appl

t hit me like a wave-a thick, crushing roar t

ng, vibrating with happiness... but somehow everything around me

was that sharp, high-pitched sound-thin and

s too

of

n and

ough the space, brushing over skin and bone. It wasn't physical, exactly, but it slammed into me anyway: a deep, achin

ria. Breathe. Smile. You're her mo

ight-were sparkling now, lit up from somewhere deep inside. She stood taller, steadier. And Lucian... he was lookin

ven t

iny jerk-barely noticeable. His shoulders tightened, h

oc

bo

ething remembered from a dark hotel room and a name wh

op

p.

nize you. He was drunk. You were a blur.

rt underfoot, and beneath it all... Lucian's scent. Cinnamon. Alpha musk. Th

ng her eyes. She looked like she needed my permission to be happy. So I

htening in my thr

Moon Pack. And I-Aria Hale, rejected omega-had slept with him bar

y knocked me over. I needed to disappea

la

na-Lucian's mother-ap

redator. No softness. No warmth. Just sharp edges and silk. She stopped

ri

volume. Somehow it c

head. "Lu

ubmission coming out of

y expression. She catalogued my dress, my shoes, the

id. The compliment felt lik

tch for my so

etched, hummi

My heartbe

t touch her eyes. "A rejected omega for a mother. And a

To defend my mother. To say I wasn't weak. But the words died somewhere in my

on my arm. Cold. Co

proper guidance. Someone who can make up for..." Another

to hurt, not enough to leave a v

w morning. Early. Her lessons begin i

ser, her perfume sh

by trying to instruct her. Stay quie

. A threa

ever touched me at all, heading

e of my cheek without noticing. I needed to get out. I shov

ot caught on a root. My ankl

Firm. Cedar and cinnamon

ref

ci

at Lyra. He wasn't

en watc

pted his mate. He steadied me, then held me that split second too long-long

But his g

an from last night. The one whose name he'd

oice low enough to tremble insid

ed silent. I shoul

ion, the raw intensity of his sta

mouth to say

ame ou

er. That's all y

the shock in his eyes, and dis

n't loo

expected at t

ght into the home of th

me like the mate bond ha

had gripped it. My skin still bu

sweet, bril

gh to protect the futur