LOGINSelena's POVBy the end of my first full day in the Lycan Kingdom, I had come to one very important conclusion: everyone here was completely ridiculous. Especially when it came to Lucian.I was halfway through exploring the eastern wing of the palace when an older she-lycan stopped me near the grand staircase."Lady Selena," she said, her voice laced with hesitation.I smiled politely. "Yes?"She glanced nervously over her shoulder, lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, and said, "I hope you're settling in comfortably.""I am, thank you."An awkward pause stretched between us before she finally blurted, "You should be careful around Prince Lucian."There it was again. The warning. That was the fifth one today, if not the sixth. I was genuinely starting to lose count. Folding my arms, I looked her dead in the eye. "And why exactly should I be careful?"She blinked, clearly taken aback by my bluntness. "As everyone knows... his powers can be unpredictable.""Has he ever harmed
Lucian's POVSix years had passed…People feared me. I noticed it long before anyone thought I did. The younger lycans lowered their eyes when I passed, and warriors twice my age measured their words carefully around me. Servants grew nervous whenever shadows trailed me through the palace corridors. It wasn't entirely their fault. I understood why.The stories had grown over the years, ballooning into myth. They whispered about the boy who had stepped through shadows as a child, the boy who had helped end a war before he was old enough to comprehend it, and the boy whose raw powers had once terrified even the strongest Alphas. Most of those tales were exaggerated. Some weren't. Either way, they all led to the same result: distance. People respected me, they obeyed me, and they feared me. Very few actually knew me. And honestly? I preferred it that way. At least, that's what I told myself.The training grounds echoed with the rhythmic sound of clashing weapons as I stepped into the a
Sera's POVOn the polished mahogany of my desk, the formal parchment from the Human High Council sat entirely untouched. I hadn't broken the heavy wax seal.As the hours bled toward morning, the strange thing was that the decision itself wasn't what kept my mind locked in a frantic loop. That part of the equation had actually become clear days ago. It was a long buried truth, a ghost I had carried in my shadow for nearly a decade.I knew that if I was truly going to choose this life, if I was going to choose a future beside Rylan, then I could no longer look him in the eye while hiding behind a shield of omissions. I stared out the window as the first fingers of dawn slowly painted the jagged horizon in strokes of brushed gold and violet. Then, with a quiet exhale, I stood up.I found Rylan exactly where I expected him to be: the western cliffs that flanked the outer ramparts, overlooking the vast valley below. For a long moment, I simply stood at the edge of the tree line and looked
Rylan's POVThree days. Three agonizing days of cowardice.That was how long I managed to dodge Sera. I didn't do it out of malice; I did it because every time her name crossed my mind, the echoed threats of that council chamber conversation paralyzed me. Leave or stay. Human or Lycan. Future or past. Every outcome was a weapon capable of fracturing whatever we've built.So, I defaulted to the only defense mechanism I knew. I buried myself in combat drills, scrutinized border patrol reports, and conducted midnight perimeter sweeps — anything to keep my body moving fast enough to outrun my thoughts.But Sera was infinitely sharper than me. She noticed the sudden avoidance immediately. On the first day, she tracked me to the triage center, and I slipped out the rear exit. On the second day, she intercepted me at the training ring, and I invented an urgent tactical meeting. By the third morning, she cornered me in the dining hall, and I practically fled the room.It was a pathetic disp
Rylan’s POVI knew something was wrong the moment my boots crossed the threshold into the high corridor outside the council chamber.Usually, the marble hallways echoed with the sharp snap of sentry boots, the rustle of dry parchment, or the low, rumbling baritones of Lycan commanders debating territory logistics.Today, the air felt stagnant. As I drew closer to the heavy, iron-bound oak doors of the chamber, muted voices began to filter through the thick wood. The council room was rarely occupied after the dawn briefings, but what made me pull up short wasn't the mere presence of an unscheduled meeting.It was the tone of the delivery.It was the distinct cadence of someone choosing their words with agonizing precision, treating each syllable like a glass blade that might shatter if dropped too heavily.I stopped a mere three paces from the threshold, my back pressing against the cold stone of the corridor wall.Her voice cut through the gap in the heavy double doors."…I understand
Rylan's POVI should have known that peace wouldn't last.It wasn't because of an encroaching army, or some newly uncovered threat lurking just outside of our borders. The problem was Xavier. Specifically, Xavier deciding it was a good day to have a personal conversation with me.He found me at the western training grounds just after sunrise. The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp earth and crushed grass. I was halfway through a grueling, sweat-soaked sparring session, my twin blades cutting through the air, when a heavy, familiar presence stepped into the perimeter of the arena.Xavier rarely graced the training grounds these days. That should have been my first warning. The second warning came when he raised a silent hand, dismissing the remaining warriors with a curt nod that left the dirt circle completely empty. I lowered my weapons, letting out a long, irritated sigh. "Whatever this is, I already don't like it."A subtle corner of his mouth twitched upward. "Good
Alara’s POVThe room was bathed in moonlight.It slipped through the tall glass windows in pale silver ribbons, settling softly over Artemis’s bed, over the slow rise and fall of her chest, over the faint glow that pulsed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat. The monitors were quieter now, stea
Xavier’s POVI followed her.Not because she asked me to, but because my body no longer knew how to do anything else when Alara moved away from me.T
Alara's POVThe house felt different in the daylight. Not quieter — if anything, it was louder now, filled with the soft chaos of the twins — but warmer. Like it had been holding its breath for years and had finally decided to exhale.I noticed it most when Xavier was near.I told myself it was ridi
Xavier’s POVThe summons made no sense.Ronan did not call meetings lightly, certainly not on neutral land, and never without reason grave enough to justify offending every Al







