TV Audience POV[Music plays and the opening credits roll]Announcer: Welcome, everyone, to Darleen’s Den! The show that asks real questions about real people. Join Darleen and her guests, Alpha Zane Cavendish and his children’s goddess-mother, Sarah Astor! Plus, Darleen will be sitting down with Em
Sarah POVAfter the break, we’re going to be talking with renowned pediatrician Emma Fleming to talk about how to keep you and your family safe during deer tick season, so don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right back!With Chloe and Grace sitting on either side of him, Zane hugged his daughters to his che
Sarah POVWe kept things a bit cooler after that, kissing with little breaks to keep our heads.“I have to tell you,” he said during one such break. “I’m feeling a faint matebond between us.”“You are?”“Yes.”“Like you felt with Olivia?” I asked, rather tactlessly. I thought I should take the quest
Zane POVAfter Sarah and I collapsed, we rolled around on the grass, and then she scratched my scruff and haunches, laughing all the time about how big my teeth and claws were. I considered going back into my skin to tell her those were mating rituals, but I was too comfortable.Then the lake was to
Zane POVI sat there in surprise having no idea what to say. I didn’t even know if I were expected to speak at all. No question had been asked of me.“You seek counsel,” the head Oracle continued. “So it has been for centuries. Pack alphas some to the temple for counsel.”She paused expectantly.“Ye
Sarah POVWith Zane at the temple and the girls at their riding lessons, I felt a little uplift of freedom and refused to feel guilty about it.Well, not too guilty, anyway.Every parent has felt that sense of freedom when the kids and spouse (boss) are busy and they have a few hours to themselves.
A shadow passed over the table, and then Scott sat down across from me.I looked up in alarm and then looked over to Danielle, who nodded to say she was ready to toss him out.“Please,” he said with a calm smile. “I swear, I would just like to talk to you briefly.”“But I don’t wish to talk to you.”
Zane POV“Soon, I’ll be able to prove my devotion to you.”“Please don’t.”The recording replayed the noises of going into my purse, and I turned it off. Zane sat for a moment, thinking.“I particularly liked the part where you called him a psychopath,” he said finally.“I thought you might.” I was
Sarah POVAfter the onsite security personnel and police had come, taken Ella’s body along with our statements, and then left, it was early morning. I worried about the girls, but they were as keyed up as I, and finally we all just piled on Zane’s bed, which was now my bed as well. Zane had his arms
Sarah POVGinnyWolf: Sarah is a MOON WOLF??!! Are you KIDDING ME?WhiteKnuckling: This is a hoax. Total bullshit.PPPPJohnP: I knew it.ShangHairSurprise: Will she be reforming the Luna Temple again?Rosemary&Sage: Hey now, PPPPJohn, THAT’S bullshit.With a laugh, I put the phone in the purse Lainey
Sarah POV“We all fear death,” Zane said.That wasn’t what I meant at all, and I told him so. My dress turned to silver in the moonlight, and I held his warm hands in mine.“If you seek the truth, stop seeking enemies and find the moon,” I and the statue and someone else said, speaking as one.He lo
Zane POVIt was thallium poisoning.“The treatment is proceeding with Prussian blue, which traps thallium to keep it from being further absorbed, as well as activated charcoal and forced diuresis,” the doctor, whose name I learned was Vassles, told me.Sitting by Sarah’s bedside, I was trying hard n
Zane POV“Alpha Zane!”Never, in all the years he had been working for me, had I heard such a sound of panic in Hans’s voice.I looked up and out my window. Hans wasn’t in the house. I saw him frantically waving at me over by the poppy garden almost a mile away.I ran down the stairs and out of the
Sarah POVThe day was lovely—perfect, even. The girls were back in school and making up for lost time, Zane was in his office and waved to me as I walked past the villa, and all the “lieutenants” had gone home.It was odd to look back on the past year. Had there ever been more than a day here and th
Ella POVMy contact at the prison told me Hayes followed his script exactly, and for the moment, I decided to put the wolf out of my mind. Few things had ever worked out as nicely as discovering the good doctor’s gambling addiction, and Hayes had several million reasons to do as he was told.When th
Sarah POVThe second Zane and I were in the car, I raised the partition for some privacy, turned to Zane, and asked the question burning acid in my stomach.“Do you think he actually hurt the girls?”Zane shook his head, but his eyes were haunted. “Not physically, but we’ll have to talk to them, see
“We found your money,” I said.“I thought you would.”We sat another few minutes in silence. “So, who was paying you? Who got you to betray my household?”Hayes smiled to himself.“Something funny?”“Do you think I’m some lackey doing someone’s bidding for a few dollars?” he asked, meeting my gaze n