RayneI had to lie to Victor and tell him that I didn’t see or hear anyone. If I had, MoonWater’s Gamma would be hunted down and frankly, I don’t see why he needs to die. I don’t think him knowing where I am poses a threat to me, for some reason. If they wanted me dead, I’d be dead already and anyway, there’s also the fact that Max won’t want me dead when my life is tied to his. I don’t think he has any intention of dying. I haven’t stopped thinking about him since the Gamma left. I can’t believe that he killed the warden and that he’s at war with GrayLeaf. I also don’t know what to make of anything else anymore, but one thing is certain: he still lied to me and he was still having an affair with Veronica this whole time. I can’t allow myself to forget that, regardless of how I feel. The bond wants me to love him, and that’s what it’s doing right now. But I can’t love him. How could anyone love someone who’s hurt them beyond repair?The Gamma told me that he always believed I was in
MaxI've lost track of time. Fighting in a battlefield seems to have that effect. I don't know how much time has passed or what the time even is. I’m covered in blood and sweat, some of it mine and some of it belonging to someone else, someone who’s most probably already dead by now. I’ve also lost track of how many soldiers I’ve killed single-handedly. I lost count when the first fifty fell. That was a long time ago. Rather, it felt like a long time ago. I’m so focused on ending this that it’s all that’s occupying my mind. We’re fighting right outside my gates. I’m protecting it with flesh and blood. If they win, they go into my pack and burn it all to the ground. GrayLeaf wants to see me crumble. They want everything I’ve ever built and everything my father has built to turn to ash. I won’t let that happen. I’m ready to make sacrifices for that to happen. We were outnumbered in the beginning but now, that number is starting to get even. I have to say that GrayLeaf isn’t a match
MaxI’m pacing my bedroom floor as I wait for her to arrive. The more I think about this, the angrier I get. I don’t want to jump to conclusions but there is no way around it. Now that this idea has occurred to me, it refuses to be forgotten or even dismissed. Veronica. She was at the prison. I don’t know what she told Rayne but it was something that suggested that I betrayed her in some way. Nobody else would have told her that. Only Veronica. I want to know why. I’m going to get to the bottom of this. I’m waiting for over ten minutes and she still doesn’t show up. I don’t know what this means. Is she hiding from me? It makes no sense for her to hide when she’s been trying to speak to me for days to no avail. I’m a minute away from leaving this room and going after her. I’m impatient enough to do it. The door to my bedroom opens. I whirl around and see her standing there, eyeing me in a seemingly innocent way. She says, “You called for me.”“Close the door,” I tell her. “And sit
MaxI start running down the corridor blindly, unsure of where I’m going or what I’m even doing for a few minutes. My head is full of this terrible information that has somehow changed my perception of reality. I wonder if this is how some people feel before they completely lose touch with reality and simply start living life differently from everyone else. I find myself wishing that I could somehow block all of this out and move on. Just forget I even heard this. Knowing that my sister is the villain of my story makes this all the more unfathomable. I stop walking and hold the wall to keep myself upright. Focus is what I need right now. I have to figure out what I’m going to do and how I’m going to get my message to Rayne. She has to know that I never betrayed her. That I would never do that. Now it’s starting to make sense why I couldn’t remember a thing when I woke up the morning after the party. Hell, I don’t even remember why I left the party to begin with. It’s all her fault
Max“Max,” Denise gasps beside me. I say nothing as I watch myself being surrounded by GrayLeaf soldiers. The soldier I sent still has a knife against his neck. His eyes are wide as he looks at me, and soon, they become lifeless as the GrayLeaf soldier stabs him in the neck multiple times. He drops to the ground in a thud. I watch him go down without being able to do a single thing about it. I’ve lost a soldier right in front of me and couldn’t do anything to stop it. “Max,” she says again, this time in a whisper. “You’re surrounded,” one of the soldiers announces. “Surrender now and you won’t have to suffer the consequences.”“Over my dead body,” I tell him. “You’re going to have to kill me if you want me to surrender. That’s the only way I’m going to.”He smiles a crooked smile. Denise inches closer to me, her hands in the air. I try to figure out what to do while simultaneously wondering how the hell they got in here. The gates are closed. My soldiers wouldn’t have let them pas
RayneI still haven’t decided if we’re going to go to war against GrayLeaf. I want to. I can’t say that I don’t. They’ve done enough to hurt me and I would be thinking solely of revenge if I chose to fight. The time I spent in that prison was something I’d only wish upon my worst enemy. I have lost too much because of them. I want to fight. I want to bring them to my knees. At the same time, I have no idea if it’s the right move. A leader has to think of everyone else, not just themselves. I would hate it if my father, Darla, or even Victor got hurt because of this thirst for revenge of mine. It’s not fair to them. Besides, fighting means we have to join arms with MoonWater, because otherwise we don’t stand a chance. Do I really want to get that close to Max?I’m going to have to be the one to talk to him, which is why my father said the choice is up to me. He’d probably do it if I asked, or insisted, but that’s a coward’s move. I have to be the one to do it, not him or anyone else
Rayne I look back at him. He’s running his fingers through his hair in despair. I’ve already pieced this together. I know why he’s here demanding this truth from me. Why he’s given me this letter to read. It makes perfect sense. The only reason why I’m not saying anything is because my own heart is shattering. I’ve doubted Max. I thought he was a scoundrel and now I have proof that he isn’t. Veronica did it all. The man gets on his knees, his back facing me. A few beats pass and then he says, “I loved her. You don’t understand how much I loved her. You can’t begin to imagine.”I lick my lips and say, “Sure I can. You literally sabotaged her mating day. You put me there just to prevent her from mating with Max.”He glares at me over his shoulder. I glare right back. I’m trying to keep an eye on him while sorting through the mess in my head simultaneously. It isn’t easy. I’m just thinking about Max and how Veronica ruined us. Tore us apart. I can’t take my attention from him entire
RayneThe plan we come up with is simple yet effective. I go with Iron and AmberMane to MoonWater and take over. As the Luna, it’s my right to do so. Word will spread to GrayLeaf, undoubtedly, but by then, we’ll be ready. Lambert thinks that we have to attack them first and we have to do it hard. We tell them that we only have two requests to end this war.The first request is that we want them to release Max. The second is we want Veronica. At that point, we’ll tell them everything they’ve done. Lambert will confess everything he did and they’ll probably exile him from the pack, but he says he doesn’t care about that. “Why?” my father asked him. “Why do you want to be exiled from your pack?”“I don’t have anything to do there,” was his answer. “I hate those bastards more than you do. If they hadn’t insisted on marrying her off to an Alpha, she would be alive by now.”I wanted to ask him where he would go but I figured it was too intrusive. It didn’t matter, anyway. What mattered wa