Novels by Vhee Midnight

Liana’s POVMy breath hitched as I moved over Drogo, matching the steady, driving rhythm of his hips beneath mine. His hands gripped my waist, his thumbs pressing into my skin as the heat between us built toward a breaking point. I arched my back and tangled my fingers in his dark hair, chasing that final, breathless edge we were both seconds away from crossing. The war and the winter cold vanished, leaving only the warmth of his skin and the fierce connection burning through our mate bond.A sharp knock echoed against the bedroom door and shattered the quiet intimacy of the room.I dropped my forehead against Drogo’s shoulder and groaned into his neck. “Ignore it. Let whoever it is go away and bother someone else.”Drogo let out a frustrated sigh and traced a warm path down my spine with his fingertips. “You know I cannot do that, Liana. Not with Carl’s army sitting on our borders and the council breathing down our necks.”He lifted me off him gently and slid out of the bed, reachin

Baylor’s POVI leaned my back against the iron bars and wiped a streak of blood from my split lip while the four betrayed guards paced the tiny space like caged animals.“This is your fault,” Kael snapped, turning his furious gaze toward me.“We were set up,” I reasoned, holding my hands up in a placating gesture. “My father used Bane to bait us all into the open and trap us here.”“You told us you had the captains on your side,” another guard spat, taking a menacing step closer. “You promised us numbers and an easy victory over a mad king.”“I believed Bane was telling the truth when we spoke,” I defended, keeping my voice level to avoid sparking a riot. “We need to stay calm and figure a way out of this before dawn breaks.”“There is no way out of the alpha’s dungeons,” Kael growled, drawing his fist back. “But I can at least break your jaw before the executioner takes my head.”Kael lunged forward and drove his fist into my cheek, sending me crashing onto the dirt floor. The other

Baylor’s POVI paced across the rug spanning my bedroom floor and checked the grandfather clock standing by the wardrobe. The hour hand crept past midnight. Ariana usually returned from the lower levels before the watch changed, but her side of the bed remained empty. I crossed the room and peered out the window into the courtyard below. The guards stood at their posts, wrapped in thick furs to fight the frost and there was no sign of her approaching the main hall.“Where are you?” I muttered to the empty room.I turned away from the glass and unbuttoned my collar. My nerves were already stretched tight from the argument with my father and waiting for Ariana only made the tension worse. If she decided to spend the night gossiping with the handmaidens, I was not going to waste my time waiting up for her. I kicked off my boots and crawled under the covers, resting my head against the pillow. Sleep refused to claim me easily. I tossed and turned for hours, drifting into fractured dream

MariaLater that evening he returned, hands behind his back like a meek child. I looked away, still shocked at the outburst earlier even though I clearly helped him. Stop acting out of line? He’s a joke. He left in such a haste he forgot to bind my feet so I had the liberty of being on the bed. “I Uhmm.” He said, clearing his throat. “I apologize for the way I acted out earlier.” He added, no matter how hard he tried his voice always sounded like he was issuing a warning. I nodded. “It’s okay, what brings you here this late?” I asked.“I’m here hoping we could try for an heir.” He replied almost immediately.I could have sworn I heard him wrongly. “An heir?” I asked, my voice laced with disbelief. “Yes, an heir.” He replied and I scoffed, still in utter disbelief. Is that why he came to apologize? Because he was in need of someone to satisfy him? I pulled myself away from him, the bruises I sustained still stinging with every movement I made. His eyes flashed with impatience a

MariaImmediately Frederick returned his face a mirror of panic and fear. “The king is back, he was supposed to be out for two hours but he’s here…. I don’t know why but he is.” He rambled on. I looked from him to the Luna, unable to move. “Come on, my lady.” He urged, his voice dripping with urgency. I forced myself up and followed him immediately, but as I walked I kept looking over my shoulder at her. My chest tightened when she mouthed the words. “Run.”But how was I supposed to escape? When the last time was futile attempt that landed me in chains. By the time I got back to the room, the scene had replayed over and over in my head and each time, I got even more confused. The genuine look of fear in her eyes. A beast? Cursed? Of course I suspected it but having my suspicions confirmed scared me more than it satisfied me. Perhaps that was why he told me to avoid her, because she knew the truth about him. I was too stunned to even fight back while Frederick tied me back up wit

