Love's Fierce, Patient Embrace

sband, Mark, had treated me like I was made of glass, using my "fragile" constitu

e look at the anniversary dinner I'd poured my soul in

ent a "united front." On the way, he took a call from he

way," he said. "Your ovulation

the brakes, shifted into his massive wolf form, and a

hattered. I wasn't his mate. I was a placeholder,

hed to a halt inches from me. Out stepped an Alpha whose raw power made my husband seem like a

the center of his universe and ut

in

pte

e, arranging roasted potatoes and asparagus spears on our best china like a soldier preparing for a final, desperate stand. Three years. It was our third mating ann

ntrast to the anxious heat coiling in my stomach. Outside, the Veridia twilight painted the sky in shades of bruised purple and soft grey, the city lights beginning to glitter like fallen

The mantra was a familiar one, a worn-out prayer I'd repe

quickly lit the candles, my heart hammering against my ribs. I took a deep breath, tryin

reputation claimed: tall, impeccably dressed in a dark suit that probably cost more than my car, with an aura o

sharp, floral perfume, laced with the distinct musk of another she-wolf. It was a scent I had come to dread,

nologue, the one I tried so hard to silence, screame

es, the perfectly set table, the aroma of the meal I'd poured my soul into. There was no flic

held no affection. He loosened his tie, the silk

thin and reedy to my own ears. I gestured towards the ta

ier between my pathetic hope and his cold reality. "I told you

mating day. He used it to justify his distance, his refusal to complete our bond, his constant emotional neglect. He'd convince

under his cold gaze, turning to ash in my chest. "I just wanted t

if they were nothing more than a mild inconvenience. "Thorne Industries is making a move on the

he cavernous silence of the house. I was left alone with the two sputtering candle

my legs. My gaze drifted around the room, at the life I was supposed to have. The large, empty house in the most exclusive

welled in my chest when he'd stood before me, so handsome and powerful, and promised to cherish and protect me for all our days. He had never completed the final step of the bond, the one t

wasn't about my fragility.

g to pull me from the downward spiral of my thoughts. I swiped it on, the screen g

pride and affection. Standing beside him, her hand resting possessively on his arm, was Sarah Vance, the powerful Alpha female of

public celebration of the very thing he denied me in private. He wasn't at a pack meet

evidence of my failure. I needed to get away, to hide. I found myself in the hallway, pullin

light. Tucked away in the back, behind a stack of old blankets, was a small, wooden box. It was my grandmother's.

t. Inside, nestled on a bed of faded velvet, was a delicate pendant. A single, luminous moonstone

the ink faded but still legible. My grandmot

true star will rise. Your blood

as my skin touched it, a faint, comforting warmth spread through my fingers, up my arm, and settled in my

about Mark, or his feelings for me-those were painfully clear. Thi

ile.

silent promise against my palm, I wonder