Blood, Power, and the Alpha's Throne

When Vera first met Henry Carter, he was a rogue drenched in blood. Later he became Alpha Henry of the Iron Ridge Pack, tattooed her name over his heart, and gave her command of the Pack's warrior guard. Everyone knew Vera was his life — until the Omega he kept on the side walks through her front door, hand resting on her swollen belly, and advises the Luna to leave with dignity.

Vera orders her men to drag the woman downstairs, and when Henry sees the blood, he seizes her throat. She draws the silver dagger he once gifted her, but the body that falls belongs to Limp, the shadow who trained the she-wolf to slip into his bed. Henry sinks onto the sofa and tells Vera he wants to keep Vivian, a breath of fresh air who makes him feel like an ordinary man.

Behind her, Mike Cole asks whether her heart softened. Vera answers that she never meant to kill Henry today; what she wants are the Pack vault keys, the territory ledgers, and every deeded hunting ground. Love is a painkiller, she says, but power is oxygen.