MariaI heard locks click and the door creaked open. Light spilled into the room through the hallways and my eyes pried open. I had been awake for a long time already, even without knowing whether the day had dawned or not. Frederick walked in, Sarah followed behind him. She had a tray in her hands and I pulled my legs closer to myself, the chains that bound me clanged loudly like a church bell. “Sarah’s here to feed you and clean you up..” he said and I said nothing. My lips were charred and dry. “Good morning, my lady.” She greeted me, slowly putting down the tray beside me. I moved on the floor, dragging my sore body up as she opened up the bowls and the smell of food filled the air. Frederick stood by the door and watched through the corners of his eyes, barely paying much attention to what Sarah did. After I was done eating, he walked over and unchained my hands and legs. “Sarah, help her wash up.” He ordered and she bobbed her head. I walked in front of her to the shall

Drogo’s POVI stepped directly in front of Liana the instant Carl walked through the main gate, my hand dropping to the heavy pommel of my broadsword. The man looked harmless, walking with a slow, hollow drag to his boots under the bright torchlight, but the hair on my arms stood straight up. I had spent my entire life reading danger on battlefields and everything about Carl’s posture screamed that something was deeply wrong.“Hold your ground!” Baylor shouted, riding past his father and holding up his leather-gloved hands toward my guards. “He is harmless, Drogo! Whatever happened out in those woods burned itself out before we reached him.”“I am not taking your word for that, Baylor,” I replied, my voice booming across the quiet courtyard. “He stays right where he is until my men search him and put iron on his wrists.”Baylor opened his mouth to argue, but the sheer exhaustion on his pale face cut the words short. He let his hands fall to his sides, bowing his head in silent surren

Liana’s POVThe raspy whisper echoed off the cold stone walls, sending a chill straight down my spine. Carl sat motionless on the narrow wooden bed, his blank eyes wide and staring into the empty corner of the room while his dry lips kept moving without pause.“It is coming,” Carl repeated, his voice barely more than a hollow rattle. “The shadow in the deep... it is already awake.”Baylor reached out, his hand trembling as he grabbed his father’s shoulders. “Father! Look at me! Who is awake? What are you talking about?”Carl did not flinch, nor did he acknowledge Baylor’s physical touch. He remained completely rigid, repeating the same terrifying warning like a spell he could not stop reciting.“He cannot hear you, Baylor,” I said gently, stepping into the room and placing a hand on my cousin’s back. “He is not speaking to us. He is echoing whatever is trapped inside his mind.”Drogo crossed the threshold right behind me, his hand resting securely on the pommel of his sword as his sha

Liana’s POVThe silence surrounding Carl felt far worse than any threat he had ever hurled at us across a battlefield. He stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by torches, without shifting his balance or blinking against the glare.“Is he injured?” I asked, stepping toward Drogo as Baylor slid off his horse.“Not a scratch on him,” Baylor replied, rubbing his dust-covered face with the back of his sleeve. “We found him standing in the middle of those scorched woods, just staring into the dark.”“Did he say anything to you?” I asked, looking over at my uncle’s blank face. “Did he recognize the locket?”“Not a word,” Baylor sighed, shaking his head slowly. “He looked right at me when I held it out, but his eyes were completely empty. It was like looking at a hollow shell.”Drogo stepped between Carl and the gathering crowd, gesturing for Soren to clear the courtyard. “We cannot leave him standing out in the open like a spectacle. Put him in the high tower room under guard.”“

