My world started spinning. Something heavy slammed into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs and harassing my vocal cords with a painful growl. Hot, furious tears flooded my cheeks and burned my eyes while my heart ached for the mother I had hardly known. But from Ezra, I knew that she loved me even though she had to leave me. I hoped to see her again. I hoped to reconcile with her. I hoped to take her out of the Southern Woods Pack. Why even she had been taken away from me?!"Oh… You didn't know she was dead?" Derek snorted viciously, rubbing salt in my wounds, "This is hilarious! All those years you didn't even know she was dead!" he burst out, nearly stumbling from laughter.I gritted my teeth, desperately trying to hold my body in a fighting stance. Tears kept falling from my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to stop them. I needed to see clearly. I had to focus. I was already exhausted, and I had just received a huge mental blow, yet I forced myself not

I might have entered some kind of magical bubble. With each stroke of Draven's tongue in my mouth, I felt more blissful, more into it. I was sinking in pleasure, ignoring everyone's shouts and joyful screams. Draven's arms were wrapped around me. He was pulling me closer with every abrupt breath he took, his chest muscles flexing against my body. As the chants around us increased, I became more aware of my surroundings. A flush of embarrassment flooded my face, sending a rapid wave of strength to push Draven away from me. With the impulse I gave him, he broke our kiss and leaned back to watch my blushing face while wearing a huge grin."You make me want you even more," he whispered against my lips and gave me a quick peck before releasing me from his embrace.I took a long exhale, trying to control my emotions. The inside of my mind was distorted. The pain, the guilt, the satisfaction of winning; it all mixed together. I needed a break, a moment to be alone and process

Taking a cautious step back, I said, "Mind telling me what are you doing in my room?""You didn't answer my question," Draven hissed, glancing at my phone, lying on the bedside table.I clenched my fist. "I have no obligation to explain my private conversation. Now I'll ask you again: what are you doing here?"Draven left out an angry sigh, "Your door wasn't locked.""It wasn't open either." I glared at him.I observed Draven taking a deep breath, putting out the fire within his eyes. "I wanted to check on you to know that you are fine after everything that happened today." His harsh tone turned warmer and more composed."You should have knocked first," I stated firmly."I did, but you were too busy flirting with that vampire over the phone." An annoyed smirk flashed across his face."I wasn't flirting with him!" I snapped, "And why the hell do I need to explain myself to you?! You know that we were in a relationship and-"

I took a deep breath through my nose and closed my eyes. I could smell the faint scent of a she-wolf, clearly the one whom I chased, but there was no intimidating aura. I became more certain that JD had put the previous notes on my pillow himself, but not this time. Was she his spy? If so, that would have meant that she was in one of the six groups of warriors from the Moon Hill Pack. Who the hell was she?Truthfully, she wasn't too discreet as a spy. She entered my room and turned every light on like an amateur. It was hard to believe that someone like her worked for the elusive JD. Then I remembered she had been escaping through the employees-only stairs. That would mean that she either worked in the hotel or disguised herself as part of the hotel's staff. If that was the case, she could have taken a universal key to get fast access to my room. It could also explain her sudden disappearance: she must have known about the hotel plan. She knew where she needed to run to and w

I sat on the bed motionless, thoughts spinning inside my head. I was forcing the air into my lungs as if I was squeezing it in through a thin straw. An insufficient level of oxygen made my head spin. "That can't be true. The child isn't his." Those two sentences played on repeat inside my mind, protecting my heart from breaking into pieces. My mantra worked slowly, soothing my heart rate and loosening my chest. The logical part of my brain restarted. "I need to call Sariel…" I mumbled to myself. I stared at the phone for more than a minute before my trembling hand managed to pick his number from my extremely short list of contacts. I made the call. Hearing the waiting signals was tormenting. I was taking long breaths, trying to exhale them slowly, but it didn't ease my anxiety. He didn't answer. A heartbeat later, I called again… and then again. I might have been irrational and too demanding, but I thought that I was going to fall apart if I didn't he