“I heard you found a woman, Oscar,” Paul, my grandfather says, a smug smile on his face. I freeze.

I look up, blinking, heart racing a little. I glance at Miles who is on the other side of the long dining table. I am going to choke him to death if he said anything to them.

I turn to my grandfather. “Rumors about me never end. Don’t pay attention to it.”

“This isn’t a rumor. I saw you with her.” Julia says, grinning, eyes bright with excitement.

“Oh, really?” Clementine, Daisy’s mom, frowns, as she looks at me.

The food in my mouth turns to ash. I want to crawl out of my skin.

I might be the Lycan King of New York City, but at home, I’m just Oscar. No matter how busy I am, I never miss these biweekly dinner my mother hosts.

I come from a large family. My maternal grandparents, John and Stella, work in the Mayor’s office. My paternal grandparents, Paul and Irina, live in the city with us, but that is not all.

My mom, Rose, is a Doctor and she works in the Pack hospital. My dad, Adam, is retired, but still dabbles in construction. I have one sibling, Julia, who is twenty years old and studying at NYU. She wanted to go to California, but I can’t let my baby sister study in California, at least not yet. I am working to build a treaty with their Queen, but she is wary of me, as she should be.

My cousins, Adam and Corina are Betas. My mom makes sure they come to the biweekly dinner. She is trying to marry them off.

Miles is family, he has always been family, so of course, he attends the dinner, but so does his parents, who used to be my In-laws before Daisy passed. Clementine, his mother, owns a bakery named after her late daughter, my wife. Rhodes, his dad, owns the construction company that Dad dabbles in.

Ever since Daisy died, I have not shown any interest in a woman. No woman’s name are mentioned in our home, and especially not at the table where Daisy used to sit.

I glance at Clementine and force a smile. “Ignore her, please.”

“Oh, I want to know about this woman that has captured your heart. You look like a fool for her already.” Mom smiles wide, her eyes wide and bright.

Was I fool for Camilla? She was captivating. She was beautiful. She had a wonderful personality. I’d spent the past two days talking to her. She is taking up a lot of my thinking space. I have not kissed her yet, I don’t think I will be able to do that, because, just like now, there was always a third person - my wife, Daisy.

Lately, I have been haunted by Daisy. I see her when I close my eyes, which clashes because I also see Camilla. A heavy weight presses on my chest, which grows heavy with every memory of Camilla and my wife that clashes.

This guilt is a noose around my neck. I want to look at Clementine and Rhodes, I want to fall to my knees and tell them I will not forget their daughter, I can not. My throat tightens like I might choke on the unsaid apology.

It has been five years and yet, I am a mess. I look at my trembling hands, it does not get better, grief does not get better, but this guilt is familiar, but so much more profound.

“It’s okay, Oscar.” Rhodes’ deep voice cut through my mental fog.

I glance at him, heat flushed my sheek, burning like shame made flesh.

“It is okay. You can tell us about her.” Clementine smiles at me, her eyes gloosy.

I clench my jaw, because it is not okay. I can not move on. This grief must stick with me. This grief, this pain is the only thing I have left of Daisy. My sweet Daisy. I can’t move on. I can’t move on. Daisy was my beginning and is my end.

Pain seeps into my bone and spreads like ink, my limbs growing heavy. I close my eyes and I sink into this familiar torment.

“Her name is Camilla Wilde. She is on a vacation with her best friends, Rin, Adelaide and Noor. She is beautiful, she is a lawyer and has a wonderful laughter.” Miles speaks, and I look at him in shock.

He should hate me, he should not be helping me, or pulling me out of my pain.

I have been knee deep in my agony for the past five years so I tell them “She is nothing to me. She is human, and she will return to her home in a week or two.”

They are all looking at me, but they don’t seem happy. They are looking at me with pity, which fills me with hot white rage. Daisy was and will remain the love of my life. I will find no other love, definitely not when I still have not gotten justice for Daisy’s death.

The noose around my neck tightens and I stand up “Excuse me.”

My mom calls to me, but I don’t look back. I keep walking. I walk through my mansion of a home till I am on the open grounds. I make my way to stables, hitching for a ride, but first I stand there, gazing into the distance, smoking a blunt.

“Volkov.” I heard a sharp voice moments later.

I turn around to see Grayson and Miles walking to me.

“I prefer to be alone.” I look away from them, jaws clenched, hating Miles for what he did.

“This is important. It is about Camilla.” Grayson says, in a grave and heavy voice.

I turn to him, heart racing “Camilla?”

“I’m sorry, Oscar.” He whispers, eyes filled with grief. I glance at Miles who has rage in his eyes, his fist clenched.

“Get straight to the point.” I snap, angry, trying to calm my wandering mind. Camilla is safe. I can’t lose someone else. Not again.

“I did a thorough background check on Camilla, her sister and her friends just to be sure. I am sorry to tell you that Camilla is from Chicago. Her father was born in Chicago, and so was his father before him.” He seethes, a crack in his voice, and my brows furrows.

“Her father is Alpha Lucien Lioncourte - the Alpha responsible for the death of Daisy. She was sent here, sent to you by him, to finish what they could not five years ago. Daisy was not the target. You were and you still are.” He announces.

For a moment, my brain blanks. Then, slowly, my world tilts off the axis and crashes.

Blood roars in my ears, a scorching heat spreading like wildfire in my veins.