na

inding assault of gold li

r as a guest. But the subtext hung heavy in the air, thicker tha

nation in every

drowning in the shadows. My plate was

seat sacred to the Luna. He was holding her hand, his thu

oom went silent. "Tonight, we celebrate new beginnings. Candida has brou

their goblets on the tables, a r

ida!" th

hundred pairs of eyes sliding over me. Some held p

reached into his pocket and

stuttering in my ch

brooch made of sapphires a

is voice thick with fake emotion. "She wanted the

onto Candid

as in my jewelry box this

but rage surged through me, lend

was quiet, but in the sudden, suffocating si

his eyes filled with simmering annoyanc

id, stepping forward. "Just li

ed, her mask slipping to reveal the preda

he crowd. It was Joey, Candida's five-yea

squealed, tugging

ndida hissed, tryin

cingly loud. "You said... you said after the sick lady is gone... an

then you and Uncle Jacks

l over the hall was

wolf

in your tumm

was planning to abort it to se

lady." A child doesn't

t Candida. For a second, the Alpha

ida shrieked, her

d, my voice tremblin

s venomous. "So what if I am?

," I said, looking at my

e saw the confusion, the judgment, the murmurs rippl

de a

the crowd's gaze. He looked at me with pure hatred,

t vibrated in the floorboards. "Take the boy away. Elena, get t

al, broken sound that scraped my throat

Pack!" Jackson shouted. "An

loomed over me, his sha

e Scepter,"

ial wand I carried at formal events. I

I whis

it t

ip was bruising. He wrenche

umiliation was worse. It was

mirking behind

A tether, pulled too tight

s from the table. Red

hink. I ju

s face. Wine splashed over her expen

scre

the blood on his m

to me. His

ac

hitting flesh echoe

vision went white. I ta

y Fated Mate,

lt like my soul was being torn in half, the

g down at me with disgust. "Throw her in th

, scooping her up in his

them leave. The crowd parted for them.

sed m

y womb was sh

thought as the

surrender. It

the baby dies. S