rrow. Are you back from your circuit or s

a full hour before I finally sent

d instantly. "Do you have any idea how much this gala means for th

hair clinging to my shoulders. I didn't feel the u

steady. "I won't be attending the Alpha's gala.

shot back. "I'm bringing the Alpha vehicle to your flat at seven. You know Magnus expects

the part of the dutiful mate, Ethan. But my time at Stone Legal Chamber

th a final note: [Mark it as

e phone, but he was too desperate to maintain appearan

ered to the empty room,

that felt like a second skin, the color of a deepening bruise against my pale skin. I'd swept my hair

e, and for the first time in years, I saw the beast in him stir. His

d, his voice vibrating wit

hat, Alpha?" I challe

essed to hunt. You're going to dra

aying on my lips. "That is exactly the plan. Maybe at

d, his voice a d

sliding into

slamming his own door. "I'm n

plain as day, was a pair of pearl earrings Lila had been we

said, my voice like a winter wind. "The front seat

lculate if I was in heat or just losing my mind. He checked the dash-it was

l gesture of pack civility. I didn't touch him. Instead, I pulled a silk scarf fr

snapped, his eyes flashing. "Are yo

hat didn't reach my eyes. "I'll try to kee

as a force of nature-star-bright eyes, chiseled features, and that cold, lethal Alpha aura that kept the les

ill burning through the fabric. "I have to speak

f damp with the sweat of my suppressed anger. I didn

e pack member sneered, her eyes scanning my dress with envy.

on her. "Why? Is Ethan

jaw dropping. "What a

s ability to lead a bloodline, maybe I didn't break my promise after all. Why don't

're insane!

t me like I'd just shifted in

pat. "Once Lila makes her entrance

otten about the

have been trying to

ward me with my stepmother, Freya Collins, trailing behin

and Ethan were sealing the bond on the Equinox?

ust have left the pack link. You three seem to be tracking each

'd basically checked out of my life three months afte

espect to my mothe

s eyes lit up. "Lila! She's her

ersonally, Aria. Lila and Vanessa have been inseparable since they

ng. "By the way, does Ethan know his

the adopted one, she'd be the one wearing the Alpha's mark. But High Alpha Magnus had made it c

asn't the vulnerable

Ethan walking back toward us, his

ndingly. "Five years apart and he still looks

. But tell me, Freya... do you think Ethan knows that Lila's 'best friend'