SILASI woke to the cold bite of steel under me, the air smelling faintly of antiseptic. My chest heaved as I blinked against the glare of fluorescent lights, my muscles twitching when I realized I was stripped to nothing but my briefs and heavy cuffs dug into my wrists and ankles. I jerked hard, the sound of metal clanging around me, but it was useless. The restraints didn’t budge. “Jade,” I growled the second I saw her. She stepped into view—her lab coat pristine, her hair pulled into that high ponytail I’d seen a thousand times before. Only this time, the woman wearing it felt like a stranger. I scanned the room again, my heart thundering in my chest. “Where’s Marcus?” My voice was rough, loud, but under it all was something else. Panic. Her lips twitched, amusement dancing at the edges of her tight face. “Don’t worry,” she said, her voice calm. “He’s getting the same treatment as you.”“Why are you doing this? What the hell happened to you?” I asked, watching as she pulled a s
RILEY“Riley,” Silas murmured, his voice raw as he held me tighter, like he was trying to anchor himself to me. My heart pounded, each beat echoing against the chaos around us, and when I finally wrapped my arms around him, it was as though the fractured pieces of my world finally fell back into place. “I’m here,” I whispered, my hand soothing over the rigid lines of his back. His breaths shuddered against my ear, and for a fleeting moment, everything else didn’t matter. Only him. Only us. But then Marcus’s voice cut through the moment. “We have to go. Now.” Silas hesitated, his hold on me loosening but not breaking. His blue eyes locked on mine, desperate, like he was trying to memorize every inch of me before the world snatched me away again. The sirens screamed louder, jarring us back to reality. He exhaled a reluctant sharp breath, his fingers slipping down to lace with mine. The grip was tight, almost bruising, like he was afraid to let go. “Come on,” I said, sparing a
SILASThe blood wouldn’t stop. It spilled in sluggish streams from his nose, painting the floor beneath him. My hands twitched uselessly at my sides, and every breath felt like it lodged somewhere between my chest and throat.“What did you do to him?” My voice broke. A tremor. A failure. I couldn’t stop the way it shook, couldn’t mask the growing panic clawing up my throat.Her gun didn’t drop as she smiled. “He’s been given a high dose of silver,” she said, casually tossing a syringe into the air, catching it like a toy. “If you so much as breathe wrong, he’s dead. You’re dead. Everyone here is fucking dead.”My hand twitched toward him, but she raised the gun higher.Riley didn’t move.He didn’t even flinch.The tears came before I could stop them, hot streaks burning down my face. I blinked hard, but it was pointless—they kept coming, blurring my vision as I stared at him.“Don’t do this,” I whispered. It was for her. For me. For him.She stepped over Riley like he was trash, her b
RILEYI’d been awake since Silas walked back into the house. But my body was heavy, exhaustion pulling me back under before I could let him know I was awake. And then he spoke. His voice was low, rough, filled with guilt and frustration as he poured out words I knew he’d never dare to say otherwise—I couldn’t keep pretending to be asleep. His grip on my hand tightened, almost to the point of pain, and when I opened my eyes, those piercing blue ones were staring back at me, wide with a mix of fear and relief. They shimmered, catching the dim light like they were holding back tears. “Riley,” he said my name like it was a prayer, his voice trembling as he jerked to his feet, closing the space between us. He was so close now, the air between us charged. “Riley,” he repeated, softer this time, like he couldn’t believe I was real.m and I couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at my lips. He moved closer, pressing his head into the crook of my neck, his rough palm cupping my f
SILASThe room felt colder than it should have.Riley sat across from me, holding his mug like it was his lifeline. He’d insisted on making hot chocolate himself, but neither of us had touched it. His sat cradled in his hands, the steam curling upward before disappearing into the tense silence between us. Mine was untouched on the table, the warmth already fading.He hadn’t looked at me once since we sat down. His shoulders were tight, his lips pressed together like he was holding in everything he wanted to say. The seconds stretched too long, each one pulling tighter at the knot in my chest until I couldn’t breathe.When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, careful, like it might shatter. “I don’t even know where to start.”“Just start.” I leaned forward, my heart pounding hard enough to make my head ache. My elbows rested on my knees, hands clasped together, fingers curling into my palms. I needed something to hold on to. Something to stop me from breaking apart. “Whatever it is,
EpilogueSILASThe blood and dirt clung to me like a second skin, and I didn’t care. The streets were silent as I padded through them, my wolf’s paws barely making a sound against the cracked frozen pavement. I should’ve shifted back, but rejected stress of having to find clothes were annoying.When I reached the house, I pushed at the door with my paw, and to my relief, it creaked open. Of course, Riley hadn’t locked it. He never did when he knew I’d be coming back.The scent hit me immediately—cloying, sweet, almost dizzying. My breath caught. Heat. I’d almost forgotten the full moon meant his heat would be peaking tonight. Almost.I stepped inside, shifting back to human as the door clicked shut behind me. I didn’t stop to clean up. I didn’t even glance at the trail of dirt I was leaving behind as I climbed the stairs. The pull was magnetic, impossible to resist, dragging me straight to our bedroom.The door was cracked, and when I pushed it open, my chest tightened.Riley was spra
