The once-powerful Alpha of the Oak Pack now lay lifeless before me, reduced to a still, cold body. All his warnings, his desperate words to keep me near—they had vanished with his final breath.

But instead of relief, I felt a heavy emptiness. He had sacrificed his soul and his life to save me and his brother, yet only his brother had survived. Why had he chosen to save me?

I had never truly trusted his words—his promises to protect me, to treat me as his bride, to keep me by his side. His ...