👉 Read how she escapes the forbidden night! 😱
Everly's POV A jackhammer was trying to break out of my skull. That was my first, agonizingly clear thought as consciousness dragged me back, kicking and screaming. A dull, throbbing ache pulsed behind my eyes, syncing with the too-fast, panicked rhythm of my heart. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, trying to catch the fading image, but it disappeared... I was awake. Where…? The question was a silent scream in the haze. I forced my eyes open, only to immediately regret it. Blinding, unforgiving sunlight sliced through a gap in heavy curtains, stabbing directly into my brain. I flinched, a groan tearing from my parched throat. The light painted everything in sharp, surreal relief. An unfamiliar ceiling, textured and white, an abstract painting on a far wall caught my eyes. Panic began to coil in my gut, cutting through the alcohol-induced fog. Okay. Breathe. I’m in a room. A hotel room? The last solid memory was a kaleidoscope of noise and color: the annual Alpha meet-up, a masquerade costume party that was more political maneuvering than fun. My father’s voice, a low, insistent pressure in my ear: “Network, Everly. These are the people you’ll rule alongside. Make connections. Be seen.” My sister Ava’s conspiratorial wink as we slipped away from our parents, melting into the crowd of other pack heirs, all of us playing at being adults in a world our parents controlled. The taste of something sweet and potent stolen from a passing waiter’s tray. Laughter that felt too loud. Then… nothing. A yawning, black void. I tried to roll over, to get my bearings, and that’s when I felt it. A heavy, immovable weight pinning my waist. My breath hitched, freezing in my lungs. Slowly, painfully, I turned my head on the pillow. It was an arm. A man’s arm, tanned and muscular, dusted with dark hair, draped possessively across my bare hip. My own skin, I realized with a jolt of pure, undiluted terror, was also bare. No. No, no, no, no. This wasn’t happening. This was a drunk, horrible d
