Tamara's POV
On the day I died, my husband was too busy having sex with my sister to care. The world around me had blurred as the poison my husband fed me coursed through my veins. “Please… someone… help me,” I begged, but my voice was too weak. I painfully dragged myself across the cold floor, desperately trying to reach my guards who were standing just outside the door. “Please …h-help.” I cried louder but they did nothing, even though they clearly heard me. They were choosing to leave me, their Luna to die on my cold bedroom floor. Above the sound of my cries, I could still hear the sound of my bed creaking as my husband continued to fuck my sister on my bed just a few feet from me. “Yes! Fuck me Jack, claim me so your wife can see. Yes! Harder Jack!” My sister Kate moaned as my husband continued to pound her into the bed. I tried to turn my head away but the movement felt agonizing, so I was forced to watch Jack’s hips furiously thrusting into Kate. Jack was groaning as he began to thrust faster, burying his cock into her again and again. Soon, he shot his cum inside her with a shout before collapsing against her. They began laughing with joy, not giving a damn of the suffering they were causing me. I didn’t want to see this, but I couldn’t look away. I still couldn’t believe that they had poisoned me and proceeded to have sex over my dying body. Sobs wracked my body as I watched my husband sit up and begin to put on his clothes with a satisfied smile. He turned to caress Kate, “You were delicious as always baby girl, but I have to go and make sure the grave is ready for Tamara’s body,” he said casually, as if discussing the weather. Like he wasn’t talking about digging a grave for the wife he had just poisoned. I watched as he leaned down and kissed Kate passionately. And the sight sent a dagger through my already broken heart. But when he looked at me, his eyes were filled with so much hate and disgust. His expression was so sinister and hateful, it was nothing like the love that used to shine in his eyes when he looked at me in the past. My husband, Alpha Jack, had been the love of my life for the past two years. We had met by chance and Jack had immediately swept me off my feet. Jack was a lonely Alpha with a small pack, and I was the first child of a wealthy Alpha, and the future Luna of the second largest pack in the region called the Winter pack. Most people in my position would have been too proud to marry a man with a pack as small as Jack’s, but I didn’t care. I loved him wholly and completely, no matter what anybody said. I gave him everything I had, and did anything he asked. But that had been my downfall. Because in the end, he fed me a cup of poisoned tea and fucked another woman while I lay dying on the floor. Jack suddenly stepped closer and stood over my body. I raised my hands to him, hoping by some miracle that he would help, but instead, he suddenly kicked me in the stomach, causing me to scream in pain. “You’re so fucking disgusting Tamara.” He spat at me. “I can’t believe I was married to you for the last two years of my life. Every night I would go to sleep wishing Kate was the one in my bed instead. Do you know how frustrating it was for us to sneak behind your back just to have sex for all these years?” He sneered and more tears came rushing down my face. Why was he saying this to me? “J-Jack, please don’t do this.” I begged. “I’m your wife Jack, I have loved you for two whole years. I have given you everything you ever asked. Why are you doing this to me?” I cried but Jack only laughed. “Why? You really don't know? After all your family did to me, you really don't know?" He then scoffed. "I guess you are dumber than I thought then." He chuckled but I stared at him in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about. Jack continued. "And yes, I know you love me Tamara and that’s why it was so easy to control you and to steal everything from you. I only married you for your pack’s wealth and power, but it’s all mine now. I’m going to be crowned as the alpha of your pack in two days so you're useless to me now.” He said and I sobbed even harder. So everything had been a lie. My husband had cheated, deceived and betrayed me because I had foolishly let myself love him. If I could go back in time, I would have done everything differently, I would have made them pay. I cried harder, but Jack was unfazed as he turned to leave. He didn’t even glance back as he left the room, leaving me to die at the feet of his mistress. My step sister Kate burst into laughter as she got up from the bed and sauntered over to me in her sheer nightgown. “Oh poor Tamara. Do you still feel so high and mighty now, dear Luna?” she sneered, squatting down to laugh at me. “Why?” I sobbed. “Why would you do this to me? We are family.” Kate's smile twisted into a sneer. “No, Tamara. You were the Luna and I was just a lowly subject that nobody ever cared about. Everything and everyone revolved around you, but what did I have? Nothing!” The pain in my chest had become unbearable now. “Please, Kate, please don’t do this. I’m pregnant Kate. Please don’t do this to my baby.” Kate’s eyes glittered with malice. “Oh I know you’re pregnant, but thankfully Jack doesn't know that yet,” she spat coldly. “That’s why I made him give you the poisoned tea today before you got the opportunity to tell him. I really can’t afford to let you give birth to an heir who would take over the throne from us.” She sneered. I felt rage boil up within me. She was intentionally killing me because I was pregnant?Kayla POVI didn’t know how long I’d sat there beside him — my father. My real father. The man everyone thought was dead, the man my mother, Lady Rina, had apparently spent her last days protecting me from a world that was never meant to keep us safe.Every few minutes, I found myself studying the lines at the corners of his eyes. Trying to memorize him — this gentle way he spoke my name, the cautious way he kept brushing a hand over my hair like he was making sure I was really here.“I used to dream about this,” I murmured, my fingers curling tighter around the tea cup he’d pressed into my hands. “About you.”He smiled at me, and it did something strange to my chest. “I dreamed too, little one. Dreamed of a thousand ways to find you again, to pull you back from the hands that tried to snatch you from the enemies side.”I swallowed the tight knot in my throat. I could feel Adrian’s eyes on my back — hovering at the threshold of the small study. He hadn’t moved closer, hadn’t sat down.
