Novels by Callista Ivan

Chapter 110That night, the pale moon hung in the sky shrouded in gray clouds, as if it didn't want to fully reveal itself. The atmosphere was eerie, with a cold breeze that made the branches of the trees creak, creating the impression that something was lurking in the darkness. In front of a dull, unkempt old shack, Lucas stood tall with a cold, piercing gaze, even as his heart rumbled within him.He stared straight ahead, where a girl with a black face full of burns stood trembling. The girl, Elle, was sobbing, her tears flowing unstoppably, but Lucas would not look at her. He knew what she had done, and it was unforgivable.Lucas took a deep breath, trying to tamp down the emotions that were about to explode inside him. "Delta Richard," he called in a firm but flat tone. His voice sounded like a command that could not be refuted. "Take this girl right now to the Winterblood pack. She must be held accountable for her actions there."Richard, a tall man with black hair that had begun

Chapter 109That night, the cold wind was blowing hard, carrying snowflakes that fell relentlessly. The dark sky was covered in thick clouds, with only the occasional glimpse of the full moon obscured by the fog. The atmosphere inside the spacious and majestic room was eerie, although the fireplace in the corner of the room burned brightly, providing a little warmth in the midst of the blizzard outside.Ken stepped quickly into the room with a tense and angry face. His every step echoed on the cold marble floor. Behind him, Delta Richard followed him with a solemn expression, his eyes not leaving Ken's back which looked even more solid as anger overcame him. The air in the room was tense as if everyone was holding their breath.The snow on Ken's fur coat melted and dripped onto the floor, leaving a wet trail. As soon as his gaze fell on Elle, who sat weakly on the floor with a dull face full of wounds, his anger intensified. Next to the girl, Lucas stood transfixed, seemingly unaware

Chapter 108In the middle of a pine forest covered in a white blanket of snow, the silence is eerie. The cold air hugged everything in it, and only the sound of the wind whispering through the tall trees accompanied the journey. Broken, snow-covered branches made a crunching sound under Ken and Richard's boots as they stood still, transfixed by the endless trees.Their faces looked full of anxiety. A moment ago, Emma stood before them, before disappearing into the darkness, leaving behind a warning that made their blood rush faster."Lucas is in this forest. Find him before that black-faced girl kills him, just like she did to Alpha Hernandez's family," Emma said, her voice firm and full of warning.As soon as those words were spoken, Emma disappeared without a trace. Like a wind that suddenly changed direction, so quickly and without warning. Richard stared in the direction Emma had gone, his eyebrows knitted together. "Why does she always disappear like that?" he muttered irritably,

Chapter 107It was getting late, and the silence felt more piercing than just the chill of a mountain night. The simple wooden house in the middle of the forest that usually sheltered Lucas was now filled with tension that hung in the air. The dark, moonless sky emphasized the gloomy atmosphere, while a gust of cold wind broke through the cracks in the wooden walls, making a faint swishing sound that added to the discomfort.On the veranda of the house, Lucas sat leaning against an old, almost fragile wooden chair, his hands firmly gripping the back of the chair. His sharp eyes full of emotion were fixed on Elle, the girl standing not far in front of him. That night, something was different, something that made Lucas feel mixed up. While the sound of her heartbeat echoed in his ears, his mind was filled with confusion and disbelief."How could you say the same thing to me?" asked Lucas in a hoarse voice, almost a suppressed whisper. His tone was filled with shock, perhaps even a littl

CASpter 106Lucas was still sitting in the middle of the street, his body shaking lightly from the adrenaline that was still coursing through his body. His gaze did not shift from the girl standing not far from him. The atmosphere around them was tense, with only the crackling sound of flames from a burning car in the distance, and the thick smell of smoke filling the air. The afternoon sky was covered in dark clouds, leaving only a little light from the obscured moon.The girl, with a jet-black face that looked like it had been burned, stared at Lucas expressionlessly. The large scar on her cheek was clearly visible, but strangely, despite her sinister appearance, there was something in the way she held out a hand that made Lucas feel a little calm."Are you okay?" the girl's voice sounded soft yet firm, as if full of assurance that she was there to help.Lucas remained silent, his gaze blank. His mind was spinning, trying to digest what exactly had just happened. Just a few minutes

