EVA'S POVAdele's words rang in my ear a hundred times."Trash is trash and at the end of the day, a nobody is a nobody."I almost had it all at the tip of my fingers. Everything was going to be mine. But she returned. The rage blinded me for a second and I punched into a wall. I didn't care if my bones shattered, I needed to distract my brain. The pain consuming me came from there. Not my battered hands. Why? Why had she shown up now? Five years and she had been silent. Has she been plotting this? "Eva," I heard a familiar voice. I turned to face her. Milana was frantic as she jogged my way. "What is going on?"What was going on? My life was about to be over. Unless..."Milana," I forced a smile and hid my battered hand. "Why are you here? You aren't supposed to be here.""I heard your pack is here. But the whole palace seems so tense and no one will tell me anything.""Oh... Dimitri must have spread the word." I responded. "I am not sure if it is in my place to say.""I'm confus
CAMILLE'S POVIt made sense. But for some reason, I still refused to comprehend it. Records wouldn't be above lying. It's been done a thousand times. But a big coverup involving a coven I had been told time and time again wanted nothing to do with even other witches; it was a bit too much to accept.Still facing the witches, who seemed as confused as I was, I realized this secret was a well-kept one. "I need to see the supreme," I mentioned and continued back to the entwined tree. I passed through the barrier and back into the coven, not minding the whisper or the watchful eyes of the coven sisters. When I reached the chamber of the supreme, there was a warlock guarding the front door. He warned me not to get too close, warning me with what looked like a whip of air. Whatever fear of the unknown I had was gone. I was hungry for answers. "I need to speak with the supreme.""You will have to wait," the warlock retorted. "She is having a word with one of our own."I was frustrated, bu
CAMILLE'S POVOphelia must have noticed the shock written across my face."Camille, is everything alright?" she asked, concern etched into her features.Turning to face her, I clutched the phone tightly in my hands. "Ophelia... Dimitri knows who I am," I blurted out, the weight of the revelation heavy on my shoulders.Without another word, Ophelia enveloped me in a tight embrace. "It's alright," she murmured, her voice a soothing balm against my anxiety.But I couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal. Neal had promised to keep my identity secret, yet here we were, exposed to the dangers of Dimitri's world far sooner than anticipated."If he knows who I am, it's only a matter of time before he realizes the kids are his," I confessed, the fear evident in my trembling voice. "I'm scared, Ophelia. That world is dangerous. It's terrifying. I can't bear the thought of putting them through what I went through."Ophelia gently smoothed my hair, offering what little comfort she could. But deep d
DIMITRI'S POVWhy was it so hard to be mad at her now that I was in front of her?She looked... Beautiful. It was the first time I had seen her without her mask. Whatever doubt I carried about Cameryn ever being Camille was gone. Cameryn was Camille. Both women were one and the same. She looked just like she had done the first time I set my eyes on her in the councilroom. But there was something else. It wasn't the madness pumping in my blood or the animal inside pleading to be set free. She had changed. She had grace.I watched her eyes widen as I asked the question I still couldn't wrap my head around. "...how are your kids mine?"We stood dangerously close. Skin touching and eyes pinned on one another—a bad idea. But I couldn't help myself. "What are you going about?" She finally broke the silence. "My kids aren't yours.""You're lying," I told her. I didn't need to listen to her heart to know she was. Her silence hadn't even been the admission of guilt. It was her eyes. She pul
DIMITRI'S POVIf I could reject her, would I be able to do it? I had told myself my word was my honor, but seeing my mate in such a state because of the words I had spoken while I was drunk and torn between what my beast wanted and what I was bound by honor to do shattered me completely. The thought didn't linger for long. If I were in control, I wouldn't do it. I couldn't. But she didn't know she had that power. She didn't need to. "No," I replied. "If the heavens put us together, there must be a reason for it." "You would disregard Lady Milana?"My jaw tensed. It was foolishness to hold on to the bond. I could tell her and be done with all this mess. But would that really solve anything? I was bound to her mate bond or not. I had kids with her. As much as I wanted to blame the beast for my indecision, this was all me. I did not want to let Camille go. "I would not disregard Milana. I promised to marry her.""So what about me, Dimitri? You would keep me as your mistress?"The
CAMILLE'S POVHis hands reached for mine. This time, I didn't fight him. I let his hand touch mine. His palm was warm. I could feel his callouses graze my skin. It made the contact raw."It's alright," he assured me. "Whoever your ancestor was, you aren't him. I'm sure you are a good person."That was the thing, though. I wasn't a good person. I ran away from this life out of fear of what would happen if my pack got to know I was like my grandmother. I hid the identity of their father from my kids because I was afraid an answer would lead to them yearning to know him. I might have convinced myself that I was doing it for their good. But now, I wasn't so sure. So, who was I to call Victor a monster? I wasn't there. I didn't know the half of it. It was just me being selfish again. Because his curse had affected someone I cared about. As the car arrived at the gates of the Lycan kingdom, I decided that my karma was just. But maybe it was time I owned that selfishness. The gates opened
EVA'S POVWhat sort of animal was she? Blood was trickling down my nose even when I tried to block the flow. The damage healed relatively quickly. But it wasn't my nose I cared about. It was my ego that Camille had bruised. I had played out this scenario many times in my head, and never did it occur to me that she would react this way. She had changed. She wasn't the soft girl who allowed people to walk over her anymore. "What exactly were you looking for?!" She yelled at me, her first balling up again for another swing. If we were alone, I would probably tell her. Her very existence irked me. Why was she the special one? Why was she born to the right mother? Why did she have to descend from Abigail? Why did she have to be blessed with that same gift, and why did she have to gain Dimitri's affection? As if the kiss wasn't enough, I now had to come to terms with the fact that she had children with the man I had tried my best to seduce. Why did the universe favor her and not me? Bu
CAMILLE'S POVWhy did I say it? Was it the flash of memories that assaulted me when Eva's maid knelt in front of me to beg for forgiveness?I knew her. It might have just been one encounter, but it didn't take long to realize how the rumors had spread about my pregnancy. Amity had been the one to tend to me the night that Alpha Lucian had locked me up, thinking I poisoned the pheasants. She was the one who put the idea of a pregnancy in my head when I didn't realize it, and she had been there when I had tested myself with the kit. I didn't need a seer to realize the foul play. So why couldn't the same thing be happening now?Amity was Eva's lapdog. She was just playing the role that was demanded of her. I realized it when Amity brought up the kiss to spark tension between Milana, Dimitri, and me. She had tried to hide the excitement that flushed through her face. But I had heard her heart quickened. I had seen her lips twist into a sardonic smile. She orchestrated this. Of course,