This is a side story for Marcus and RonanMARCUSThe first time I saw him, I was slumped against the cold steel of my cage, staring at the damn door that hissed open like a taunt—like it knew none of us were ever getting out.They dragged him in, his body limp, nothing but skin and bone, but his eyes—those sharp blue eyes—were locked in a glare, burning as they scanned the room before landing on me.I met his stare and held it.I should’ve looked away. Should’ve ignored him like I did the others they tossed in here. But something about him—about the way he refused to break, even when his body was betraying him—unsettled me.I fucking hated it.He looked like trouble, but maybe trouble was what we needed to get the hell out of here.I exhaled sharply, pushing that thought aside.Riley.My mate.I still wasn’t sure how the fuck I ended up here. How long it had been. Days? Months? But I knew who had betrayed me.Liam. My beta.I could still feel the blade piercing my chest, the searing p
MARCUSThe scent of him was all over Riley.Clinging to his skin. Twined into his clothes. It was unmistakable—drenched in something deeper than just proximity. And as much as it made my wolf bristle, as much as it burned through my veins like a goddamn poison, I couldn’t blame them.Riley thought I was dead.He wasn’t at fault. Neither was Silas.But I was back now.And I was taking back what’s mine. My mate. My pack.I turned my head to the side, gaze locking with Silas’ across the car. The bastard didn’t even flinch, didn’t look away, and every time our eyes met, the rage in me coiled tighter. I didn’t know why, didn’t care to dissect it, but it was there, raw and simmering beneath my skin.I needed out of this damn car.“Let’s go to the pack,” I said, my voice coming out rough, edged with a growl I barely managed to swallow down. “It’s safer there.”I rolled down the window, letting the cold air in—letting the stench of them out.“No.” Riley’s voice rang, his brows pulling togethe
RONANI didn’t know how long we had been at it, how many hours had bled into days, but it didn’t stop, not once. The routine had become so familiar, so consuming, that I stopped keeping track of time. When I woke up, we fucked. After breakfast, we fucked. In the shower, against the wall, on the floor—anywhere he wanted me, he took me, and I let him.Three days.Three long days of staying with Marcus, of lying in his bed, of feeling the warmth of his body against mine, of listening to his voice, low, close, whispering things I shouldn’t want to hear. Three days of knowing, without a single doubt, that he had finally come to terms with something we had both seen coming—Riley was no longer his.But I was here.I carried his mark.“I should go,” I muttered, my voice quieter than I meant it to be as I sat on the couch, feeling far too comfortable in his space. “Silas must be worried about me.”Marcus moved beside me, the heat of his body close, and then his fingers found mine, sliding betw
RONANI didn’t know why I was here.Why I was sitting outside the house of a man I hated, watching him like some stalker, waiting for something—anything.When Riley and Silas talked about Marcus, it pissed me off. It scratched at something deep inside me, something raw, something restless. Maybe it was this damn mark, this—this pull that bound me to him like an invisible chain, tugging at me every time I tried to ignore it.Or maybe it was because I pitied him. Because I knew Riley was rejecting him today.Or maybe I was just stupid enough to have started falling for him.The night was cold, but that wasn’t why I shivered. Even with my body running hotter than a human’s, the chill slipped under my skin, sank into my bones, curled up inside me like an ache I didn’t want to name. I wrapped my arms around myself, exhaling into the dark. I didn’t know how long I waited—hours, maybe? Long enough to start doubting if this was a good idea.But then, I felt him before I saw him.The mark hidd
### MARCUSIt made my skin itch that Ronan wasn’t going to run with the pack. . And damn it, I knew it shouldn’t bother me, not when I had already made my decision, not when tonight was about marking Riley, about breaking that unwanted mistake of a bond that should never have existed in the first place.But still, it scratched at me, an irritation I couldn’t shake, one that had lingered in the back of my mind for days. Because for the past three days since we came down, I had barely seen him, only catching glimpses when I wasn’t supposed to be looking, only noticing the way my eyes kept drifting toward the window of my office, hoping—fucking hoping—to see him, even if it was just for a second.And the only time I had seen him clearly, really seen him, he had been standing outside my door, watching me, not even trying to hide it, as if the pull between us was too strong to fight.It should have made me angry. Should have made me snap at him, should have had me chasing him away. But ins
MARCUSI had just cheated on my mate.And it didn’t matter that it had felt good, that it had been something I hadn’t realized I was desperate for until I had it, something that left me raw and aching. None of it changed the fact that I had betrayed Riley—the one person I loved, the one person who had always been mine.I couldn’t bring myself to look at Ronan, not when I could feel the way his gaze followed my every move, like he was dissecting me, picking apart every breath I took. It made my skin prickle, made my stomach tighten, and I hated it. I hated knowing what I’d done.And I hated that I didn’t regret it as much as I should have.Riley stood in front of me, close enough that I could reach for him, close enough that I could lose myself in the familiar scent of him, but my thoughts were a mess, tangled and fraying at the edges. My pulse pounded, my mind running circles around itself, trying to convince me that I had scrubbed every trace of Ronan from my skin, that there was not
