Lenora’s POVThe sun rising shines bright in my eyes, forcing me awake with a groan. I’m sore between my legs and my back aches from being twisted into uncomfortable positions, but I don’t care. Some sleepless nights are worth it. Milo’s leg is heavy on my waist. It makes having to pee worse. I carefully slide it off without waking him and tiptoe to the bathroom. Even after all these years, it’s not a good idea to wake Milo up suddenly. He doesn’t freak out like he used to, it just leaves him unsettled for most of the day. He’s able to hide it from people pretty well, but I see it and I hate seeing him like that.I think about Ghost’s reaction to Kas’s scent while I freshen up. He’s never used a tone like that with me. Why did he get so mad so quickly?“You should ask, child.” Justice yawns, slowly waking up. “Why are you awake? Aren’t you exhausted?”“Yeah, I’m tired. The sun was trying to burn a hole in my face.” Her yawn makes me yawn. “I’ll go back to bed when I’m done here. Do y

I hit the ground hard letting my claws dig into Ryan’s arm. He uses his weight to roll himself on top of me, pinning me to the ground. He raises an arm to punch, which gives me space to jam my blade into his ribs. I hear the crack of the bones giving way, but his punch connects with my jaw, anyway. I let go of his arm and chop his throat with a quick strike to slow his momentum. He grunts and falls to the side in pain. Hot metallic blood fills my mouth. My two front teeth instantly ache from being knocked loose. Oh, this son of a BITCH! He’s done for.“Lenora, he’s an Alpha wolf.” Justice pushes forward. “Don’t underestimate him!”“A little late for the reminder, Justice!” I twist my legs around his, to stop him from chasing Kas and Ashly who are running away. He elbows me in the sternum, but I stab him in the biceps before he’s able to pull his arm away. Blood flows openly onto the floor and our clothes. Onlookers squeal and run away from the altercation. Others pull their phones o

We spend the rest of the morning doing ‘research’. If Kas’s wolf, Lex, thinks she’s an actual daughter of the Moon Goddess, we need to see if there is any sort of proof of that aside from her unusual powers. I haven’t mentioned it to Bronx, but I think if this proves fruitless, we really need to consider having the medical team perform a psych eval on Kas and Lex. She’s a sweet girl, and she’s my Luna, but maybe all her trauma has knocked a couple screws loose. I mean, look at Sin Snell. I’m sure he wasn’t always a psychopath. It all has to start somewhere. Right?I’ll play along for now. At least I get to admire Bronx’s impressive collection of ancient books and scrolls. They really are beautiful and most of them are one of a kind. Bronx has us split up and assigns us various sections of the library to look through. I try to focus on the ancient book I pulled off the shelf, but Milo keeps mindlinking me. It starts out pretty innocently, telling me he likes my crop top and how good m

“Anything else, Carly?” Bronx clicks his pen and sets it down to end the final meeting before the Council arrives.“Yes, I met Randall’s assistant at the administrative professional’s conference I just got back from.” She clears her throat and looks around as if she’s tentative about sharing the info.“You did?” Ashley tilts her head. “She was allowed to go?”“Um, I think she had to pay for it herself, but yes, she was allowed to go.” Carly presses her lips together. “I wasn’t able to get a ton of detail, but um, she… she said he’s been on six short international trips in the past month. He also had what she called ‘female guests’ in his home during that time. They didn’t stay in the packhouse, they stayed in a guest room in his house.”“She just gave you that information?” Bronx puts his pen down. “After you just met her? Did she know who the women were? How about where they came from or went?”“Oh, I-I didn’t think to ask her all that. It was more of a, uh, just a friendly, casual…

– Flashback –“I want to be a mommy when I grow up.” Ashley picks a flower and smells it. “I want lots of pups like Marco’s mommy.”“Boy pups?” Carly scrunches her nose. “Gross.”“Don’t be stupid, Carly. You don’t get to pick.” Ashley rolls her eyes. “You just have to hope she sends you all girls. How many pups do you want?”“I don’t know.” Carly shrugs. “I never thought about it. I guess one or two, but I don’t want boy pups. What about you, Leni? How many pups do you want when you grow up?”“Nah.” I sit up and look at Mace and Dahlia snuggling at the other end of the meadow. They’re my daddy and mommy wolf spirits. Mommy and Dahlia “I don’t think I want pups. I wouldn’t be as good at it like my mommy and Dahlia. They’re the best.”“You don’t have to be the best at it, Leni.” Ashley rolls over so her head is on my lap. “You just have to use your whole entire heart and love them. That’s all that’s important.”“I don’t know if I could ever love anyone as much as I love my parents.” I l