Kayla’s POVMy mind was still spinning from the word that had slipped so easily from King Konstantine’s lips: My daughter.I felt like the world had tilted under my feet — but I forced myself to stand firm between the snarling boys.“Enough!” I snapped, planting my palms on both their chests. “You’re not tearing each other apart, not for me.”Adrian was instantly at my back. I felt his warmth before I heard his voice — low, protective.“Kayla, get behind me. Now.”Before I could protest, I felt him step in front of me for the second time , shielding me with that broad, infuriatingly stubborn back of his.King Konstantine’s deep chuckle rolled through the clearing like distant thunder.“She really is Brave, boy. Very brave.”Adrian’s shoulders stiffened. He glanced back at me, confusion and suspicion battling in his eyes.“Kayla,” he murmured, just loud enough for me to hear, “why is he calling you his daughter? What is going on?”My throat bobbed. My mouth opened but nothing came out.
Kayla's POV Adrian’s words echoed in my head: Stay here. Wait for me. But the longer I sat in this ridiculously luxurious room, the more restless I became. I paced back and forth, my fists clenching at my sides. “Kira,” I whispered to my wolf, “what if he’s in trouble again? Or what if he’s… hiding something that can cause us to drift apart again?” 'He is our mate, Kayla, nothing in this world can make us drift apart from him,' Kira hummed in my mind, but I felt her unease too. I pressed my palm to my chest. No. I was not going to sit here like a pretty porcelain doll while my mate might be facing danger without me. I was not that weak, obedient Luna anymore. “I’m going to help him,” I muttered. I strode to the mirror and paused at my reflection because the necklace was still glowing. For a fleeting moment, I worried about the necklace’s dark whispers. Would it take control of me again? If I tried to use my powers, would it take over again? — but then Kira’s voice broke throu
Adrian's POV I had barely managed to herd all eight of the infamous Lycan brothers into my largest conference room. It felt like trying to pin down a tornado with silk threads — pointless and guaranteed to shred my patience. “Sit,” I ordered firmly, gesturing at the polished oak table that I already regretted letting them near. Instead of obeying immediately, the biggest of them — Boris, I think — snarled at his younger brother for brushing past him too hard. Within seconds, two more joined in, hurling curses in that thick Lycan dialect that made my temples throb. “For the love of the goddess—!” I stepped between them just as Boris lifted the other one off his feet. Before I could bark again, the door cracked open. Louisa slipped in, a vision of calm in her sleek navy dress, despite being my cousin by marriage, technically one of their cousins too. “Brothers.” She lifted her chin, and the room fell eerily silent. For a whole three seconds. Then the youngest brother — Lev, if I
Adrian's POVThe second Louisa’s voice left her lips, a headache bloomed behind my eyes.“How much time do we have?” I asked, trying to keep my voice level, even though my wolf was pacing restlessly inside me.Louisa flicked her wrist, checking a slim watch. “Twenty minutes, maybe less if the royal guards don’t find traffic amusing today.”Connor cursed under his breath. Logan muttered something about locking every single side door. Ingrid just blanched and vanished toward the west wing before I could even assign her a task.And Kayla… poor Kayla looked completely lost beside me.“Adrian, what’s happening? Why is he coming?” she asked, tugging at my sleeve. Her wide eyes always undid me.I forced a calm smile, which probably came out more like a grimace. “Nothing for you to worry about, love. Everything’s under control.”She folded her arms, not buying it for a second. “If it’s under control, why did Connor just sprint down the hall like he’s about to fight a war?”I took her hands in
Kayla's POVWhen I walked into Adrian’s room and saw all my things neatly arranged—my things on the shelf, my brush in the bathroom, even my favorite pair of slippers already the bed—I stopped in the doorway and just stared.It was overwhelming.The scent of fresh linen mixed with his cologne, so familiar, so grounding. It wrapped around me like a memory I hadn’t dared to hope for again. And now here I was… back.I slowly stepped further in, my fingers brushing over the smooth wood of the dresser.“I’m actually back…” I whispered to myself.My wolf Kira practically purred inside me.Kira: Finally! We get to sleep beside our mate. We get to touch him, kiss him, have sex--"Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop there!" I cut her off with a little smile but kept my voice firm.“Don’t get ahead of yourself. We’re only sleeping. That’s it. No funny business.”Kira: Ugh, you’re such a killjoy. We can still snuggle him at least, right?“Snuggle, fine. But behave.”Kira huffed, but she quieted.Just then, stro