I exhaled, guilt tightening in my chest. “I know it’s been hard. But give it time.”
Maggie held my gaze for a long moment, something unreadable in her expression. Then
she nodded. “Time.”
But something in her voice told me she didn’t believe me.
***
The next morning, I barely had time to open my eyes before my family descended on me. I had stayed up with Maggie, Erin and Carly, reminiscing, laughing. But I had fallen into bed
only a few hours before.
I was in the kitchen, reaching for the pot of coffee when they swept in, fully and immaculately dressed. All business.
“The engagement party should be held at the estate,” my mother said, her tone already
final, as if there had been some discussion on the matter that was now settled.
I blinked at her, still groggy from lack of sleep. “Engagement party?”
My father sighed. “The Alpha Ball was a show of strength, but with everything happening with the rogues, the pack needs something to celebrate.”
“Has there been another rogue attack?” I asked, but my father’s brows lowered and he
remained silent.
I turned my attention to my mother, taking a sip of hot coffee, setting it to the repair of my soul.
“And you think my engagement is the answer?” I asked.
“You and Logan are the answer,” my mother corrected. “Your union will bring stability. A reason for people to hope.”
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I pressed my lips together. “I already told Logan I’m not ready to marry him.”
“And he understands,” my father said, as if that ended the discussion. “No one expects the wedding tomorrow. But the engagement is official, and it should be acknowledged properly.”
I stared at them. It was official?
I had told Logan I wasn’t ready.
He had agreed.
But he hadn’t called off the engagement.
And now, standing before my family, watching the way they spoke of this like it was inevitable, like it was already set in stone, I realized something:
He wasn’t going to.
MAGGIE
The Moonstone estate felt suffocating.
The longer we stayed, the more I felt the weight of it pressing down on me. We were guests, yes. But that was all we would ever be.
Elena was different. She wanted us here.
But the rest of them?
The rest of them would never see us as anything but rogues.
I had known that from the beginning. But it wasn’t until I saw him waiting for me in the shadows of the courtyard that I realized exactly how temporary this was.
I froze as he stepped forward, his posture rigid, his presence carrying the quiet command of someone who knew he was about to be obeyed.
I swallowed hard. “What do you want?”
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His voice was low, measured. “You need to leave.”
Carly and Erin were asleep. It was just us now. Just me and the man who had come to
deliver the final blow. Again.
I clenched my fists. “Elena invited us.”
“And here you are. But you’ve outstayed your welcome.”
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I knew better than to argue. The truth of it was written in the way he stood, in the quiet finality of his words.
Still, I couldn’t stop myself. “Why now?”
A pause. “Because it’s time.”
a
My breath hitched, flashes of the past clawing at the edges of my mind.
Blood in the dirt.
The weight of a body against mine, pushing me to the ground.
Elena’s scream–raw and terrified.
The sudden silence as she fell.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Take your friends and go,” he said, his voice cutting through the fog of memories. “Tell them you couldn’t be cooped up anymore. Tell them rogues don’t belong here.” A pause. “I really don’t give a damn. I want you gone by morning.”
And then he was gone himself, vanishing into the shadows as if he had never been there at
all.
But his words lingered.
I turned toward the darkened windows of the estate, my chest tightening. Elena had given
us a home. But now, it seemed, someone was determined to take it away.
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I knelt, sniffed the air, breathing in the scent that still lingered. It was intoxicating. He had always smelled like power.
But there was something else now–something sharp and bitter, curling beneath the surface. Like smoke from a fire that had burned too long, there was the unmistakable sting of deception, something rotting beneath the sweet façade.
He smelled like lies.
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Chapter 39
