I cracked my eyes open only to squeeze them shut against the blinding pain that radiated through my skull. Even the night I’d drank too much alcohol hadn’t left a hangover this bad. I groaned as I realized that the sun was already bright and shining in the sky, just how late had I slept in? I tried to open my eyes again and immediately shut them. I tried to open a link to Sophie and was met with the same piercing pain that the light caused. I couldn’t just lay in bed all day. Why hadn’t anyone woke me up before now? Keeping my eyes shut, I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I was still wearing the dress I’d put on the day before, but my shoes and jewelry had been removed. I barely remembered Blake helping me into bed last night. Pushing the blanked aside, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slowly slid off the mattress until my feet landed on the floor. It took a lot of effort to push myself up into a standing position, but I managed. I

I lunged out of the bed and rushed to the bathroom as my stomach twisted painfully until it emptied its contents. Dmitri’s concerned voice came from the doorway behind me as I crouched over the porcelain bowl, “Are you ok?” I tried to say I was fine, but only succeeded in dry heaving. “I don’t remember you ever getting sick before.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and sat back on the cold stone floor. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him. The image of him letting himself being torn to ribbons was etched into my mind. “I’m fine,” my arms curled around my stomach, “I just need a minute to collect myself.” “Selene, if something’s wrong…” “I said I’m fine! I just need a minute,” I pushed myself up off the floor. “I’m going to take a shower and wash up. So, if you don’t mind,” I waved toward the door. He lingered there as if wanting to say something else, but pulled the door shut with a heavy sigh,

Dmitri stepped in behind me and rested his hands on my hips as I finished pulling my hair up. “We still have a lot to talk about,” I leaned back against his chest, “and I’m still mad at you.” He kissed the back of my neck, “I can take your anger. Just, please don’t shut me out like that again.” Our eyes met in the mirror’s reflection, the feeling of being whole resonated within me again. “Don’t ever try to hide anything from me or lie to me again,” I held his gaze in the reflection; “you forget too easily that part of me is a vengeful, vindictive goddess that cursed your whole bloodline for a single slight.” He hummed a simple, “Hmm,” into my shoulder, but didn’t argue or plead any further. It’d felt like we’d spent hours locked away in our suite until he’d had his fill, but our Betas were waiting for us in the hall adjoining our suites. Sophie’s cheeks and the tops of Nathan’s ears turned a bright red color as we walk

She was a beautiful, albeit terrifying, force of nature. It explained so easily how people loved her so wholly and completely in such short time spans. She didn’t have to demand loyalty or devotion; people would just give it over willingly simply because they loved her. And she deserved that love, even if she didn’t think so. ‘She’s so different this time,’ Bo, mused as we followed Selene out of the dark concrete hall in the cell block. ‘You keep saying that. When are you going to explain it to me?’ So far the exchange of knowledge had been very one sided, with Bo not having roamed the mortal realm since before the fall of the Romans. She asked more questions than she answered, ‘She cares so much about so many of you…’ ‘She’s a goddess, isn’t she supposed to care about those that worship her even if they don’t know who she is?’ It was still hard to adjust to the foreign laughter that danced through my

“You’ll leave tonight and bring Luna Jeanette back with you after you apprise Beta Lucas on the situation for Caleb’s extended absence. He shouldn’t need to lead more than 2 pack runs.” Dmitri still wouldn’t look me in the eye. It hadn’t been my fault that Selene had chosen to kiss me to get even with him for Candice. If I was honest with myself, she’d probably done it to punish me as well. But how could she have known exactly how it would change things between my Alpha and I? The fact that she’d safeguarded my life against his wrath gave me a little hope that she had a plan to fix the rift between us. If he couldn’t trust me, I couldn’t continue to serve as his Beta. For now, we were all just playing our parts. A grand act to keep the world from knowing the depths of the fracture The Vὅlsung had caused. “And make sure you bring Jeanette’s Delta as well,” Selene added to the other men’s surprise, “I want her to feel comfortable moving