Chapter One – One Year Too Many

Elara’s POV

Snow had been falling since morning, soft and heavy, turning the Montana mountains into powdered sugar peaks. The Ashthorne Pack’s territory looked like something out of a postcard — all crisp air, frosted pines, and curling smoke from lodge chimneys.

It should have been the perfect night.

I was supposed to meet Kaleb Morvan at the pack lodge’s private dining room for our first anniversary. He’d been insistent about making it “special.” His exact words: Dress up for me, Elara. I want tonight to be unforgettable.

So I had.

My long, dark hair was swept into loose waves that brushed the open back of my deep green dress — the one that hugged at the waist and flared just enough to make me feel like my hips might be worth noticing. My bright gray eyes, framed with a little more mascara than usual, looked back at me in the reflection of the lodge’s polished glass doors with a mix of nerves and hope. A light d