Hayes

he sky hung gray and hea

a simple, high-necked charcoal dress. It looked like mourning attire, and in a way, it w

t eyes tracked my movement, filled with a sickening mix of pity and condescension. To them

in the corner ticked w

o'clock

ble doors rem

teen. Twel

the center of the marble floor, motionless, bearing the weight of their scr

ecency of an on-time separation. To him, my existence was so utterly

e side doors opened

a tablet in hand. He offered a perfunctory

mergency summit with the European Lycan Consortium required his immediate pr

Annelise standing near the back, surrounded by her entourage of high-ranking pack sociali

. "Damien carries the weight of thousands of pack members on his shoulders. He always puts

umph. She was establishing her dominance, reminding me that while I stood di

ou

sed my eyes and reached inward, tuning out Anneli

's presence. I didn'

d been fed since childhood, lay the fragile, glowing thread of our mate-b

den mentor, Professor Evelyn Albright: "Kira, you are not wolfless; your power is merely caged. Leav

wer far more ancient and vast than any of these wolves r

I told Jackson, my voice cuttin

, her smile fal

ess strike of my will, I brought that

N

of iron and ash. My vision went completely black for a terrifying second, and my kne

did no

blood back down my throat, and sto

e reverberation: Damien's inner wolf letting out an enraged, disoriente

e air pressure seemed to shift as

ace had gone completely pale,

dust from my cuff, "that the bond is broken. I, Kira, reject h

walked out of the chamber. I didn't return to the manor. My singl

tinental border toward the neutral territory of M-Country. As Silverwood City

Years

lusive tarmac of the Kensington Pack estate. I wai

obile staircase, moving with effortless aristocratic grace. My jet-black hair tumbled down my back in glossy waves, framing a face

one of the most powerful and respected rulers on the continent-smiling besid

ar," Arthur said war

anding me a glass of vintage sparkling water. "Ready

ng, crystal-clear gray-blue eyes--eyes that held the depth

t's show them what a 'wolfl