-Cain-“How is that properly dressed for the meeting with the council?” My mate entered our closet, looking as gorgeous as ever in her little black and white suit with black high heels. Goddess, anything she did made me crave her instantly.She walked over to me, looking as if she might start to undress me herself so she could get me into proper clothes for the meeting. However, I grabbed her hands and held them in mine before I kissed her.“You look so sexy,” I whispered huskily before leaning closer to her and kissing her.“Cain, you look like a hitman in all those black clothes. Are you armed too?”“Of course I am,” I said, as if that weren’t a problem.“Cain! You’re not going there to kill someone. You are having a calm discussion with the council regarding your fa… I mean, Weston,” she corrected herself.I groaned, leaning my head back. “Are you already starting to consider him to be my father?”“Of course not. It was just a slip-up.”“Clearly, and if my mate is already seeing hi

-Cain-My mate looked so gorgeous in the dark purple dress she had chosen to wear to the gala. I took a moment to simply gaze at her. It sat tightly against her body, meaning I could see that beautiful, growing stomach of hers. She looked absolutely incredible, and I had only grown hungrier for her, but I knew we didn’t have the time to play around right now. We had a gala to get to.“Ready?” I asked, and she turned to me and smiled before I held up a mask for her. This gala required masks as well, and she walked over to me and took them before I held up my own, carrying the same color.“You made us match,” she observed.“I did,” I confirmed.I held out my arm to her, and she grabbed it before we left the bedroom and walked downstairs, where Carter and Henry were waiting.“Took you two long enough. Did you fuck before we needed to go?” he teased, making me chuckle and shake my head.“Carter!” Willow exclaimed, making us all laugh before we went outside and into a car.“Nick will meet

-Cain- I was surprised by how little I hated talking to Weston. After the initial anger disappeared, we had a calmer conversation with each other. We mostly discussed the business around the wolf community, but I noticed he had a few questions about Willow and me and how we were doing, as if he genuinely cared. I tried not to say too much. He might have helped with the rumors, but I wasn’t going to allow him to close that fast. I still didn’t trust him, and I was unsure if I ever would, but I owed him at least a small conversation; that was his demand for getting on the stage. However, after about 20 minutes, I decided to conclude the conversation and go find my mate. Weston didn’t even complain, which annoyed me because I would rather he felt insulted by it. He simply said he would love to have a conversation with her as well, but if he thought I was going to let him get that close to my mate so fast, he was mistaken. I pointed this out to him, but he just smiled and shrugged, tellin

-Willow-“You don’t owe me anything,” Weston said as I handed him both a wet cloth and a cup of coffee.“He shouldn’t have punched you,” I whispered.Weston wiped the blood from his face and shook his head, but his lip was already healing. Carter had told me he would go look for Cain, but I knew he would need some time.“How did you know Cain used to be calmer?” I asked him.“My mate kept me updated, and even though I couldn’t see them, I made sure to keep track,” he informed me.“Jeremy kept you away?”“No, he told me I could see them if I wanted to, but it was too hard, which is why I stayed away. When they began growing up, I could feel the words on my tongue—words I knew they would understand as they grew older. But it would have ruined everything,” he revealed.“So instead of causing chaos, you… stayed away?” I asked in disbelief, and he sipped the coffee, nodding.“I did.”“Wow…” I whispered.“I truly do not wish you any harm. I just want to have a relationship with my sons again

-Willow- “Just a tiny bit,” I insisted, holding up the toast with some jam on it to Carter. He shook his head and instead poured more whisky into his coffee mug, which was no longer 90 percent coffee and 10 percent alcohol. Now it was the other way around. “Come on, Carter, that’s not breakfast,” I pointed out and pressed the toast to his lips, but he turned his head and sipped his alcoholic coffee instead. “It’s better than breakfast,” he stated. “We both know that is a lie. Look at you!” I said that and gestured to him. “Have you slept?” “No.” “And you’re not eating either. It’s not good,” I told him. “I am eating,” he said, holding up his mug. “That’s not food.” “It’s my hangover cure.” “How? It’s making you drunk.” “So I don’t get hungover,” he countered, smiling smugly. I rolled my eyes, then pressed the toast to his lips again. “Eat!” “Woman!” he scolded, grabbing my wrist and pushing the toast away. “I am not a baby!” “Then why do you act as one?" He looked anno