SUKI - The night before the full moon arrived, and the energy in the air felt thick enough to choke on. His body didn't fully understand what was coming yet, even if he did. Every instinct in him was preparing for something it had never gone through before. Luckily, I was here to help.My shifts were different. The moon didn't force them on me. I chose when to let my wolf out, when to embrace what was inside me. On the full moon, I wanted to shift. It felt incredible, like everything inside me clicked into place. But I didn't have to. He did. And it hurt. Really bad the first time.I had never understood why werewolves got the short end of the deal. Why their shift had to be something brutal, something to survive rather than something to embrace. If I could take that part away for him, I would. But I wasn't the one in the family with connections to the moon goddess. Declan paced through the Riverwalk house like he was trying to outrun something. He stretched, rolled his shoulders, a
"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
My lungs burned as my feet pounded against the familiar pavement of my childhood street. Running had always been my escape, and with new life growing inside me, I felt a surge of energy I couldn't quite explain. It was strong. So strong. If this was what Alphas had running in their blood their whole lives, no wonder they were always so intense. I slowed to a jog near the old oak tree where Selena and I took photos before Mine and Cast's wedding. She'd been my maid of honor. The betrayal stung. "Lila!" A voice called out behind me. I turned to see Selena approaching, her face flushed like she'd been crying. "What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep my composure. And my distance. The urge to slap her was overwhelming. So damn overwhelming. "We need to talk," she said, thankfully stopping a few feet away. "I have nothing to say to you," I growled. Wow, I never growl. Definitely the Alpha blood. "Please, just hear me out." I hesitated, then crossed my arms over my ches
After the fight with Castor, I drove aimlessly through the streets. I couldn't believe how quickly everything had fallen apart. Castor's betrayal had broken my heart, but his demand that I give him his heir before he would even consider a divorce was the final blow. I wasn't a breeder, and he wasn't about to treat me like one. I couldn't stay with him, couldn't bear to live in that house knowing what he had done and what he thought of me. But leaving him wasn't as simple as walking out the door. This baby was guaranteed to be Alpha. That meant if I didn't do this right, he could take the baby from me and no one would look twice. He had more claim over the baby than I did as far as the council and any werewolf was concerned. I didn't stand a chance if I didn't get human law involved here. Werewolf law leaves little space for women beyond pregnancy. Their worth is measured by the pups they produce and the bloodline they strengthen. Once a child is born, he is often handed off to
I stood outside Declan Lincoln's sleek office in downtown, a few streets over from Cast's. I had an appointment, but my nerves had me frozen in place. The receptionist hadn't even let me in yet. I buzzed the intercom once more and waited. Nothing. I pressed the button again. Still nothing. I sighed in frustration. I was about to turn away when a man walked past me, glancing down at his phone. His tailored suit fit him perfectly, dark against his smooth, deep brown skin. Our eyes met. He stopped mid-step. "Lila?" I blinked, taking in the sharp features of his face. "Luca?" He smiled wide, stepping toward me. "Wow, I didn't expect to see you here. It's been ages." "It really has," I replied, the pressure in my chest easing slightly at the sight of an old friend. "You work here?" "I do." He held up his ID badge, flashing it at the door's scanner. It beeped, unlocking the entrance that had refused me just moments ago. He opened the door and gestured for me to enter. "
Castor's message came in the late afternoon, just when I started believing I could have a peaceful evening. I gripped my phone tightly as his words glared back at me. "If you want the divorce, meet me at seven. We'll settle this once and for all. Your lawyer will be here and everything." I should have known better. I should have sensed that something was off. But I was too desperate for it to be true, too hopeful that he had finally given up and was ready to let me go. So, I pulled myself together, dressed in a white sundress that clung to my curves from the weight I was already gaining, and headed to the address he gave me. The elegant building was tucked away in the heart of the city, its tall windows glowing with warm light. Inside, the space buzzed with energy. It was a large ballroom filled with high-ranking werewolves from all over. Something was wrong. My stomach twisted as I stepped inside, scanning the room. Castor appeared by my side almost immediately, gripping my
LINC POV - I watched from across the room as Lila slapped Castor hard, loud enough to make the entire banquet hall fall silent. The crowd parted, murmuring in shock as she stormed away, her white dress stained and clinging to her body. Castor stood there, frozen, his face contorted with anger, but he didn't follow her. Not this time. He knew better. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her as she pushed through the crowd and disappeared through the doors. She was different from the women I was used to seeing in these circles. She was strong, bold, and unpredictable. As she made clear, she didn't back down even with her husband, her soon-to-be ex-husband. I had come here tonight expecting nothing more than the usual pleasantries, the familiar politics of pack life. But Lila? She had turned everything on its head in a matter of seconds. Castor had miscalculated if he thought he could control her forever. I excused myself from the conversation I had barely been listening to and mad
SUKI - The night before the full moon arrived, and the energy in the air felt thick enough to choke on. His body didn't fully understand what was coming yet, even if he did. Every instinct in him was preparing for something it had never gone through before. Luckily, I was here to help.My shifts were different. The moon didn't force them on me. I chose when to let my wolf out, when to embrace what was inside me. On the full moon, I wanted to shift. It felt incredible, like everything inside me clicked into place. But I didn't have to. He did. And it hurt. Really bad the first time.I had never understood why werewolves got the short end of the deal. Why their shift had to be something brutal, something to survive rather than something to embrace. If I could take that part away for him, I would. But I wasn't the one in the family with connections to the moon goddess. Declan paced through the Riverwalk house like he was trying to outrun something. He stretched, rolled his shoulders, a
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