49. Cillian

I think it’s going to work. By the end of a long, tiring day everything was in place. We had confirmation Luna Helena and Alpha Alexander were attending. Luna Freya and Alpha Phillipe, the name like a curse upon my tongue, had also confirmed.

Three of them were devastated, obviously. Sadly, the Ceremony massacre actually helped us in selling the lie. Over the past few months the nation had become used to the prospect of murder. Slit throats, assassins with syringes of wolfsbane, our new reality.

Any other day I would have been ready to collapse on my bed. But I have Matilda now. The thought made my heart race and Vez antsy, to know she was merely a few feet away in the study.

When I walked in bearing snacks and drinks, I had intended to just catch up with her. She was grieving, sad and thoughtful when I left her. The woman waiting for me in that study was a pure vixen. My footsteps woke her but the instant she saw me her eyes shimmered. Need, desire and love all swirled in those