Chapter 105This morning Ken woke up with a gasp, his body still feeling the residual tension from the nightmare he didn't fully remember. His eyes looked around Emma's old hut. The weathered wooden walls seemed helpless against time, with cracks letting in the dawn rays. The gloomy atmosphere added to the uncomfortable feel of the hut.Beside him, Richard had woken up first, sitting on the edge of the rickety bed with a dazed face and eye bags that clearly showed a lack of sleep. Outside, birdsong could be heard faintly, but it was unable to ease the anxiety that suddenly enveloped the room."Lucas... where is he?" muttered Richard, his voice full of confusion as his eyes scanned the empty room.Ken snapped out of his slumber, his heart beating faster as he realized Lucas' absence. "He was here last night. I'm sure," Ken said in a firm tone, though in his heart, worry was beginning to creep in. His gaze swept every corner of the old hut, but there was no sign of Lucas."We have to fi

The rings under our feet were counting something, and I was almost sure it was us.Each pulse came a little brighter than the last. White light crawled up out of the carved lines in slow waves, and every time it reached my ankles, the crescent on my neck answered with a pulse of its own."Alaric." I tried to step back. His arms didn't loosen, and neither did the floor. My boots wouldn't leave the stone. "I can't move.""Neither can I." His voice was hoarse, and his eyes had gone pale gold, almost silver. He was staring at the two circles cut into the floor, and the color was draining out of his face. "Cass. I know this pattern.""From where?""The ledger. My father drew it." He swallowed. "Two rings. The outer one is for the vessel. The inner one is the threshold, and the mate stands in it."I looked down. We were both inside the inner ring, pressed together so tightly I could feel his heart through my ribs."There was more," he said. "I read it in the tower and never got the chance t

My sister was humming when I woke up the second time.It was a slow, tuneless little hum, the kind a person makes when she is bored and waiting. I lay on cold stone with my cheek against the grit and listened to it for a long moment before I understood that I wasn't dreaming.Then I reached for Catherine, and there was nothing there.Not silence. A wall. Soft and thick, like cotton packed into my ears. I could feel her on the other side, pressing, but I couldn't hear a word. The bond to Alaric was gone too, and the place where it should have been was a smooth, cold hollow under my ribs.The first time, the wall had cracked. I had shoved one warning through the gap, and something had laughed, and the wall had slammed shut, and I had gone under again. I had no idea whether the warning had landed.I lifted my right hand. A band of dull gray metal circled my wrist, and where it touched my skin, the flesh had gone numb."Moon-iron," Grace said. "Don't bother."She sat on a stone bench agai

The thread wasn't cut. I knew that because my wolf told me so."Breathe," Kael said, low and rough, in the back of my skull. "She's not dead. Feel it."I stood at the tower window with my hands braced on the stone, gasping. Kael was a big, old, gray wolf with gold in his eyes, built like a mountain and about as talkative. He had spoken to me only a handful of times in ten years, short and blunt, and every night since her eighteenth birthday he had howled her name while I held the leash."Where is she?""Covered. Not cut." His voice dropped. "Like a hand over a mouth. Someone is holding it shut."I was out the door before he finished.The climb down the ridge took four minutes and felt like four hours. The wolfsbane dragged at every step. Kael pushed against my ribs, begging to shift, and I told him no. The poison would only get us killed halfway down."She chose us twice with her body," he said. "In the yard. In the lamplight.""I know.""Don't lose her now."I reached the healer hous

