Cold tile pressed against my cheek, biting against overheated skin. A dull pounding slammed through my skull, relentless, shoving me back into awareness. The room spun in slow, nauseating turns. My limbs refused to cooperate, heavy, disconnected, caught somewhere between exhaustion and the aftermath of last night. For a second, I didn't know where I was.The bath mat was back hanging neatly over the side of the tub like it had never been on the floor with me. My boots sat beside me, lined up perfectly. My shirt was gone. The stale stench of sweat clung to my skin, but a fresh t-shirt and jeans sat folded on the counter, waiting. Someone had been here. Someone had seen me like this.I was covered by an actual blanket. The air felt cooler than before, the AC humming softly in the background. Someone had turned it on while I was passed out.I forced myself up, muscles stiff, movements slow. Light spilled through the half-open door, too bright. The person who undressed and cleaned up afte
"She did not even care." The pain ripped out of me, raw and shaking, breaking apart between sharp breaths. "I tried. I did everything I was supposed to. And she just walked away. Like I meant nothing."Suki did not flinch. Mom did not look away. They sat beside me, letting me fall apart without stopping me. Letting me feel it."She was not even my mate," I choked, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes like I could stop everything from spilling out. Like that would somehow make the tears stop. "I knew that. I knew it the second I saw her. But I still tried. I still did the right thing. I still honored the bond she forced on me. And she just... dropped me. Like it was easy. Like I was disposable."I tried to sit up, but my body refused. "I told myself I could make it work. That I could be what she needed. That I could be enough. And she did not even hesitate. She let me love her, let me stand by her, let me put my whole life on the line for her. And the second she was done with
My brain would not shut up. I told myself to stop thinking about her body, but it was useless. I was standing there, naked, grieving, trying to process everything, and yet, all I could focus on was the way the water ran over her skin. The way her muscles flexed with every slight movement. The shape of her waist, the way her hips curved in a way that made something in me lock up. Fuck. Everything in my lock up. I gritted my teeth, staring at the tile, trying to drown out the thoughts. She was my best friend. My mate. And I felt like an asshole for noticing her like this, especially right now. But my body did not care. My instincts did not care. They did what they wanted, dragging my focus back to her over and over. She sighed and turned with the loofah in her hand. She looked down, then back up, her grin turning downright smug. "Damn, Dec. You're really going through it, huh? Looks like all the blood in your body decided it had more important places to be." I groaned. "Can you j
SUKI POV -I had known Declan was mine for almost two years. Mine. No one else's. Mine in a way that made my blood hum, made my instincts lock onto him like nothing else ever had. I had known, deep in my bones, that I would kill for him, die for him, claim him in a way no one else ever could. He belonged to me as much as I belonged to him, even if he hadn't realized it yet.The realization hadn't come all at once. It wasn't like lightning striking or some earth-shattering moment of clarity. It settled in quietly, creeping in the way instincts always did. Slow, steady, undeniable once it was there. One day, Declan was my best friend, the person I fought beside, the one I trusted above all others. And then I looked at him, really looked at him, and I knew.He was mine.It happened on a night that should have been unremarkable. We were training late, running drills under the dimming lights, both of us pushing ourselves long past exhaustion. He had yanked off his shirt, sweat dripping dow
SUKI POV - The first few days at the Riverwalk house had been quiet. Not silent, Declan didn't do silent, but calmer. Softer. Far less dramatic. I had expected the grief to eat at him, to turn him sharp, reckless, and impossible to handle. And while the anger still lingered, and he did seem ready to snap at any second, he let me help him. Let me take care of him. Let me put him back together piece by piece.He let me shove him toward the hammock when he was too exhausted to argue. Let me force water into his hand when he was too stubborn to take care of himself. Let me sit beside him and force-feed him, watching to make sure he ate every bite. I cleaned the cuts on his knuckles when he got too lost in his head and hit something he shouldn't have. I massaged the tension from his shoulders when he just couldn't relax. I patched up every wound, physical and otherwise, without him having to ask.He just let me take care of him. Let me curl into him at night when I knew the nightmares wer
SUKI - We ignored Gaia's birthday entirely. Neither of us spoke about it. Didn't acknowledge the date when it came and went. I'd say I hoped she had a good birthday, but that would be a lie. Instead, we swam in the river.The water was cool and clear, wrapping around us like something separate from the real world. Declan came alive in it, shedding the weight he had been carrying for weeks, moving through the currents like his body was remembering what it felt like to be free.He caught me from behind, dunking me before I could react. I sputtered to the surface, wiping water from my face just as he dove again, disappearing beneath me. A second later, hands gripped my waist, dragging me under. I fought, twisting against him, but he was stronger. Faster.I let him win.He pulled me close, his mouth brushing against mine just as we broke through the surface again. His lips hovered, teasing, waiting. My breath tangled in my throat, but I didn't make him wait long. I pressed into him, wat
