Bodyguard by day secret by night

, but tonight it wasn't the chandeliers or fancy c

h and diamonds around her neck, she wasn't the woman the world used to pity, she wasn't Sebastian Vale's ex-wife,

air the moment she

hat Au

oks so d

an Donovan? He's eve

confident, his hand resting lightly

them from across the roo

as they approached,

lowly, "Actually

ra, "This isn't your world anymore

long in a world where men cheat, sisters lie, and

was sharp

ld now, one you couldn'

choed ar

alm, "So you're flaunting

w, "Easy nephew, don

ld answer, another vo

, the godde

ver like a weapon, stepped f

ink, "Serena, you

going, "I always knew you liked power, I just did

"Says the woman who stole my f

full-blown stares

weetly, slipping her arm through Juli

men who once looked down on her no

id I tell you you're

I tell you you're s

ckled,

ti, the host and powerful ma

" he said quietl

ore than you know,

s head, "Good,

o the balcony alone, the cool air brushed

familiar vo

you might

e t

ter

she divorced before Sebastian, his

she said, c

d, "didn't believe it at first, th

u di

omeone else," he said quietly, "I didn

r arms, "So wha

t her eyes, "Another cha

r lips, "You all say t

uld speak, he

ocked

appeared o

sh

eart s

disguised herself as a man in the wer

ans

aker, "You left a kingdom behind,

he one she escaped from, th

rs that should stay

old, "You owe me, and yo

call

r heart raced, one step forward in this

tate that night, the air

Serena's betrayal, or Julian's lo

her ow

cold,

burn t

the same w

an encrypted envelope, insid

turn a

a shor

e deal still stands, t

hands

dream, and her sist

idn't

on her wolf-shaped pendant, and spoke the words s

and bond, o

ir shi

burst a

yes opened agai

ains, no mo

d there, her white tunic stuck to her skin, the bottom

od at the

, still heartbre

back," he

id she w

he

ed forward, "

es of Howl, but if you go

on't

ou always act like you

treated it like i

a breath, "The

she wh

er, softer than

ou were a woman, when I saw

e f

s not p

was written in blood and fire

d her mout

e world

er penthouse, gasp

ad broken in

there, pal

eaking, "I know I messed up, but

bout that before you thre

ped to h

out Serena, I onl

drawer, she pulled out the signed div

's o

wet, "You really don

leane

en hate you

, Julian showed u

idn't

aid, "I wanted to kill him, but I f

ed smile, "Not

d her a f

t's t

"to the Vale Estat

reath

place

lt it, fr

fast, holdi

uld you

loser, brushing h

just save you, I want to

"I don't know if I

said, "be steel, I

d L

ed from t

ys wa

me, his eyes

he Moretti estate the next day, he

e her a

le blac

said, "she wore it before my

him, "Why are you

th," he said, "and because you deserv

urora Vale had taken back e

r n

r p

r f

g who adored her, a younger man who cherished her, a werewolf

ing was

no one'

as the

s just gett