Elora’s povMy feet just kept walking, with no clear direction. All I knew was that I needed to walk away from Eli right now and get some space.None of this made sense. Why would Darian hire someone to get to know me? I mean, I joked about him being a stalker, but that is like a scary stalker move. And if this were true, why wouldn’t Eli just tell me right away. It would make me hate Darian even more, and that was what Eli was trying to do, right? Keep me away from Darian?Thinking about it all didn’t help the fact that two men in my life who were important to me had betrayed me. Didn’t they realize how hard it was for me to trust anyone?I walked past the gallery of Grandma and saw Mom there talking to Grandma Lily, and I just burst into tears and ran inside."What the fuck happened?" Mom asked, but I didn’t want to talk; I just wanted a hug.Thankfully, mom picked up on that pretty quickly, and she held me until I stopped crying. Grandma Lily brought me a glass of water, and we all

Darian’s pov"Thank you for coming," I said to the Smith family.The parents smiled at me, while Eli looked as if he wasn’t impressed. I didn’t really know the guy because we ran in different circles, but I wanted to make sure everyone who moved to the Iron River pack would behave in a way that fit with their vision. Our pack was more old-fashioned, and I needed to know for sure that my employees wouldn’t cause any problems. We were the guests of Alpha Asher and Luna Leia and in no way would I disrespect them.I explained to the Smiths what the Iron River pack was like and what was expected of them, and they all seemed fine with the idea of moving."As you all know, my father and Alpha Asher had an unfortunate relationship, and I am trying to break that cycle."Susan smiled at me, "I heard you apologized to the Omari girls.""To all the girls, actually, and there were a lot.""Eli will attend the same high school as the young Omari girl, Elora. Eli just received his schedule, and she w

Darian’s pov"Darian, are you leaving again?" My mom said, her voice almost sounding like she was a little girl who was asking her mommy for help.Losing my dad had been hard for her, but it was more than that. She didn’t just lose my dad; she lost the life she was used to. People would treat my father like he was an alpha; some respected him while others feared what he could do. Mom was used to this lavish lifestyle, and she never questioned dad’s ways. Maybe she wasn’t allowed; I wasn’t sure what went behind closed doors.Of course, I wanted to believe that my mother didn’t know anything about this. She had a daughter, and how could someone with a daughter do that to other parents? But my dad did, so who knows?All I know is that it’s my job now to take care of this family while also making sure I don’t fall into my father’s footsteps. And it’s a lot of pressure. I am used to throwing money at things and getting my way easily. It’s safe to say that up until my father’s death, I was a

Darian’s povI was pacing the floor of my office, waiting for Elora to arrive. Goddess, I had practiced what I was going to say for weeks, but it seemed like all the words had disappeared from my mind.Elora actually called me to meet me. She did. That must mean something, right? "It does." Jerrick said. "I'm sure it does."I had suggested the office because, while it was private, it wouldn’t feel like a date to her, and there were plenty of people around, so she wouldn’t have to be scared that I would try something as crazy as Eli did.“You’ll be fine,” Jerrick reassured me, but I could sense my wolf’s nerves. He wanted this to go right as badly as I did.“I’m so sorry, and I... um... shit. I have no idea what I was going to say.” I said aloud, trying to see how it sounded and failing miserably.A sweet giggle behind me made me turn around, where Elora stood in the doorway looking more beautiful than ever.“Hi Darian.”Goddess, my name sounded perfect coming out of her mouth.“Hi, El

Elora’s pov"Took you long enough...." Brax said when Darian and I came down. "I should have known when you said Darian was going to help you with homework. You’re smarter than him. You don’t need the help. I can smell you two doing nasty things."I blushed, thinking about what Darian and I had just done. Goddess, we might not have had sex yet, but we were doing everything else. Darian was a great teacher, and I loved when he took control. I knew I was safe with him, and all I wanted was for him to praise me and call me a good girl. It seemed I also loved being punished because my ass still had a red handprint on it. "No, I’m not, -" I said, but Darian cut me off."You are, Elora. You’re smarter than me." Darian said, giving me a kiss. "You're a damn genius."Brax pretended to throw up when he saw us kiss, but I had heard him describe having sex with numerous people vividly, so he had no right to say anything."So what are we going to do?" I asked Brax.He shrugged, "preferably someth