As the explosion rocked through the space, Thomas threw himself forward, shielding Eleanor with his body. They crashed to the floor of the hallway. Screams and cries of pain emanated from inside the hall.But they sounded muted to Eleanor’s ears, which had been momentarily deafened by the loud explosion. The air was thick with smoke billowing from inside the hall, making it hard to see anything.But as she struggled to adjust her eyesight, she saw a figure standing at the end of the hallway. She could tell it was a man. He was dressed all in black. He stood there, watching, doing nothing. Couldn’t he hear the calls for help from the hall? Why wasn’t he helping?He took a few steps closer, and her eyes fixated on his face. That was when she recognised him.It was the man from the other night, the one who had accused Sophia falsely and later escaped from the prison at Blackstorm.Eleanor had been thinking about him every day since then, trying to crack his identity. She had finally reme

Eleanor wished Thomas would shut up and let her do her job in silence, but that proved to be too much to ask for.“Is this his plan? Did he convince you to do this when you stayed at Darkfall?” he asked.“Why do you ask? You don’t think I can make my life decisions on my own? Or do you believe we were in such a good relationship that it would take an outsider poisoning my mind for me to think about leaving you?” She sat back on her haunches. “Get rid of your jacket, it’s in my way.”He grabbed his jacket and pulled it off. “See? I’m even willing to protect you with my life. What else do I have to do to show you how much you mean to me?”He was so good at making her sound like the bad person in this situation. As if she was the one throwing away a perfectly good relationship, and he was the one fighting tooth and nail to save it. As if she couldn’t see how good she had it, and he wanted to help her see what a big mistake she was making.“Our marriage is over,” she reminded him, because

Everyone was busy debating the credibility of Thomas’s claims that they did not even notice that the two Alphas were getting close to blows as they faced off.Eleanor, though, was watching them closely and stepped between them before their verbal fight could turn into a physical one.“I cannot believe you are supporting this man,” Thomas told her. “When his plot is uncovered, aren’t you afraid you’ll be persecuted alongside him?”Standing by Henry, Eleanor faced him with a hard glare. “If you have any concrete evidence to show that Henry is involved in all of this, present it to all of us here. But if you don’t, I suggest you shut up. This is a serious attack that should be investigated thoroughly. If everybody here decides to point fingers blindly, it will only benefit the culprit!”“Luna Eleanor is right,” the Chief Councilman, who had recovered from the poison’s effect, said as he walked over. “We will investigate this matter thoroughly and will not stop until we unearth who caused

Watching the footage from the surveillance cameras and seeing how so many had been caught in the middle of the explosion brought back the emotions Eleanor had felt when it first happened.For a moment, she had been unaware of where the explosion had come from. And then there were the screams from inside the hall and Jonathan in the hallway.It had all happened so quickly, and when it registered to her that she had no idea where Henry was, the panic had hit.She had wanted to remain positive, telling herself that he was safe because he had moved away from the hall. But deeper, she had been freaking out that she wouldn’t see him again.Now, watching the footage, her fear was reawakened. That something would happen and snatch him away from her just when she had found him.“Hey, are you okay?” Henry asked, reaching over her shoulder to smooth her hair back. “What are you thinking so hard about?”Eleanor scooted over to his side, closing the distance between them. She wrapped her arms arou

Eleanor had expected that Thomas would do such a thing to stop her from getting into the pack, so she had come prepared.Reaching into her bag, she brought out the documents she had brought along. They were divorce papers and orders from the Council giving directions about the property division.With them in hand, she opened the door and got out.“Here,” she said, handing them to the warrior who had approached the car. “These are papers from the Council showing that I have every right to be here. Alpha Thomas has no power to stop me.”The warrior took the papers and looked over them. He showed his partner the papers, and after a few minutes, they returned them to her.“We are sorry, Luna Eleanor,” the first warrior apologised. “We were only following orders. Please proceed.“I understand,” she told them with a smile. “No worries.”She got back into the car and they resumed the drive towards the packhouse. She was glad the warriors had not tried to complicate things. They too understoo