Liana’s POVBeing left behind at Silvercrest was absolute torture. Drogo and the council had ganged up on me at dawn, insisting that taking an unbalanced carrier back to the very ground that broke Carl was a recipe for catastrophe. So, while Drogo and Baylor were out in the dark woods tracking a giant monster, I was stuck at a wooden desk, surrounded by piles of moldy old books.“If I have to read one more line of ancient script, my eyes are going to drop right out of my head,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead as I slumped back in my chair.Maren did not even look up from her stack of translated parchment. “You are the one who insisted on finding answers before they returned, my lady.”“I meant easy answers,” I muttered, poking at a brittle leather cover. “Like a simple potion or a nice spell that fixes corrupted Alpha blood. Not three hundred pages of family tragedy.”We had spent hours sifting through the confiscated ritual texts from Corwin’s lodge. Maren had worked tirelessly to cle

Baylor’s POVI knelt beside the massive print, my hand hovering an inch above the churned earth. I had watched my father shift a thousand times throughout my life and I knew the exact outline of his grey wolf down to the smallest detail. This mark was nearly twice that size, its jagged claw indentations dragged so deep into the frozen dirt that they looked like minor trenches.“That is not a normal wolf,” Den muttered, stepping back while his hand rested nervously on the hilt of his short sword.“He was not normal when he left,” I said, my voice barely carrying across the icy clearing as I stood up.The scorched earth led away from the ritual clearing rather than toward it, splintering the underbrush in a jagged line. It looked less like a retreat and more like something had been violently driven out by a force too massive for the clearing to hold.I pushed forward into the dark woods, ignoring Drogo’s sharp warning to wait for the scouts to check the perimeter. Sable kept pace right

Drogo’s POVI kept my warhorse at a slow trot on the ride back to camp, my eyes scanning the surrounding ridgeline while my mind picked apart every word that had just come out of Baylor’s mouth. Liana rode quietly beside me, clearly moved by her cousin’s sudden confession of guilt, but I was not about to let a sudden display of vulnerability blind us to reality. A man whose loyalties had flipped three times in six months did not earn my trust simply because he looked exhausted.“You are thinking he is setting us up,” Liana said, breaking the silence as our horses stepped onto Silvercrest territory.“I am thinking Corwin is sitting in our prison cell right now, yet this whole situation still smells like one of his elaborate plays,” I replied, pulling my horse to a halt beneath a wide overhang. “Baylor looked genuine out there, I will give him that. But genuine men get manipulated into laying traps all the time.”Liana pulled her horse around to face me, a faint, wry smile touching her

Liana—No puedes hacer eso —dije de inmediato. Mi voz estaba cargada de miedo.—Oh, por favor, cállate de una vez. Puedo hacer lo que me dé la gana —dijo con orgullo.La sacerdotisa lo miró con decepción y negó con la cabeza.—No sabes lo que has hecho —afirmó.El alfa Carl se levantó de su asiento y se dirigió de inmediato hacia nosotros.—Baylor, no puedes hacer esto —suplicó.—Lo siento, padre, pero no me casaré con ella. —Su determinación era demasiado fuerte. Nadie podía hacerle cambiar de opinión.—¿La sacerdotisa quiere que tome una compañera? Entonces elegiré a mi propia novia. Se volvió hacia donde estaba sentada mi familia.—¡Ariana Stark! —llamó.Ariana se levantó con orgullo, el rostro radiante de sonrisas. La gente susurraba mientras ella comenzaba a caminar hacia el altar.Caminó con mucha elegancia, luciendo su vestido y sus zapatos. Cuando se detuvo a mi lado, se rió entre dientes.—Te lo dije, Liana. Esta manada es mía —presumió. Tomó la mano que él le ofrecía y se co

