“Not having to worry so much about Chloe,” I said. “To know she has a proper future with her family.”Luna Amelie looked slightly amused, but she dropped my hands, and the room went back to normal. I felt slightly dizzy, and Dr. Hayes cupped my elbow.“Are you all right?” he asked.“She’s fine.” She
Sarah POVLater that day, the girls were prepping for the PPE with Dr. Hayes, though they both said they wanted to be there when we talked about the lawsuit. We promised instead to tell them everything important at dinner.I got to meet Zane’s personal attorney, Dale Landowski, an alpha with a calmi
Sarah POVGinnyWolf: OMG, a lawsuit? Is this 4 real? JohnPPPPP: What the hell is Family Justice United Another slavery ring in disguise? Jane Dayviellers: They’ve done some good work in the past, but they’ve totally lost their minds. How is taking little girls away from their loving family suppose
“That’s correct,” Zane said. “We want to keep this matter from disrupting the girls’ lives, but we’ve no qualms about having their living arrangements inspected.”“Well, I know that as pack alpha, you have many concerns that—”“If you’ll excuse me, I’m not sitting here as the pack alpha. I am Grace
Lainey POVAs I pulled my car onto the main driveway of the Cavendish property, I was thinking mostly of my personal return on investment for this position. When the pack alpha asked me to take on the job of Sarah Astor’s publicist, there were about a dozen reasons I couldn’t say no, but not as many
“What?” Sarah asked.“The hedge mage would make a great background image for your website,” I said. That was our task for the day, making that website.Sarah considered, looking around, then shook her head. “I don’t want to put identifiable photos of the grounds online.” She nodded down at the girls
Zane POVI read the comments on Sarah’s website in the car, leaving Ollie to deal with the downtown traffic as we made our way to the legislative board.Rosemary&Sage: First to post! Whoo hoo! You go, Sarah!SarahAstorsCat: I get why she doesn’t want pix of the girls but there should be more of her.
Sarah POVStayDrunk21: CPS? Are they kidding?IndustryStandard: Looks like an old hag. Car is for shit.JonesJane32: Look at the caption: “the drive into the compound.” It’s not a compound. It’s just a big house.BigGurlRegrets: They grow veggies there. Sounds like a compound 2 me.Jane Dayviellers:
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