Cassia Phoenix always dreamed her mate would be her refuge—the one to give her the home she never had, the life she craved. But fate is cruel, and dreams are lies wrapped in pretty promises.

When she finally finds her mate, it’s not salvation. It’s a sentence. 

He’s already claimed by another, and she's nothing more than a mistake he’s determined to erase. Every day, he reminds her that she is unwanted. Unworthy. Unloved.

Being an omega, She spent her life on the fringes of her pack, invisible and expendable. But this? This is worse. 

So she runs.

To Winter Lake, a place that shouldn’t exist, where the rules of the world don’t apply. There, she might find a sliver of peace—if her mate doesn’t hunt her down, and if the powerful alpha of this forbidden pack doesn’t discover the truth about who she is. About what she is.

Staying is dangerous. Impossible, even. But then there’s him. The brown-eyed shifter who saves her from the storm, whose strength and promises make her question everything she thought she knew about fate, loyalty, and belonging. He makes her want to stay. To fight. To believe.

But when she’s spent her entire life running, how does she stop?

I smell her first. Wild berry and citrus. Sweet and just a little sharp.


"Since you don't have a vehicle." I eye the engine. "I can only assume you're here because Eris needs me to look at her car, and she sent you."


Eris's white Hyundai Tucson won't need looking at. As the town mechanic, I maintain all the pack's vehicles, and I did Eris's yearly maintenance check six months ago, so I know it's running perfectly. But it could have developed a fault, or Eris crashed it, so maybe Helena has a reason to be here after all.


"Eris's car is okay." Helena's soft voice is hesitant, as if she's not sure she wants to be here.


"Then you must have gotten lost on the way to the grocery store." Silence.


"Because I can't think of any other reason for you to be here, Helena.


Chapter 96 - All That Matters