(New room)“Based on your reaction, I can guess Alpha Luciano didn’t tell you that you will be staying in his old room.”“His old room?”, Talia repeated robotically. “Don’t you have any other room to give me?”Stephanie shrugged. “Don’t look at me, girl. I’m just following orders. Come inside and see how you like it.”“You traveled the whole night, and then went to the hospital. I guess you want to shower and rest, right?”Talia nodded at Stephanie’s words while observing the room and her sight stopped at the intricate woodwork on the mantle that surrounded a massive fireplace.“Uhm… they didn’t bring any suitcase for you. Do you have any clothes?”, Stephanie asked.“I had clothes wrapped in a bedsheet. That was in the trunk.”, Talia said.“Give me a second.”, Stephanie lifted her finger, indicating to Talia to wait, and she mind-linked Maya. ‘Did you bring Talia’s things inside?’‘What things? Other than one book and a few trinkets, Talia has only a few items that are worn out and do

(Cassie acts)Cassie entered her room (aka the guest bedroom on the second floor where she usually stays when she visits the Dark Howlers pack), and she paced while biting her nails.She understood loud and clear that Luciano wanted her out of here, but how can she leave? She just got here!Luciano was never ecstatic to see her, but she always played her role of an airhead perfectly. She would ignore his grumpiness and accept any affection, and he never told her to leave. What changed?Cassie got her phone and called her father.“Hi, pumpkin…”, her father said in a singing voice that doesn’t sound like it should belong to a vicious Alpha Richard of the Steelbite pack.“Hi, daddy…”, Cassie spoke in a whiny voice which told him that something is not right.“What happened?”“Luciano told me to scram.”He snorted. “What did you do?”“Nothing. Really. Absolutely nothing. I arrived and I wanted to greet him, but he acted like I have a plague or something. He used his Alpha pressure to make

(Broken trust)Seeing that Talia was not responding and that Luciano didn’t react, Cassie was emboldened.“Answer me!”, Cassie hissed at Talia and spoke to Luciano without removing her gaze from Talia. “Is this how your Omegas are acting? You really need a Luna to teach them some manners. Sneaking in the dark and stealing food, and then they even refuse to respond…”“That’s enough, Cassie!”, Maya said sternly from the door.Maya’s heart cracked when she saw Talia’s submissive stance. It’s not that Cassie had any aura, but Talia was a broken soul who needed supportive environment.Maya walked to Talia and asked softly, “Are you OK?”Talia nodded faintly, but Maya knew that Talia was lying.Maya narrowed her eyes at Luciano and spoke through the mind-link. ‘Is this why you brought her here? I thought you promised her protection and not another type of hell.’“Come, let’s get out of here…”, Maya said to Talia while wrapping her arm around Talia’s shoulders.“We are not done here”, Cassie

(Back in the room)A sky-piercing howl shook all the windows in the packhouse of the Dark Howlers pack, threatening to shatter them. The powerful sound echoed far into the distance, stirring every pack member with the might their Alpha possesses.“Will Luciano be OK?”, Maya asked Caden while blinking at the dawn which cracked through the windows.They heard four rapid thumps when Luciano landed in the garden after jumping from his balcony on the third floor.“He will be fine.”, Caden assured Maya and pulled her closer to him. “The border patrol just notified Luciano that they found Talia.”Maya wanted to ask for more information, but Caden was snoring softly already, so she gave up.Normally, warriors and patrols can’t contact Luciano through the mind-link. That is reserved for Caden, Maya, and Stephanie, and even those three know not to disturb him unless it’s important.Warriors, scouts, and other pack members follow the chain of command which allows only a handful of people to cont

(The devil himself)Between sparring sessions, Luciano was contacting Maya through the mind-link, reminding her to take Talia shopping, but Maya told him that Talia was sleeping and that she shouldn’t be disturbed.‘Talia is sleeping. Considering her wounds, it’s important that she rests. We can shop tomorrow.’, Maya tried to reason with Luciano.‘No. Do it today.’, Luciano was not relenting.The truth is that he felt guilty.He knew that Talia left because of the incident in the kitchen, and he thought that if Maya takes her shopping, Talia will feel better and not try to leave again.The thought of Talia leaving was creating knots in his stomach.She nearly escaped, and next time, he might not be so lucky to find her sleeping in the forest.It was late afternoon when Luciano finished training and returned to the packhouse.His shorts was sticking to his body, and his bare chiseled chest and abs were glistening due to all the sweat and he was itching for a shower.Luciano heard Maya’