LianaPasos subieron las escaleras al oír mi grito. Mis padres se detuvieron en la puerta mirándome mientras lloraba con el vestido entre las manos.—¿Qué has hecho? —preguntó madre.—Nada. Acabo de salir y lo vi destruido —le expliqué.Me miró como si fuera estúpida.—Tienes una oportunidad que todos anhelan, ¿y así es como quieres aprovecharla? —preguntó.Fue entonces cuando noté la pequeña sonrisa burlona en el rostro de Ariana. Y comprendí que ella había sido quien había destrozado el vestido. Una oleada de ira me recorrió y, antes de pensarlo mejor, me abalancé sobre ella y la agarré por el cuello.La sorpresa se dibujó en su rostro y sus ojos se abrieron de par en par.Oí a madre gritar antes de agarrarme las manos con violencia y apartarme de Ariana.—¿Qué demonios crees que estás haciendo? —preguntó padre con enfado.—Ella es la que hizo esto —la acusé, señalándola con el dedo.Padre miró a Ariana, pero ella adoptó rápidamente su expresión de lástima y negó con la cabeza con f

Liana—Eres mi elegida y te he destinado a grandes cosas.Esas palabras resonaron de nuevo en mi cabeza. ¿Podría ser esto? ¿Podría ser de esto de lo que hablaban mis sueños?Todos seguían mirándome.—Ven —dijo la sacerdotisa.Negué con la cabeza. La mirada asesina en el rostro de mi padre era algo que no quería desafiar.—Ven —ordenó de nuevo.Salí de detrás de la puerta con las piernas temblorosas. Cuando me puse frente a todos, lo único que pude ver fue la expresión de asco en sus rostros.—¿Es esto algún tipo de ritual de humillación o una burla? —bramó el alfa Carl.La sacerdotisa se volvió hacia él.—¿Te atreves a cuestionar la autoridad de la diosa? —exigió.Los labios del alfa Carl se tensaron en una línea recta. Claramente estaba disgustado con lo que estaba ocurriendo.—Quizá ha habido un error —volvió a decir mi padre, y la sacerdotisa lo atravesó con una mirada que lo silenció de inmediato.—La diosa no comete errores —dijo con enfado.Los ancianos comenzaron a susurrar ent

LianaTodas las miradas estaban ahora sobre mí. La omega sucia que acababa de derramar las bebidas sobre el alfa de la manada.Me levanté rápidamente y me precipité hacia el hombre.—Lo siento mucho, no fue mi intención. Lo siento tanto —comencé a secarle las bebidas que le chorreaban, intentando limpiarlo.Él agarró mis manos con fuerza y me empujó hacia atrás. Caí de culo en el suelo. Un dolor agudo subió por mi muñeca al intentar amortiguar la caída.—¿Quién demonios te dio derecho a poner tus manos sobre mí? —gruñó el alfa.—¡Lo siento! —lloré, porque no sabía qué más decir.—¡Levántate! —ladró mi padre.Intenté ponerme de pie de inmediato, pero el dolor en la muñeca solo se intensificó. Debía habérmela dislocado. Me levanté sobre piernas temblorosas mientras sujetaba la muñeca izquierda con la mano derecha. Bajé la vista hacia mis pies porque no podía soportar la mirada de decepción en el rostro de mi padre.—¡Te dije que no me avergonzaras hoy! —dijo en un tono bajo y peligroso.

Liana—¡Liana! —gritó mi madre.Agua helada se estrelló contra mi cabeza y salté de la cama presa del miedo.Miré a mi alrededor tratando de orientarme. Había estado soñando.—Eres mi elegida y te he destinado a grandes cosas —me había dicho una voz en el sueño.La misma voz que escuchaba todas las noches en mis sueños desde que cumplí dieciocho años. No sabía quién era ni qué quería de mí.—¡Muéstrate! —exigí una y otra vez, pero nadie respondió a mi llamado.El sueño había vuelto a mí, pero esta vez no tuve la oportunidad de seguir la voz porque me despertaron de forma violenta. El agua helada me empapó por completo y jadeé de horror.Mi madre se alzaba sobre mí, mirándome con ira y desprecio. El cubo de agua fría colgaba de sus dedos.—Estúpida niña. ¿Qué haces todavía en la cama? —exigió.Me levanté de un salto, aún temblando de frío. El reloj de pared marcó las ocho de la mañana.Mierda —me maldije internamente.—Lo siento. Me quedé dormida —dije con tristeza.—¿Te quedaste dormi