"Why are you not pregnant yet, Delilah? It's not that hard to open your damn legs and lay there. Even you can't mess that up, right?" Mrs. Roman, my mother-in-law made her disappointment clear in every interaction. That question, the same one she asks every day, hit me harder than usual. I swallowed, and the familiar sting of failure quickly returned. "I'm trying…" It had been two solid years of trying. "Trying and failing." she snapped. "The pack needs a Luna who can handle her responsibilities, not someone who's constantly apologizing and half-assing it." Her presence was a reminder of everything I wasn't, everything I could never be. No matter how hard I tried to be the Luna she expected me to be, I always fell short. Castor defended and reassured me, but it never erased the feeling that I wasn't enough. "You're doing great," Cast told me that night, holding me close as I fought back tears. "Mom doesn't understand how much you do for the pack. But I see it, Lila. I see h
Everything around me twisted and blurred, like I'd fallen underwater. When he moaned her name, the room pivoted, and everything came back into harsh focus. Cast's hands on her sweaty skin, Selena's fingers twisted in his wet hair. They'd obviously been at it for some time. No wonder neither responded to my texts. The agony was immediate and sharper than I'd thought possible. I looked down at the small box in my hand. The pregnancy test I'd planned to show him, the future I thought we'd share, felt like a bomb now. "Why?" I barely recognized my voice as I threw it at them. The box hit him square in the chest. His head snapped up, and his eyes shot open. The test tumbled out and landed on his bare skin between them. The room went dead silent. They both froze with their eyes locked on the test like it was about to detonate. I took a single step back and turned toward the door. I didn't have a plan. I just knew I needed to get out and breathe. But the deep, commanding Alpha tone i
SUKI - We ignored Gaia's birthday entirely. Neither of us spoke about it. Didn't acknowledge the date when it came and went. I'd say I hoped she had a good birthday, but that would be a lie. Instead, we swam in the river.The water was cool and clear, wrapping around us like something separate from the real world. Declan came alive in it, shedding the weight he had been carrying for weeks, moving through the currents like his body was remembering what it felt like to be free.He caught me from behind, dunking me before I could react. I sputtered to the surface, wiping water from my face just as he dove again, disappearing beneath me. A second later, hands gripped my waist, dragging me under. I fought, twisting against him, but he was stronger. Faster.I let him win.He pulled me close, his mouth brushing against mine just as we broke through the surface again. His lips hovered, teasing, waiting. My breath tangled in my throat, but I didn't make him wait long. I pressed into him, wat
SUKI POV - The first few days at the Riverwalk house had been quiet. Not silent, Declan didn't do silent, but calmer. Softer. Far less dramatic. I had expected the grief to eat at him, to turn him sharp, reckless, and impossible to handle. And while the anger still lingered, and he did seem ready to snap at any second, he let me help him. Let me take care of him. Let me put him back together piece by piece.He let me shove him toward the hammock when he was too exhausted to argue. Let me force water into his hand when he was too stubborn to take care of himself. Let me sit beside him and force-feed him, watching to make sure he ate every bite. I cleaned the cuts on his knuckles when he got too lost in his head and hit something he shouldn't have. I massaged the tension from his shoulders when he just couldn't relax. I patched up every wound, physical and otherwise, without him having to ask.He just let me take care of him. Let me curl into him at night when I knew the nightmares wer
SUKI POV -I had known Declan was mine for almost two years. Mine. No one else's. Mine in a way that made my blood hum, made my instincts lock onto him like nothing else ever had. I had known, deep in my bones, that I would kill for him, die for him, claim him in a way no one else ever could. He belonged to me as much as I belonged to him, even if he hadn't realized it yet.The realization hadn't come all at once. It wasn't like lightning striking or some earth-shattering moment of clarity. It settled in quietly, creeping in the way instincts always did. Slow, steady, undeniable once it was there. One day, Declan was my best friend, the person I fought beside, the one I trusted above all others. And then I looked at him, really looked at him, and I knew.He was mine.It happened on a night that should have been unremarkable. We were training late, running drills under the dimming lights, both of us pushing ourselves long past exhaustion. He had yanked off his shirt, sweat dripping dow
