a blade.“So I stayed,” she said. “In Moonstone. With people who loved me. Who didn’t care what I reme
MAGGIEI crouched just beyond the treeline, the scent of smoke curling around me like a whisper I didn’t want to hear. It clung to my clothes, my skin, the edges of my thoughts. Below, the aftermath of the raid smoldered quietly—embers glowing like dying stars scattered in the dirt, streaks of blood
But nothing could stop me now.When I reached the rogue camp, the tension hit me like static. You could feel it in the way people shifted, the way eyes darted, the way no one spoke above a whisper. They were waiting for someone to tell them what came next.They were waiting for him.But he wasn’t co
DEREKI stood in the doorway to Aiden’s hospital room, barely breathing.Inside, the boy I had just learned was my son lay pale and still, surrounded by wires and monitors. The soft beep of machines echoed in the sterile silence, steady but too quiet. Like a heartbeat you didn’t trust to keep going.
ELENAI hadn’t moved from his bedside since yesterday. Not when the nurses gently nudged me to rest. Not when my back ached from the hospital chair. Not even when my eyes burned from staying open too long.Aiden hadn’t stirred.The doctors said he was stable, that the transfusions were working, that
My parents had pulled out all the stops. White-gloved servers, silver candelabras, a string quartet in the corner playing soft music. It was the kind of dinner that only happened when my mother was trying to impress—or intimidate.I spotted the way Erin's eyes flicked over the crystal glasses, the w
ELENAThe soft hum of Dr. Voss’s voice was like a current running under my skin—steady, focused, grounding. I let myself sink into it, the earthy scent of burning herbs drifting from the brass bowl on the table beside me. My hands were clenched in my lap, but my breathing had evened out, and my mind
For the first time, I didn’t follow her.Didn’t chase.Didn’t apologize.But I didn’t forget, either.And some part of me always carried that moment—like a shard of glass pressed into the soft part of my palm.***I found Cassandra in the solarium, stretched out on the chaise in a pale silk robe tha
DEREKI remember the exact moment my father died.Not when I found out—when it happened. I didn’t know then, of course, but looking back, there was a sudden weight that settled in the air that day, like the wind itself knew something had shifted.Something in the bond between us snapped.We were out
Still, watching Aiden throw his head back in joy as he sped around the rose bushes, hair flying behind him and helmet finally strapped tight—I couldn’t deny the truth of what I’d said.Derek had done something for him today that I never could have.And it mattered.Derek stayed quiet, the gravity of
ELENAI hadn’t expected it to hit me like that.Watching Derek teach Aiden to ride his bike… I don’t know. It gutted me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Not because it hurt, but because it was right. The way Aiden beamed up at him.The way Derek knelt beside him, patient and calm, catching him every
Still nothing.“A good friend of mine was hurt. She saved my life a long time ago, and I thought she needed me.”I paused.“But even if that’s true… I didn’t handle it right. And I want you to know—I get it. I let you down.”Aiden was quiet for a long time.Then, softly: “I think the meatballs weren
DEREKI’d never felt more nervous about knocking on a door in my life.And that included negotiating with rival Alphas and walking into rogue territory with a barely-functioning truce.This was worse.Because this was Aiden.Because I’d let him down.Elena opened the front door of the Moonstone esta
“Mason is blinded by love,” he muttered. “He’s not going to see sense or reason. Even if I backed it up with evidence.”I blinked. “Evidence?”He hesitated. Sighed. “Alpha Derek found documents while investigating Pierce. Moonstone correspondence. Reports. Internal logistics. It was part of what led