THE ALPHA'S FATED BEAST

mine and rain floated through the open Silver Moon Café's window. Four years. I though

orm outside drew streaks across the windows. Seeking apartments in the downtown area, I had been looking thro

he small dining room just beyond t

initely, Damien. Speaking in

mered, guidin

plied, and the defeat in his voice made

s been committed to you. The young wom

e issue. She is quite strong. So willing to delight. It's s

t you declined

they had gone to another room. Damien then spo

esembles Serap

in a random attack. Once, I saw her image tucked inside his desk drawe

esus, Damien. "

aying that. His chair scraped the floor. "Every time I gaze at her, I see Seraphina.

d up, man. Fo

t this far. It was intended to be fleeting, only until I could go on. She is, n

ust be your em

has organized her whole life around

ugh the café, my hands trembling. As I walked past, the barista raised her h

y breast. Four years of love, of devotion, of thinking the Moon Goddess he

m Damien: *The meeting's going

heeks. How many other nights had he lied to me? How ma

within me. To a guy who regarded us as nothing more

milies in the Pacific Northwest, Alpha Marcus Blackwood of the Silverstone Pack

t duty and strategic alliances. Love was a luxury,

all

with sleep. "It's past midnight.

he Shadowmere Pack. . . it's still open if you

wait for me despite my disobedience. At an inter-pack meeting when I was seventeen, I had met him only once. Wit

by tomorrow ni

what ha

coat. "I learned the distinction between obses

ars of innocent aspirations. Damien was waiting in the living room, soaked from his own

tting off the sofa. "I became concerne

ime. How his gaze seemed to go through me rather than at me; the remorse

I made were,

ome? You intend to go v

permanently. Seattle

are you referring to? Your life is h

, stunned by how consistently my voice s

but I stepped back. His ha

t it. What

back in his face and watched him scramble for apologies and ex

headed toward our bedroom to

f a deceased woman. Done settling for leftovers of love fro

iage I had run from four years previously. Tomorrow, I would finally stop being Maya, t

ith an incoming call. I heard h

k. "But. . . but you're dead. I gl

ring to breathe, I presse

your death? Five years have

oman for whom I had replaced was alive and phonin

ied in suffering inside of me. Four years of falseh