bra’s /bPov

I couldn’t stop thinking about what Thorne had said the night before A second chance Rodiculous.

Who the hell did he think he won, proposing somethingr

thing, how did he think there was any possibility of it purING CONT

Sure, Thorne paid the ransom. But let’s not forget how cold he was when I needed him the most. And that’s even mention the cold distance held kept between us throughout our entire marriage.

I wasn’t some piece of property he coulde back to whenever it suited him. His cocky attitude was beyond infuriating. Then

again, as if he still had the right to lend over everything

He wasn’t even my Alpha anymore.

Yet here he was, bas /bsmug as ever, still thinking he could call the shots.

What a jerk.

I woke up early the next morning, feeling lighter than busual/b. With Mi out of the picture, I actually felt like I could breathe again,

But the moment I reached the training field, that lightness faded.

Arge group had gathered, all of them buzzing with excitement. It looked like some kind of celebration

I walked over to Vessa, who was standing off to the side, watching them with a sarcastic look on her face.

“What’s all this fuss?” Lasked, nodding toward the crowd.

“They’re celebrating Garron’s return,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“What a barefaced jerk,” she muttered, “if it were me, I’d have stayed out of the public eye ater what happened”

“Yeah, well, Garron’s got a thicker skin than the rest of usbined,” I said, watching him in the center of the crowd.

After the bear incident, Garron had been hiding in his house, letting Triss handle everything. He didn’t even show up to the partyst week. But I know he’d be back sooner orter. After all, he was still Direstone’s Gamma.

now here he was, walking into the crowd like he was the returning hero.

And now

“Okay, soldiers,” Garron shouted, spreading his arms wide. “I know you ball /bbmissed /bme. But now that I’m back, Tve no doubt we’ll crush every pack in thepetition next month. bWho’s /bwith meb?/b”

The crowd erupted into a loud cheer

“And now, let me introduce you to my new right bhand/b, Owen bDiaz/b!” bGarron /bgrinned as he pulled a man forward, who waved at the crowd like an overexcited puppy.

I blinked. “Wait_is that Owen Diaz? What the hell y he doing here? And how did he end up with Garron?” I whispered to Vessa.

“No idea,” she muttered, equally confused.

I nced around the bcrowd/b, trying to find Triss, bbut /bshe was nowhere to be seen. I felt a nagging bworry /bin my chest. What had happened to her?

I turned back to bVessa/b, my voice low “If Owen’s taking over training, what bhappened /bto Triss!”

Vessa frownedb, /bclearly as concerned as I was

Vi

Garron, now done with his speech, caught sight of me and Versa watching him from an Amo milted

“What are you two staring at?” he sneered, “Gamma ra, trying to steal cor training nt

terested my arms. “What’s the matter, Garten? Owen your new best buddy? Indo‘ take you long tongkara frise”

He leaned in his voice dipping with arcasm “Oh, Owen, ut you know Gamma Fara perally?”

Deen locked i

up and down, his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze cold, “wah She’s my family’s freeloader”

Iwasn’t intimidated. I stared back at him, matching his re. “How’s your family’s little the issue going, Owen

His body went rigid, and I could practically feel the tension building. The Diar family’s tax issues were known around i

and had barely scraped together enough to pay off hall, it wasn’t exactly a light topic:

“You wanna talk about that?” I pressed, enjoying the difort that crept into his posture

His jaw tightened, and I could see the anger simmering in his eyes. “Stay out of my way, ra. Ori’ll make you draw like the ding you are

I couldn’t help butugh, the sound cold and mocking “is that the best you’ve got? You’re even dumber than Mb” /b

“WHAT DID YOU SAYTL” Owen roared, lunging toward me, his hand alming for my cor.

sidestepped just bas /bhe reached for meb, /bbgrabbing /bbhis /barm and throwing my shoulder into his chest, mming him to the ground with a loud crash.

I stepped over him, putting a boot on his shoulder to keep him down, then leaned in with a grin. “Who’s crawling now, huh?”

His face twisted with disbelief, eyes wide. He clearly hadn’t expected me to be able to handle him like that.

What did he think? That was still that fragile, helpless girl from before?

Garron stood to the side, watching in stunned silence. He looked like he was about to step forward to stop it, but he didn’t dare. He knew what i was

capable of

Instead, he did the only thing he could: bcalled /bfor help.

“Where are my soldiers?” bhe /bshouted, his voice rising. “Gamma’s been attacked! Get over here now!

But only the Blood Moon bPack’s /bsoldiers responded, rushing in from the edge of the field. Jory, their leader, stormed forward. “What the hell is going on

here?” she demanded.

She and the rest of her pack formed ba /bcircle around Garron and Owen, ring at me bas /bif they expected me to take orders,

Garron took a step back, his face pale. For the first btime/bb, /bI saw real fear in his eyes.

“I told you, don’t do anything rash, ral” he warned. “Alpha Thome won’t tolerate infighting!”

I couldn’t hold back my sneer. “Look at you. Shaking like a leaf. How do you expect to go to battle like that?”

With onest disgusted look, I turned on my heel and walked away from the scene, leaving Owen bring /bafter me

Vessa hurried to catch up. “Where are you going? Aren’t you supposed to be training today!”

I waved her off. “You’re in charge of training today. I’ve got to talk to Alpha Thome about his ma

I bcouldn’t /bbtake /bany more of Garron. And with Owen now involved, things had only gotten worse.

I couldn’t focus on the uing battles with scumbags like them bin /bthe ranks. And I was sure we wouldn’t stop causing problems.

10:49 Wed, 30 Jul

U GOS

bAnd /bTriss..where was she? What had happened to her?

I hopped

ed into my car and headed for the packhouse, my thoughts racing. I needed to find out what was going on.

The maid at the front told me Thorne was in his study, going through paperwork. I didn’t need anyone to show me the way–I knew theyout of this ce too well

The study door was cracked open when I reached it. No bguards /bin sight.

I bwas /babout to knock, but then I froze.

Through the door, I saw Thome sitting behind his desk, looking calm and collected. But there was a woman–a beautiful woman–sitting far too close to him, snuggled up beside him. Her big boobs almost touching his arm

The sight twisted something sharp in my chest.

AD