Novel-novel oleh Liliana Pen

Kael’s POVThe chandeliers shimmered above us like a thousand quiet stars, their light spilling over the marble hall in molten gold and silver. Music drifted through the air, slow, romantic, laced with that aching sweetness that tugs at forgotten memories and makes even the fiercest warriors feel young again.My estate had never looked so alive. Every corridor, every balcony, every garden overflowed with laughter and the heady scent of blooming roses.Diana said I’d gone overboard.She wasn’t wrong.But when she’d looked at me this morning, eyes bright with disbelief as she stepped into her gown, her veil catching the morning sunlight like threads of molten glass, I would have burned the world itself just to see her smile like that again.Now, as I led her through the dance floor, her hand resting in mine, the other brushing over her growing belly, I couldn’t stop laughing at myself.If anyone had told me years ago that Kael Draven—the half-breed Alpha, grandson of the most feared bein

Diana’s POVThe scent of fried chicken and buttery spaghetti filled the air, warm, sweet, comforting when I came down the stairs. Veronica was already setting the table, humming off-key. Before I reached the last step, she dropped the napkin she was folding and rushed toward me, her apron fluttering like a white flag behind her.“Careful, ma’am!” she gasped, steadying my arm as if I might collapse. “You shouldn’t be walking down the stairs alone!”I sighed, a small laugh escaping me. “Veronica, I’m pregnant, not dying. I don’t even feel heavy yet. You’ve got to stop treating me like porcelain.”Her eyes widened in mock offense. “Ah, but you are porcelain! Sir Kael’s porcelain doll! If anything happens to you, that man will skin me alive and roast me over the fire!”I chuckled. “You’re too dramatic.”“Dramatic? You think this is a drama?” she teased. “I’ve never seen Sir Kael act like this before. The way he watches you… it’s like a mother guarding her child.”I rolled my eyes, though

Kael’s POVMorning sunlight bled through the curtains, slow and searing, like light leaking from an open wound.I stood before the mirror, staring at the stranger in my reflection: red-rimmed eyes, a clenched jaw, my usual black shirt hanging off me like armor that no longer fit. The color felt foreign today, almost mocking; a funeral shroud for something still breathing.I told myself today would be different.Today, I would take Diana to the airport.Even if she wouldn’t meet my eyes, even if her words came sharp with hate, I would still drive her there. I would still watch her walk away, because loving her meant accepting the ache that came with it.I slipped on my watch. My phone buzzed: three new messages.All from her mother. None from her.SHE’S LEAVING TODAY.HER FLIGHT’S AT NOON.KAEL, PLEASE… TAKE CARE OF HER, EVEN IF SHE WON’T LET YOU.She didn’t have to ask. I already had.For weeks, I’d slipped money through her mother’s hands, making sure Diana and our unborn child had e

Sovereign’s POVThe ache in my bladder was relentless, a petty humiliation when death itself was stalking me.By the goddess, what a ridiculous thing to worry about when one’s life hangs by a thread.I’d already relieved myself six times this morning, each time praying it would wash away the dread coiled in my gut.Thirty minutes before the flight, I couldn’t hold it any longer. I slipped into one of the airport restrooms, my face hidden beneath a dark cap, shoulders hunched like a beggar’s. No one could recognize me, not when my name still burned on the new Justice’s wanted list.Humans. Always too curious. Too self-righteous.They poke their noses into everything they don’t understand. That’s why I wanted supernaturals in power, to keep order where chaos breeds. But Kael ruined it all. He handed the reins back to the humans, and now the country rots under their trembling hands.The tiled air reeked faintly of detergent and jet fuel. Somewhere beyond the door, a child laughed; high,

Diana’s POVThe morning light filtered through my window, trembling like a breath held too long. It painted the letter in my hands; SAMUEL MERRITT UNIVERSITY, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, in quiet gold.I’d read the words so many times they’d lost meaning, yet seeing my name beneath “WE ARE PLEASED TO INFORM YOU…” still sent a shiver through me.A month ago, I wouldn’t have believed in joy again. Fire was all I remembered; Eva’s soft smile swallowed by collapsing walls of Ashmoor, Kael’s blood hot against my palms, and the air thick with smoke and endings.But now there was this letter.A letter I had chosen for myself.Sovereign had wanted Harvard for me. He’d arranged everything, of course, but I had torn that letter in half. I didn’t want a future written by his manipulative hands. I wanted a success I could claim as mine.So when Samuel Merritt’s envelope came, I told myself it was a sign — a fragile promise that maybe the goddess hadn’t turned her face from me completely.“Have you told

Diana’s POVGeorge voice when I and Eva was coming in replayed in my head amid the Chaos and fire:“Diana, stop!” George’s arm had barred my way, his face streaked with ash. “Kael’s saving lives, you can't go to him.”But my Wolf kept whimpering in my head; Kael would not die alone. If the Sovereign wanted his life, he’d have to carve mine out beside it.I shoved past George and ran inside. And immediately I came inside and saw Lucien standing over Kael, gun gleaming in his hand.Something inside me broke. And I had only one question in my mind; is this trap the life George claimed Kael was saving?Even now that I and Kael layed here weakly not offering any help to Eva who was fighting Lucien on behalf of us, I felt like I'm the cause of all this. Eva and Kael are Suffering because of my wicked father, If I hadn't been in their lives maybe they wouldn't have to face this fate.Lucien spun Eva pushing her through the door, “Run you moron!” Lucien screamed at her.Eva ran back hitting L

