a's

wasn't the thin mountain air or the dawn

y skin and wouldn't leave. Every place Helena had touched me

Lu

t, elegant fingers had felt more like a warning than a gesture-a

cot, staring at the seams in the tent fabric and listening t

nt. Her new

t after the announcement-packed up my mother and Lyra an

declared his mate... it would look

ldn't ruin Lyra's first step into

e I blinked, I s

s found mine in the crowd-the kind

mile, every tooth a tech

straight at me. Me, the nobody omega mother. It would've been

ning, the silence becam

it all like a broken s

ba

ce in my ear. The fire he'd lit inside me that I'd be

my daughter'

'd just gone home that night instead of drinking aw

, I had dragged chaos straig

e tent, I finally sat up. My body ached fr

pale skin, dark circles, and right there on my neck... the faded rema

ood in the world: unwant

before anyone could ask questions. I told myself I was getting coffee, but

t dare to ignore a Luna-not when yo

of wet leaves and pine sap, but underneath it, the Vale's scent curle

e polished floors gleamed like mirrors, reflecting row after row of portraits of t

o look like someone who belonged here, even

end of the hall wh

stepp

version of him was somehow worse-undressed of formality, almost approachable. A fitted

't even

artbeat went from a steady thump to pure

air itself shift

lifted

y hours before-locked on mine. The papers slipped from hi

tly. It wasn't a gre

cl

naged, the words scraping out of me. "

hard-cedar, heat, that unmistakable Alpha pul

another. Each one more controlle

. "Don't call me th

whispered. "Y

burned too b

ing above me. I had to tilt my chin up to me

mething dangerously intimate. "And I know what you ar

His thumb brushed the side of my neck, over my faded

e whispered, voice tight. "It

n, his breath wa

one who felt

almost

tion that left no room for lies. And I gave it to him, l

ze. Possession. Recognition.

"Agree to whatever she wants. But

h shattered

th tu

r eyes widening behind her glasses. Her gaze flick

ing. But she

was the

ed away, Lucian's j

need tell

ached Helena's office door. I forc

er tone was smooth

the knock. She'd kno

rper power. Helena barely glanced up before

ien to sign away h

mach d

though discussing the weather. "You'll take this

rowed with q

ia. Or I will question

ecause there was no othe

elt like deadweight. Damien-my ex-mate. My abuser. The

than a test.

t want Damie

nted m

other hand...

s. Only one of them I

uld intercept me again. Once outside, the co

needed to face Damien before Lyra e

twisted into something sharper-anger, prote

t Damien ruin

meant betra

ping back into the he

oming Helena's pawn

the parking lot, breath

amien Blackwood-the man

this time, I was