Claudia Scott is ready to start her family as the wife of the New Moon pack’s beta. But when a stranger arrives, claiming she’s not who she thinks she is, Claudia’s life takes a dark turn. As she digs into the mysterious revelations, she uncovers a string of secrets that Braden has been keeping from her. Now, as her world unravels, Claudia must confront a heartbreaking betrayal and the truth about her past. With war looming and her enemies closing in, Claudia must reclaim her rightful place before those who betrayed her strip everything from her. But blood, power, and survival come at a cost—and in this battle, there can be no mercy. Torn between her past, her loyalty, and the undeniable bond with a mysterious stranger, Claudia will stop at nothing to take back what’s hers … even if it means facing her darkest fears and burning down the world to do it. In a game of lust, power, and blood, the only way to survive is to surrender...to the heat of the hunt.
View MoreI watch Claudia leave, praying she will look over her shoulder at me. She doesn’t, of course, but with Braden watching her every move, I don’t blame her. The door clicks shut, and the tension in the office thickens like a brewing storm. Braden turns to me, his face dark with fury.“This is your fault,” he growls, and I internally roll my eyes. Of course it’s my fault, I think sarcastically. My fists clench at my sides, drawing his gaze. He smirks.“You know, if you do as you're told, I won’t hurt her,” he quips lightly, his tone almost mocking.“I have been behaving, and still, you hurt her,” I snarl, my voice laced with venom. “Now she’s beginning to realize the truth, whether you want her to or not. Each time you hit her, all you do is make me look better.” I smirk, the satisfaction brief but potent.Braden hums, tilting his head. “Hmm, perhaps you’re right. But I have an advantage. I can keep reminding Claudia that she loves me, drug her to please me—”“That is not part of the deal
“What did you say, baby?” Braden asks, his voice smooth, calculated. I fiddle with my ring, twisting it around my finger, the metal cool against my skin.“Oh, nothing,” I murmur. “I’m just tired from seeing Leon. He’s keen to be the beta of the pack. Have you chosen him?” My voice is soft, measured. My hands drop to my sides as Braden’s gaze sharpens, assessing me.“I might,” he says, his tone deceptively casual. “Leon said you left at 2:30 PM. That was over two hours ago. What did you do after that?”The way he says it sends a shiver through me. Nonchalant, but laced with something dark. He’s getting better at this—speaking gently before he strikes. I can’t remember a time when he used to hit me. Now, it happens almost daily. At first, he claimed it was an accident—our sex was too rough, I was standing too close when he moved—but now… now, there are no excuses. Just the ever-present tension, the way my body stays coiled, waiting.“He gave me a headache, and I wanted to walk through t
“I can’t think about this now. I have to go,” Claudia announces, snatching up the whip she dropped. She shudders as she grips it, her fingers curling around the leather more carefully this time, as though it might strike her back. Holding it at arm’s length, her eyes flick to mine before she turns toward the door.Leon moves to stop her, his hand clamping onto her shoulder.“Get your hands off me.” Her voice is sharp, her brows pinching together. “I need to think, and you will wait for my answer.”Leon hesitates, then releases her. “You haven’t stayed for lunch,” he protests, his tone light, but I can hear the calculation behind it. He wants to keep her here, pressure her into saying yes to marrying him.“You and I both know lunch was a ruse. There’s no one in the kitchen, Uncle Leon. I’m leaving.”Leon merely smiles, waving her off as if their conversation means nothing. “See you soon, Claudie. I look forward to your answer.” He gives her a wink at the end and a smug smile.Claudia g
The next few days are much the same. Claudia fetches me from the cell, and Braden meets us at the top of the stairs. Depending on his mood—or whatever he thinks will hurt me the most—he either kisses or hits her. I see the confusion in her eyes, the way she wonders why the man she ‘loves’ keeps hurting her like this. Each day, she seems more alone, trapped with only Braden to depend on. Her frustration spills onto me. She whips me more often, not even noticing how quickly I heal.Today, however, instead of heading to the clearing where I've been working, we take a different path through the pack's territory. The destination is the house where Claudia and Braden once lived when they were betas. Now, it seems, ‘Uncle’ Leon occupies it.Dark wood panels line the walls, and amber lanterns cast an eerie glow despite it being the middle of the day. The air is stale, carrying a faint scent of dust and something different that itches my nose. Claudia steps up and knocks on the door, her knuck
Claudia gets up slowly, rising to her feet. She looks exhausted—the kind of tired that comes from being stretched too thin. It's too much for her. I don't dare touch her; the way her red lip trembles and her hands shake as she picks up the whip tells me she’s walking a tightrope, one wrong move away from shattering completely.I’ve just managed to get her to a good place in her healing—she was moving forward, happy, strong. And in a mere few days, Braden has ripped through those old wounds, tearing them open again. I can see the doubt creeping back into her eyes. His ability to channel Gaia’s magic might be strong, but it’s sloppy. Too many holes for me to poke through, for her to question.When she turns to me, her mask is back in place, even if the cracks are showing. She sighs, her head tilting slightly toward the back of the house where the cells are. Neither of us speaks on the walk back, the silence heavy and suffocating.The air grows colder and damp as we descend, the walls na