VIOLET’S POVI wake to the smell of herbs.Sharp.Bitter.Clean.It burns my nose.My eyelids feel heavy, as if someone stitched sleep into them with iron thread.A voice trembles through the haze.“Violet?” Zoey whispers.Her voice is soft. Fractured. Almost breaking.I force my eyes open.The room swims in white and gold.White walls.An open window.Wind lifting thin linen curtains.Sunlight spilling across polished floors.And beside my bed…Zoey.Her eyes are swollen. Red. Rimmed raw.And Merrin.Standing rigid near the window.Watching me like I might disappear again.Zoey gasps.“She’s awake!” she cries, her voice breaking with relief. Tears spill down her cheeks.Her hands grab mine. They are warm. Shaking. “You scared us,” she says, still trembling.My throat burns, like I swallowed smoke. “What… happened?” I ask. My voice is rough and weak.Merrin’s jaw tightens.“You don’t remember?”Then it all crashes back.Fire.Heat.Emily’s eyes.The scream.I swallow hard.“The kitche

EMILY’S POVIt has been a full day.A full, miserable, humiliating day.I told Zoella everything.Every word Elder Ellis said.Every truth about the mate bond.Every detail about how Violet stole her destiny.And what happened?Nothing.Absolutely nothing.They walked together this morning.They laughed together.Zoella braided Violet’s hair in the courtyard like they were little girls again.Like I had said nothing.Like I was the liar.I stand on my bedroom balcony, my fingers gripping the cold stone railing until my knuckles turn white.Celine stands behind me. Mirella sits inside my room, tapping her foot hard against the floor, her anger filling the air.Below us, Violet leans close to Zoella and whispers something soft.Zoella throws her head back and laughs.The sound floats up to me.Bright. Warm.It cuts into my skin like shards of glass.“Look at them,” Celine says beside me, her voice low and sharp. “They’re closer now. Closer than ever.”“I see that,” I snapped.Celine lea

VIOLET’S POVThe room smelled like lavender soap and clean cotton.Soft.Orderly.Safe.I was folding Merrin’s shirts.One by one.Smooth.Straight.Perfect.If I kept my hands busy, my mind stayed quiet.I stacked another shirt carefully, aligning the sleeves.The door creaked open.I didn’t turn.I knew that step.Slow.Confident.Heavy.The mattress dipped behind me.“Stop working,” Merrin said, his voice low and calm, but threaded with authority.“I’m not working,” I replied evenly. “I’m arranging.”He picked up a shirt from the pile and began folding it.Wrong.Careless.“You’re creasing it,” I muttered, irritation flickering through me.“I’m helping,” he said, amused.“I don’t need help.”“You do.”I finally looked at him.His sleeves were rolled up, exposing strong forearms dusted with faint scars. His dark hair was slightly permed.He looked relaxed.Too relaxed.“You don’t have to do this,” Merrin said quietly now, something gentler surfacing in his eyes. “You don’t have to a

ZOELLA’S POVThe book smelled like dust… and something older.Something buried.Something that did not want to be remembered.It lay open on my lap.Ancient Laws and Punishments of Wolves-Heaven.The leather was cracked like dried skin.The ink had faded to a bruised gray.But my mother’s name…Lady Saraphina…was still sharp.Still visible.Still dangerous.Threats.Exploitation.Manipulation.The accusations bled across the page like wounds that had never healed.I dragged my fingers across the ink.A spoon clanged against a bowl behind me.“You’re still reading that thing?”Nolan’s voice was dry. Irritated.I didn’t look up.“You’re still breathing?”Silence.Then footsteps.Heavy. Slow. Annoyed.He stopped in front of me.“Zoey,” he said, tired. “Go home.”I slowly lifted my head.“Go… home?”“Yes.”The words hit me like a slap.“I stayed by you,” I said slowly. “For two months, I kept coming to this apartment from Ellis Place to bring you food and supplies.”My voice turned cold.

EMILY’S POVI have never felt this humiliated in my life.The palace is loud this morning.Not with music.Not with celebration.With whispers.Soft.Sharp.Ugly.They trail behind me down the corridor like flies drawn to blood.“Did you see it?”“In front of everyone…”“He kissed her like she was Luna…”My steps falter.Two maids freeze when they notice me. Their faces drain of color. One drops the folded linen in her trembling hands.The cloth hits the floor with a soft slap.“Finish your work,” I say calmly.My voice does not shake.But my nails bite into my palms so hard I feel skin break.They bow too quickly. Flee too quickly.Cowards.Celine steps beside me.Her perfume is suffocating today, thick jasmine, too sweet, too sharp.“They’re laughing at us,” she murmurs.“They wouldn’t dare.”“They are,” she snaps. “Behind our backs. In the kitchens. In the guard towers. Everywhere.”Her eyes blaze.“They saw it. The guards. The cooks. The servants. He kissed her like she was still

EMILY’S POVI have never felt this humiliated in my life.The palace is loud this morning.Not with music.Not with celebration.With whispers.Soft.Sharp.Ugly.They trail behind me down the corridor like flies drawn to blood.“Did you see it?”“In front of everyone…”“He kissed her like she was Luna…”My steps falter.Two maids freeze when they notice me. Their faces drain of color. One drops the folded linen in her trembling hands.The cloth hits the floor with a soft slap.“Finish your work,” I say calmly.My voice does not shake.But my nails bite into my palms so hard I feel skin break.They bow too quickly. Flee too quickly.Cowards.Celine steps beside me.Her perfume is suffocating today, thick jasmine, too sweet, too sharp.“They’re laughing at us,” she murmurs.“They wouldn’t dare.”“They are,” she snaps. “Behind our backs. In the kitchens. In the guard towers. Everywhere.”Her eyes blaze.“They saw it. The guards. The cooks. The servants. He kissed her like she was still