Odette’s POV

I don’t transform very often anymore.

It hasn’t felt the same since Gabriel died, and though my wolf gets restless like any other, this freedom has a cost. I always miss my mate more when I shift. The pain of his absence is most acute in my soul’s truest form, and I feel eternally guilty for going on without him.

Even so, there’s no avoiding it tonight.

Bastien disappeared into the darkness in such a fit of rage I’m afraid of what he might do if he’s left alone. Aiden and Donovan went after him, but I do not trust them to pull him back from the edge, and I know they will not tell him what he needs to hear.

I follow Bastien’s path at a steady lope, trotting along in his footprints hoping he’s not so far ahead that my efforts are in vain. If he gets it into his head to kill Cavanaugh or seek retribution, war might follow, and that’s the last thing we need.

Bastien may be the one at risk of inciting chaos, but Selene isn’t doing much better. I swear I’ve never met a more stubborn pair of shifters: both determined to get their way, neither willing to give an inch.

It’s no surprise coming from my son, the Alpha: He’s used to getting exactly what he wants and set tling for nothing less. Selene, on the other hand, has always been so soft and pliant. It is unlike her to dig in her heels this way, but having a pup changes everything.

Right now, my daughter-in-law is not the sweet, skittish she-wolf I used to know: she is a mother pro tecting her young, not to mention a woman who feels betrayed by her mate. I don’t know everything that happened in their marriage or the events which have transpired since, but it’s clear to me that Selene is un der the impression that Basiten never loved her. Until my son understands and accepts that, they will never move forward.

Leaving the salt marshes and mangrove forests of Asphodel is a breath of fresh air. It takes miles for the landscape to transform into rolling hills and lowland valleys. I can see mountains in the distance, but Bastien has not gotten that far.

I follow his scent to the base of a particularly steep slope, where Aiden and Donovan stand sentry,

  • blocking all trespassers from approaching their Alpha.

them and wait, giving them my most imperious glare. Donavon caves first. He may have age on his side, but he also spent three decades at my husband’s side. He

engaging in some silent debate lost to my ears before be grudgingly moving out of the way. I trot past them with a

silver eyes as I approach. For a moment I think he might turn his back on me and run, but

him derisively, but sometimes being alone isn’t

need a pep talk either, Mother. He

pep talk. I agree warmly. I

yours.

63 Family isn’t

She left me. She chose another wolf. He rumbles, She gave him…

is about show ing up and putting in the work. It’s about providing love

to catch his eyes and refusing to continue until his molten gaze returns to mine. Drake isn’t Lila’s father. She might have his DNA,

don’t know how Lila was conceived, but it’s clear to me that – however they started out

doesn’t want me either.

trying to bubble up in my chest. Sometimes I don’t know what the Goddess was thinking, putting men in charge. I admit,

Bastien replies,

if you think Selene doesn’t

he can intimidate rather than the being who gave him life. The wolf and the woman are not the same. He argues. I know her wolf recog nizes me. That isn’t the

feelings that you have blinded yourself to Selene’s perspective. A memory floats to the forefront of my thoughts, my recollections rolling off my tongue as the images take shape in my mind. The day your father died – the day you were supposed to

grimaces. What are you

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