Roderick never said the Hollow was lying.I noticed it while I carried Cassandra back through the gate with her head against my shoulder. A man with nothing to hide swats a lie like a fly. Instead, Roderick stood in the torchlight with his hand shaking and fifty warriors staring at him, and when he finally spoke, all he said was, "That voice has whispered to my family for four hundred years. I would advise you not to listen."Advise. Not deny.He turned his men around and marched them back down the road in perfect rows. He never looked back."Give her to me," Jason said. He had fallen into step beside me, gray-faced, one hand pressed to the bandage on his throat. "You can barely walk.""No.""Alaric.""I'm not putting her down."He looked at Cassandra's face, slack and pale against my collar, and for once he didn't argue. "Then I'll put Nightclaw on the east wall. Whatever's coming next, it comes through us first.""Why?""Because it's the only thing I'm still good for."I didn't answe

Fifty swords look different when you are the one they came for.I stood behind Alaric at the east gate with my hair pulled over my neck and my mother's hand locked around my wrist. The floodlights were still dead, so Silvermoon warriors had lit torches along the wall, and the orange glow slid over the gray cloaks on the other side. Fifty of them, in perfect rows, with their hoods down and their hands resting on their hilts. Nobody spoke. Nobody even shifted.At the front stood a man in his sixties, lean as a fence post, with white hair cut close to his skull. A silver chain hung across his chest. He looked less like a threat than a tax collector, and that was the scariest thing about him."Alpha Alaric." His voice was dry and courteous. "I am sorry for the hour.""Elder Roderick." Alaric stood with his feet planted wide. I knew how much that cost him. The wolfsbane was still in his muscles, and he was leaning on the gatepost more than he let on. "You're on my land without invitation."

The mark didn't hurt. That was the worst part.I sat on the edge of the cot in Mira's back room with my hair pulled over one shoulder, and Mira held a mirror to my neck. The crescent sat exactly where Jason's mark used to be, black as ink, thin as a fingernail clipping. It looked almost pretty. It pulsed once every few seconds, in time with my heartbeat."It's the size of a coin now," Mira said quietly. "An hour ago it was the size of a button.""It's growing.""Slowly. But yes."Behind me, my mother stood at the window with her arms wrapped around herself. She hadn't said a word since Kenneth carried Jason inside. Alaric stood by the door with his jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jump."Mama," I said. "Tell me."She turned. In the lamplight, her face looked like old paper."Jason was right about one thing. The mark was a door. But a door that's been open for two years doesn't just disappear when you take away the frame." She crossed the room and sat beside me. "When he cut

Chapter 50Viola's POV The mountain did not sleep that night.Neither did I.Even after the gates were repaired and the snow settled into quiet white layers across the courtyard, something in the air remained restless. Nightclaw was strong. The wards were reinforced. Warriors rotated double shifts. But beneath the surface of order, tension hummed like a low, unending note.I stood at the balcony outside my chamber, staring at the Carpathian peaks stretching endlessly under the moonlight.Behind me, Evan lay awake.I could feel it.Even when he was silent, I felt him.Our bond had deepened since the night of the Bloodmoon. Since his disguise shattered. Since the truth stood naked in front of everyone.Mate.The word no longer terrified me.But it carried weight.And tonight, that weight pressed heavily on my chest.Inside, Ethan slept between us. His small body was sprawled across the bed without worry, as if he had not just shattered a fragment of time magic with a flick of his hand.

Chapter 49Evan's POV The voice did not belong to the wind.It moved through it.Twisted inside it.“Viola…”The sound crawled across the mountain like frost, slipping through stone, sliding beneath skin. Every wolf inside Nightclaw felt it. I saw it in their faces. Warriors stiffened. Omegas covered their ears. Even George’s aura flickered for half a second.But the one who reacted the strongest was in my arms.Ethan’s body went rigid.His small fingers clutched my shirt so tightly that the fabric strained.“Papa…” he whispered.Not afraid.Not crying.Listening.The gates shook again.A deep crack splintered through the wood reinforced with iron and ancient carvings. Snow spiraled violently in the courtyard, forming a rotating wall of white around the outer perimeter.This was not rogue magic.This was older.And it was focused.On her.I moved instinctively, placing myself between the gate and Viola. Jacob rose inside me, fur bristling, ready to tear apart whatever dared step forw