*** Trigger Warning Assult ***I’m going to kill him.I've had time to plan since he left me to rot in this cell. I just never expected that my own mate wouldn’t recognize me. I just need to touch her—I know, with everything in my soul, that it will help break the spell he's woven to distort her mind. But the magic has taken root far deeper than I anticipated. The damage to my thigh is proof of that.“You tried to touch her and stop me from hurting my wife, and now you’re going to pay for that,” Braden snarls. His voice slithers through the air, venomous and sharp.I feel it the moment he enters my mate. The betrayal burns through the bond, a searing agony, but what cuts deeper is the sight of her head lolling limply—his blow rendering her too dazed to even understand what’s happening. Worse still, she tried to get him to stop, and my need to protect her made me act rashly. I should have stayed still. He’s baiting me, and now I watch, helpless, as he violates my mate before my eyes.I
*** Trigger Warning ***Braden stands in the doorway, his features cloaked in shadows, but as he steps forward, a wide grin stretches across his face. "I'll admit, I wasn't sure you would whip him, baby, but I'm so proud of you," he purrs, pulling me inside and wrapping me in his arms. I let myself relax into his hold, my heart still racing from the confrontation. His scent—earthy and sharp—fills my senses, grounding me."Of course I would. After how he hurt me, that's not something I could forget," I reply, my voice steady, though my fingers tremble slightly against his chest. Braden's dark blue eyes fix on mine, a mix of amusement and something darker flickering there."My wife is a violent little thing," he murmurs, and I can't tell if he's pleased or disturbed by it. His grip tightens, almost possessive, and a chill pricks at the back of my neck."Get inside," he orders Asher, his voice low and commanding. He shields me, tucking me further into his side as if to hide me from Asher
I jump back, growling, before shaking my head. I pick up my tea, now cold, and finish it in one gulp. “Come on, and don’t make me use the whip again!” I snap, grabbing his mug and placing both of them in the dishwasher. My fingers tighten around the handle of the whip, and I feel that same ripple of discomfort slither up my spine, but I shove it down.Asher follows this time, keeping his distance as I storm out of the pack house. The air is heavy with the scent of pine and damp earth, and my boots crunch against the gravel path. Guards are everywhere, their eyes shadowed and vigilant. One of them, a man with dark, unblinking eyes, watches me closely. I meet his gaze for a heartbeat before turning away, unease prickling beneath my skin. Asher strolls behind me, too quiet, too compliant, the paper towel at his thigh stained red where I struck him.By the time I make it out of the garden and into the woods, I collide with someone I didn’t expect.“Uncle Leon?” My voice is stunned, brittl
I stare, unblinking, watching the blood drip down Asher's thigh. My fist grips the leather handle of the whip so hard that my knuckles turn bone white, the edges biting into my palm. The kettle hisses behind me, steam billowing like ghosts in the air, clinging to my skin."Just sit down," I manage to say, my voice steady despite the violent pounding of my heart. Asher's eyes flick to mine, dark and unreadable, before he exhales sharply and turns away, leaving a trail of crimson droplets in his wake. The chair screeches against the tiles as he collapses into it, burying his face in his hands.Guilt slams into me, sharp and suffocating. I release the whip, letting it clatter to the floor with a metallic finality. My fingers tremble as I snatch up a cloth, dropping to my knees to scrub at the blood—his blood—until my hands ache and the floor gleams. The scent of iron hangs heavy in the air, sour and unrelenting.After wiping my damp palms on the skirt of my dress, I grab a stack of towels
My lungs burned as I stumbled through the dense underbrush, the wild throb of my heartbeat pounding in my ears along with the sound of my feet over the uneven ground of the dark woods. Moonlight filtered in thin shafts through the canopy above as I desperately tried to make my way back home. Each step was a struggle, my body wracked with agonizing pain with every stride.A shadow flickered at the corner of my vision. There was someone else here, in the center of New Moon Pack's territory. A soft crush of dead leaves, the snap of a twig underfoot had my head spinning to see who was behind me. Yet each time I searched, they disappeared before I could catch a glance of who it was.The branches and trees seemed to reach out to grab me with their spindle-like fingers, slowing me down as if trying to stop me from making my way home. From getting away from whoever hunted me. I didn’t know who it was, but this was my pack, my home. Whoever was following me wasn’t from here—someone had breache...
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