My brain would not shut up. I told myself to stop thinking about her body, but it was useless. I was standing there, naked, grieving, trying to process everything, and yet, all I could focus on was the way the water ran over her skin. The way her muscles flexed with every slight movement. The shape of her waist, the way her hips curved in a way that made something in me lock up. Fuck. Everything in my lock up. I gritted my teeth, staring at the tile, trying to drown out the thoughts. She was my best friend. My mate. And I felt like an asshole for noticing her like this, especially right now. But my body did not care. My instincts did not care. They did what they wanted, dragging my focus back to her over and over. She sighed and turned with the loofah in her hand. She looked down, then back up, her grin turning downright smug. "Damn, Dec. You're really going through it, huh? Looks like all the blood in your body decided it had more important places to be." I groaned. "Can you j
"She did not even care." The pain ripped out of me, raw and shaking, breaking apart between sharp breaths. "I tried. I did everything I was supposed to. And she just walked away. Like I meant nothing."Suki did not flinch. Mom did not look away. They sat beside me, letting me fall apart without stopping me. Letting me feel it."She was not even my mate," I choked, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes like I could stop everything from spilling out. Like that would somehow make the tears stop. "I knew that. I knew it the second I saw her. But I still tried. I still did the right thing. I still honored the bond she forced on me. And she just... dropped me. Like it was easy. Like I was disposable."I tried to sit up, but my body refused. "I told myself I could make it work. That I could be what she needed. That I could be enough. And she did not even hesitate. She let me love her, let me stand by her, let me put my whole life on the line for her. And the second she was done with
Cold tile pressed against my cheek, biting against overheated skin. A dull pounding slammed through my skull, relentless, shoving me back into awareness. The room spun in slow, nauseating turns. My limbs refused to cooperate, heavy, disconnected, caught somewhere between exhaustion and the aftermath of last night. For a second, I didn't know where I was.The bath mat was back hanging neatly over the side of the tub like it had never been on the floor with me. My boots sat beside me, lined up perfectly. My shirt was gone. The stale stench of sweat clung to my skin, but a fresh t-shirt and jeans sat folded on the counter, waiting. Someone had been here. Someone had seen me like this.I was covered by an actual blanket. The air felt cooler than before, the AC humming softly in the background. Someone had turned it on while I was passed out.I forced myself up, muscles stiff, movements slow. Light spilled through the half-open door, too bright. The person who undressed and cleaned up afte
A sudden wave of nausea hit. The burn turned brutal, curling deep, coiling like something alive inside me. My breath hitched, and in that split second, I knew. This was coming back up. All of it. The relief vanished, replaced by the horrifying realization that my body was done pretending to handle this. My limbs tensed, instincts kicking in too late, the floor tilting as I scrambled toward the bathroom. "Oh, fuck..."I crashed into the bathroom, barely making it before hitting the tile. The second my knees hit the floor, my stomach turned so hard it felt like something inside had torn open. Everything inside revolted, rejecting every drop of liquor I had forced down. My throat burned as bile seared its way up, tearing through me in brutal waves, each worse than the last. The liquor clawed its way back out, scorching and violent, stripping everything raw on its way up.My arms locked against the toilet, gripping hard as my body convulsed again, heaving until there was nothing left. My
I didn't even remember deciding to come here. One second, I was running. The next, I was shoving the back window open and climbing through. The glass rattled in the frame as I slipped inside, boots hitting the floor of the empty house. The Riverwalk house. I didn't live here. My parents barely used it. But I knew the alarm code, knew every creaky board, every stuck window. Knew the way it smelled like the river outside, the scent settling deep into the old walls no matter how many times it had been aired out. I didn't know why I was here. I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew I couldn't go back. Not yet. My whole body shook, too wired to sit, too wrecked to move. Everything clawed at me from the inside, my mind stuck in a loop I couldn't break. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to be bitten. I didn't ask to be tied to someone before I even understood what it meant. I hadn't wanted that bond, but I had honored it. I had tried. I had done everything I could to be a man about i
I ran the words through my head again and again, muttering them under my breath as I walked. Nothing sounded right. Nothing sounded like enough.Gaia, I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...Nothing fit. Nothing could fix this.The pack house loomed ahead, but I didn't speed up. Each step felt heavier than the last, like my body already knew what was coming and wanted to slow it down. I didn't know how bad it would be, how much of her disappointment I'd have to face before I even opened my mouth.Then I saw her.Gaia sat on the porch, wrapped in a blanket, small against the massive wooden steps. Her hair was a mess from sleep, but I knew she hadn't gotten any. I didn't need to ask. I could feel it. JI stepped closer, forcing my breathing to stay even. I signed, "Did you sleep?"She didn't answer. Didn't move.I stopped in front of her, waiting, stomach twisting so tight it hurt. I reached for the blanket, wanting to pull it away so I could wrap my arms around her, to close the distance