Where Soft Light Shines Darkness Fades From Tired Hearts by Evan Holt Crane 433

Third Person’s POV

Seeing her son looking like a hollowed–out corpse, Alaina felt her heart shatter. She stepped forward to offer an olive branch to Trista’s family. “It’s our fault. We failed as parents in how we raised him. I am so sorry for what he put Trista through–please, accept my deepest apologies on behalf of the Ironthorns.”

Fred saw the tension reaching a boiling point and gave Wynn a quick look. He stepped up to Trista, cutting through the heavy atmosphere. “Let me get you guys home. You need to rest.”

Trista gave a sharp nod. She gathered her family, shielding them as they walked away. She didn’t spare a single glance for the man collapsed on the pavement behind her. They left the hangar without looking back.

As Trista’s car disappeared around the corner, Cassian’s instincts flared. His body lurched, a primal urge screaming at him to chase after her.

A crack echoed through the hangar. Wilmot had hit him with the full force of an Alpha’s rage.

Cassian’s head snapped to the side, his entire body swaying. Humphrey turned pale and rushed to steady him, but Cassian shoved him away.

Wilmot pointed a trembling finger at his son’s face, his roar bouncing off the concrete walls. “You turned this pack into a joke for a woman! Have you lost your mind, or are you just under some kind of spell?”

Alaina’s eyes were rimmed with red, her voice shaking with emotion. “Cassian, you dug this grave yourself. The bond is gone. Stop this madness before you kill yourself!”

Howard, who had been silent until now, finally reached his limit. He slammed his cane against the ground, the heavy thud vibrating through the floor.

“Enough! You look pathetic,” Howard barked, his face a mask of iron. “This ends now. I’m putting the team on your engagement to Rowena. The gala is at the end of the month.”

Cassian was ghost–white, but the obsession in his eyes didn’t flicker. “I’m not doing it. Give it up.”

Howard shook with fury, pointing toward the exit where Trista had vanished. “You’d tear up a high–level pack treaty for her?”

Cassian pushed past Humphrey and stumbled toward Howard. He stood toe–to–toe with the old man, his voice sounding like grinding stone. “Even if Trista never looks at me again, I am never marking another she–wolf. I’m not getting engaged.”

Wilmot was bordering on a total blackout, his Alpha aura warping the air around them. “Cassian, you are the sole heir to the fronthorns. You’re at the top of the L.A. food chain. You can have any mate you want! You weren’t even that attached to her when you mated–why are you acting like a loser now?”

Cassian lowered his head, a bone–deep exhaustion radiating from him. “Dad… I can’t let her go. I failed her. I don’t even deserve the bond we had.”

Wilmot’s temper flared again. He raised his hand to slap some sense into his “disappointment” of a son,

3:54 pm M FO

鏡 Finished

But before he could strike, a metallic tang hit Cassian’s throat. A spray of bright blood splattered onto the floor, and he suddenly folded. The strength vanished from his limbs like a puppet with cut strings, and he crashed onto the tarmac.

“Cassian!”

Wilmot and Alaina’s anger turned to pure panic.

Howard’s cane hit the floor, and he nearly went down himself, caught just in time by his valet.

Wilmot grabbed Humphrey by the collar, screaming for a car. “Talk! What the hell is wrong with him?!”

Humphrey was drenched in a cold sweat. Under the crushing pressure of three high–tier Alphas, he finally broke his silence. “Since Luna Trista rejected the bond, his internal organs have been failing. The ulcers, the chest pains–it’s all psychosomatic. Without a mate to soothe his wolf, he hasn’t slept in weeks.”

Humphrey looked at them, his voice flat with a terrifying finality. “If you keep pushing him to give her up, you’re just pushing him to commit suicide. His body literally cannot survive another rejection.”

Cassian was rushed to a high–security private hospital in L.A., his life hanging by a thread.

Meanwhile, Trista was back at the Silverlight estate. The air was filled with the familiar, soothing scent of herbs, and for the first time in weeks, her nerves finally began to uncoil.

Fred and Wynn saw her to the door and left quickly–they knew they were on another pack’s turf.

In the living room, her family huddled around her, their pheromones thick with worry.

“Dad, Mom, it’s okay.” Trista said softly, looking at their tear–filled eyes. “He was just trying to scare me into coming back. He didn’t actually cross the line.”

Her father, Randolph, let out a heavy sigh, his face full of disappointment. “I thought he was a steady, reliable Alpha. I never realized he was a goddamn headcase.”

Isaiah sat in the armchair, his fingers laced together, his eyes as cold as a winter morning. “Randolph, you still don’t get him. An Alpha at his level will do whatever it takes to win. That ‘composed‘ act is just a mask for a man who is pathologically obsessed with control.”

Ulva nodded, her expression grim. “Isaiah’s right. Just look at how he handles business. You don’t stay at the top of the L.A. pyramid by being a nice guy. He is dangerous, Trista. Stay far away from him.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Trista said, looking around at her family. “We’re done. For good. He swore an oath to leave us alone. From now on, he’s just a stranger.”

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1:54 pm M

The Heartbroken Luna’s Choice: Banish Love

Sara Lili

Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.