#Chapter 10: Transformation

DEREK I’d spent the last six years working myself to the bone. From the moment I woke up in the morning until the moment I fell into bed late at night, I worked. It was a constant stream of meetings and phone calls. And when I wasn’t pouring over the pack’s financial reports or meeting with foreign dignitaries to secure trade, I patrolled. I trained. Anything to keep from thinking about Mia. About those blissful months when I’d visit her bed at night. About how I’d failed her. About how she’d died because of the callous way I’d treated her. I had skipped every year’s Alpha Council meeting that required me to bring my Luna or date. It was painful for me to see other Alphas having a great time with their fated mates and lunas. Not when mine was forever gone. But this year… Cassandra, who had been helping me to manage pack affairs—even though sometimes I had to fix her mistakes—had seen the invitation and pleaded that we go together. I’d been so focused—and, frankly, ex