MasukAlara’s POV
Morning light filtered through the tall windows of the main house, pale and unassuming, as if the night before hadn’t unraveled half the truths I had lived by for years.
I barely slept.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Xavier beneath the moon — his voice steady, his confession devastating. Aria. The council. The plan. Ronan. All of it tangled together until I couldn’t tell where betrayal ended and protection began.
By the time the twins finished breakfast, laughing softly with Xavier at the table like it was the most natural thing in the world, I had already made up my mind.
Ronan.
It was important that me and him talked.
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 ridiculous. That I was imagining it. That proximity didn’t mean anything, that shared spaces didn’t erase years of distance and misunderstanding. And yet, every time I turned a corner and nearly collided with his broad frame, every time his voice drifted through the hall while he spoke softly to the twins, something inside me shifted.Unsettled. Aware. Awake.It started small.I found him in the kitchen mid-morning, sleeves rolled up, a faint dusting of flour on his forearms as he stared down at the counter like it had personally offended him. One of the twins, Artemis, sat perched on a stool, legs swinging as she supervised with grave seriousness.“You’re doing it wrong,” she informed him.Xavi
Alara’s POVMorning light filtered through the tall windows of the main house, pale and unassuming, as if the night before hadn’t unraveled half the truths I had lived by for years.I barely slept.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Xavier beneath the moon — his voice steady, his confession devastating. Aria. The council. The plan. Ronan. All of it tangled together until I couldn’t tell where betrayal ended and protection began.By the time the twins finished breakfast, laughing softly with Xavier at the table like it was the most natural thing in the world, I had already made up my mind.Ronan.It was important that me and him talked.
Alara’s POVI didn’t realize I had stopped breathing until my chest began to ache.The garden felt impossibly quiet after my question as if the world itself had leaned closer, waiting for the answer. The moon hung low and heavy above us, its silver glow washing the stone path, the hedges, the ancient trees that had seen too many confessions whispered beneath their branches.Xavier hadn’t moved since my words left my mouth. He sat there, elbows resting on his knees, fingers loosely entwined, his gaze fixed on the sky like it held both his sins and his absolution.For a long moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer at all.When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet. Not gentle, but stripped bare of command and crown.
Alara’s POVI stayed inside my room longer than I meant to.The walls felt too close, the air too thick with truths I hadn’t asked for but had been handed anyway. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lucian’s small hand in Xavier’s, Artemis’s fragile chest rising and falling, Ronan’s bloodied nose, Xavier’s fury; threads of a life tangled so tightly I didn’t know where one ended and the other began.Eventually, the quiet drove me out.The garden was washed in moonlight, pale silver spilling across stone paths and low hedges trimmed into patient shapes. Night-blooming flowers had opened, releasing a soft, intoxicating scent that reminded me painfully of another palace, another life.
Alara’s POVThe twins finally slept.Lucian’s small hand was curled around the edge of Artemis’s blanket, his brows knit even in dreams, as if guarding her from whatever shadows dared to follow her into sleep. Artemis lay calmer now, her breathing even, the silver-violet glow beneath her skin dimmed to a soft, steady pulse that no longer frightened me.Relief settled into my bones for the first time in days.I brushed a kiss to each of their foreheads, lingering longer than necessary, memorizing the warmth of them, the quiet proof that they were still here. That she was still here.When I closed the door behind me, the
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, steadier, their once-alarming rhythms soothed by Xavier’s blood flowing through her veins.She looked so small. Too small for the weight fate had placed on her.I stood beside her bed, fingers curled tightly around the frame, afraid that if I loosened my grip even slightly, everything would collapse — the fragile peace, the tenuous calm, the impossible reality of what was happening.Behind me, the door opened quietly.I didn’t turn at first. I didn’t need to. I could exactly tell who it was from the rhythm of his heartbeat alone.Xavier’s presence was unmistakable, a gravity that pulled at the air itself. But now, it was softer. Restrained. As though he were afraid that even breathing too loudly







