Penelope’s POV

Vanessa's words remind me of the first time I went into Charles's bedroom.

It was two years ago. Charles was twenty-four and I was twenty-two.

That year, he had been working as the Black Valley Pack's alpha for four years. He was young and ambitious, and the first thing he did when he took over from his father was to reform the pack with an iron fist.

My father abdicated as pack elder because of his reforms.

I remember my father telling me that this was the first time he had given in to a young man. He looked into the distance and sighed about Charles's abilities and...