Chapter 48 Viola's POV Nightclaw had never felt this restless.Not even during the rogue attack.Not even when the Bloodmoon turned the sky red like an omen.The unease now was quieter. More dangerous.It lived in whispers.In glances that followed Evan when he crossed the courtyard.In the way warriors stiffened without realizing it when his aura brushed against theirs.An Alpha from Bloodwind sleeping under Nightclaw’s roof was not a small matter.An Alpha who had just claimed to be my mate, and Ethan’s father, was even less small.I stood on the balcony outside my chambers, the cold Carpathian wind biting at my skin. Snow clung to the mountain edges, glittering beneath the early morning light.Behind me, Ethan babbled to himself on the rug, stacking carved wooden wolves in uneven towers.He was humming.Happy.Unaffected.Children adapted faster than adults.Or perhaps he trusted more easily.A knock came at the door.I did not need to turn to know who it was.“Come in.”Evan ent

Chapter 47Evan's POV I had faced war councils, rogue ambushes, and territorial disputes that could have ignited full-scale bloodshed across Europe.None of them compared to standing in Nightclaw’s courtyard while my son called me Papa.The word still echoed in my mind hours later.Papa.Not Alpha. Not stranger. Not Jack.Papa.I kept my movements measured as I sparred with two Nightclaw warriors. Alpha George watched closely from the stone steps, arms folded. He did not trust me. He should not.Trust was earned.And I had much to repay.The younger warrior lunged too fast. I sidestepped, caught his wrist, twisted gently, and pressed him to one knee without injuring him.“Control your breath,” I told him evenly. “Speed without rhythm makes you predictable.”He nodded, embarrassed but respectful.I released him immediately.I was careful not to dominate. Not to release too much of my aura. Nightclaw was not my territory. I would not disrespect it.But even restrained, I could feel it.

Chapter 46Viola's POV I did not sleep.Even after the hall emptied. Even after the warriors returned to their posts. Even after the torches outside my chamber dimmed into low embers.I lay awake beside Ethan, staring at the stone ceiling of Nightclaw’s ancestral wing, feeling the bond like a live wire stretched tight across my chest.He is here.Not as a shadow.Not as a memory.Not as regret.Evan was here. Inside these walls. Breathing the same air.Father.The word still rang in my ears.I turned slightly, watching Ethan sleep. His lashes rested softly against his cheeks. One tiny hand was curled near his face. Peaceful. Safe.He had gone to Evan without fear.Without hesitation.Like instinct had guided him.My throat tightened.Lily shifted inside me, restless.He is ours.“Stop,” I whispered under my breath.You felt it too.I squeezed my eyes shut.Yes. I had felt it.When Ethan touched him. When Evan held him. When their scents blended into something that felt whole.It had

Chapter 45 Evan's POV Silence in a werewolf hall is never truly silent.It breathes. It watches. It judges.The great stone hall of Nightclaw felt exactly like that as I stood there, no longer Jack the stable hand, no longer hiding behind dirt and rough fabric. My aura had already betrayed me. The golden glow in my eyes had told the truth before my mouth ever could.Alpha Bloodwind.Mate.Father.Every single pair of eyes in the hall burned into me. Warriors shifted uneasily. Omegas held their breath. Elder Harry stood rigid beside his daughter, protective and calculating.And Viola…She looked at me like I had shattered something sacred.“You lied,” she said.Her voice was not loud. It did not need to be.It cut deeper than a blade.I did not look away. I had faced rogue alphas, war councils, and territorial bloodshed. None of it compared to the fury trembling in her eyes right now.“Yes,” I answered.A murmur rippled through the hall.Alpha George stepped forward, Ethan still in h