RONANThe bastard marked me.A violent shudder wracked through my body, but I wasn’t sure if it was from fear, my heat, or the sick pleasure humming through my veins.Marcus’ eyes were wide, the harsh lines of his face tightening, jaw locked like steel. He stared at me like this was my fucking fault.A hiss slipped from my lips. His hands were still gripping my waist, but I didn’t care—I pressed down, hard, grinding against him. Fuck. I couldn’t help it.The heat. The bond. The way it slithered through my blood, coiling around my ribs, pushing at every nerve—I couldn’t stop myself.I pressed down again.Marcus sucked in a sharp breath, his grip tightening as a shudder ran through both of us.I didn’t want this. Didn’t want him.But the mark burned against my skin, and my body begged for it—screamed for it.“Just do it,” I bit out.His jaw clenched. His eyes flicked downward, dragging over my heavy trousers, taking in the shape of me, the way I was already leaking for him.A muscle tic
MARCUSNo…I wanted to jump down that slope with them, to make sure Riley—my mate—was with me, but even with my heightened vision, it was hard to spot them through the dense fog and darkness below.But I had to wait.I couldn’t be reckless.My hands curled into fists at my sides, my nails pressing into my palms as I forced a breath into my lungs, trying to steady the restless wolf pacing beneath my skin."We should find a good spot for us to stay tonight."Ronan’s voice broke through the silence, and my jaw clenched. I turned slightly to glance at him over my shoulder, but he was already walking away.Every time I saw him—especially around others—he wore that mask of indifference, his face expressionless, detached. But when it was just the two of us, that mask slipped, and the cracks showed.He was always angry with me.I didn’t mind.For some damn reason, I liked it.And that fucking pissed me off.With one last glance down the narrow, steep slope, I turned and followed after him.—
RONANI saw him everywhere.I couldn’t take a walk through the pack without catching his eyes—whether it was through his office window or while he was out working, I saw him.And now—now he was here.With Riley.Sitting across from my brother while I leaned against the counter, I watched as Marcus spoke, his voice sharp, controlled. “I want you to come hunt down some rogues that have been attacking members in the mountains.” His gaze remained fixed on Silas, dark eyes filled with something that made my muscles tense.The way he looked at him—like he wanted to tear him apart, like he was just waiting for an excuse—set my teeth on edge.Silas, completely unfazed, leaned back in his chair, his legs spread out in that lazy, careless way of his, one arm resting on the table while his other hand propped up his head. “So let me get this straight,” he said, his tone laced with amusement. “You want me to join you on a rogue hunt?”His words were casual, almost dismissive, and I didn’t miss the
RONANHe made my skin crawl.Marcus was no different from the men in Desmond’s pack—the ones who let their eyes wander over my face like I was… something.A thing to take. A hole to fill.I could hear him outside, fighting with Riley. Begging. I didn’t like Riley either, but Silas did. And at least Riley didn’t look at me the way Marcus did. The only thing I saw in Riley’s face was hate, and that was better.Hate, I could handle.Silas’ knee bounced restlessly from where he sat. I could feel his energy thrumming, could hear the tension in his breath. He was still trying to process it. That I was his brother.I already knew. I remembered. And Desmond had made sure I would never forget. He’d drilled it into me for two decades. That I had a brother once. That he was gone. That he was going to find him and make him suffer too.That I was nothing more than shell. A hole. A thing for his men to use.My fingers curled tighter around my cup, the tremor in them barely controlled. I sucked in a
MARCUSThe scent of him was all over Riley.Clinging to his skin. Twined into his clothes. It was unmistakable—drenched in something deeper than just proximity. And as much as it made my wolf bristle, as much as it burned through my veins like a goddamn poison, I couldn’t blame them.Riley thought I was dead.He wasn’t at fault. Neither was Silas.But I was back now.And I was taking back what’s mine. My mate. My pack.I turned my head to the side, gaze locking with Silas’ across the car. The bastard didn’t even flinch, didn’t look away, and every time our eyes met, the rage in me coiled tighter. I didn’t know why, didn’t care to dissect it, but it was there, raw and simmering beneath my skin.I needed out of this damn car.“Let’s go to the pack,” I said, my voice coming out rough, edged with a growl I barely managed to swallow down. “It’s safer there.”I rolled down the window, letting the cold air in—letting the stench of them out.“No.” Riley’s voice rang, his brows pulling togethe