LOGINHis gaze shifted to hers. And for one split second— she saw it. The crack. The one thing he almost never let anyone witness. Shame. Real, soul-deep shame. “I told you,” he said quietly, “that loving me would one day become dangerous.” The words hit her like a slap. Violetta’s eyes widened. “No.” Draven looked away first. His voice remained cold and controlled, but she heard the fracture under it. “She’s not entirely wrong.” The nursery went still. Dimitri stiffened. Gerald’s face darkened. Violetta stared at him in disbelief. “What did you just say?” Draven’s jaw clenched. “She’s wrong about many things,” he said, “but not about what I am on a full moon.” Her heart started pounding harder. “No.” “Violetta—” “No.” She stood so suddenly the chair scraped across the floor. Draven’s head snapped up. “You do not get to do that,” she said, voice shaking now. “Do what?” “Agree with her.” Something changed in his expression. Slight
The Curse They Wanted to Expose The first sign that peace would not last came just after noon. Violetta had barely managed to get Kael back to sleep after his feeding while Elara dozed against her shoulder, her tiny fingers curled into the soft fabric of Violetta’s robe. For the first time since the nightmare began, the room felt almost still. Almost safe. Draven sat across from her in the nursery chair, his sleeves rolled up, his massive frame looking absurdly out of place while he assembled one of the twins’ wooden rattles with grim concentration—as if fixing baby toys might somehow repair everything else too. Violetta should have smiled. On another day, she would have. But she was too tired. Too full. Too aware of the strange, fragile thing that had settled between them since last night. Not forgiveness. Not peace. But something quieter. Something raw. And then— Dimitri burst into the room without knocking. That alone was enough to make Draven ris
The prison doors closed behind them with a heavy clang. And just like that— Violetta’s strength gave out. It didn’t happen all at once. No dramatic collapse. No scream. Just… a quiet unraveling. Her steps slowed. Her breathing turned uneven. The cold control she had held together inside that prison began to crack, piece by piece. Draven noticed immediately. Of course he did. His hand tightened at her waist, steadying her before she could stumble. “Violetta.” Her name came softer this time. Not a command. A warning. A plea. She didn’t answer. Didn’t look at him. Didn’t even seem to hear him. Because everything she had just held back— every word, every truth, every shattered illusion— came crashing down all at once. “They never loved me.” The words came out hollow. Like she was saying them for the first time out loud… and hearing the truth of them echo back. Draven’s chest tightened violently. “Don’t—” “They never loved me,” she repeated, her voice breaking t
Her mother’s face crumpled.“Violetta, of course I did—”“Don’t lie to me.”The prison went still.Violetta stepped closer.Tears streamed silently down her face now, but her voice had gone eerily steady.“Not now. Not after everything. Not when I was put in a cage like an animal because of you.”Her mother started sobbing harder.But Violetta didn’t stop.“Did you ever love me,” she repeated, “or did you only love what I could do for you?”That question broke something.Not in Violetta.In her mother.Because for one split second—one horrible, honest split second—silence answered for her.And that silence was enough.Violetta’s face went completely blank.Draven saw it and instantly knew—this was worse than tears.Worse than screaming.This was the kind of pain that turned a person quiet because something essential inside them had finally died.Her mother reached for the bars desperately.“Violetta, please—”“No.”Violetta took a step back.Then another.And when she looked at her
The silence after Violetta’s words felt unbearable.Cold.Heavy.Suffocating.She stood in the middle of the prison corridor with Draven’s warmth at her back and betrayal staring at her from behind iron bars.Her mother cried. Her father looked down. Claudia’s lips were pressed into a thin, bitter line. Liam looked like he still thought he could talk his way out of this.And Violetta—Violetta felt nothing and everything all at once.Her chest hurt. Her throat burned. Her hands were trembling so badly she had to curl them into fists to hide it.“Explain it,” she said quietly.Her voice was calm now.Too calm.“Explain to me why my own family decided I was worth selling.”Her father was the first to break.His fingers tightened around the bars as he lifted his bloodshot eyes to her.“You changed after marrying into the Blackwood family.”Violetta frowned.“What?”“You changed,” he repeated, voice rough with something ugly. “You stopped being ours.”For a second, Violetta thought she ha
Morning came too softly for the kind of night they had survived.For a few long, disoriented seconds, Violetta didn’t know where she was.Warmth surrounded her.Heavy. Steady. Male.And then—the memory of the night before slammed into her all at once.The auction. The cage. The blood. The screams. Draven.Her breath hitched, and she stiffened instantly.She was in his arms.One of Draven’s large hands rested at her waist beneath the blanket, his body wrapped around hers from behind like even in sleep, he had refused to let the world take her again.His face was buried in her hair. His breathing deep. Even.And despite herself…Violetta stayed still for one more second.Because there was something dangerously comforting about this.Too familiar. Too intimate. Too easy to slip back into.That was what made it terrifying.So carefully, slowly, she moved away from him.The second the warmth left his arms, Draven’s body tensed.His eyes opened instantly.Sharp. Alert. Wolf.Then t
Morning light spilled through the curtains in soft silver streaks, brushing against the quiet confidence settling in Violetta’s chest. She stood before the mirror, tying her hair back with steady hands. There was no hesitation in her movements today. No doubt. The nervous girl who once shrunk u
The hall buzzed with restless energy as the final bell echoed through the venue.Design boards stood illuminated under soft golden lights, each one carrying the soul of its creator. Contestants waited—some hopeful, some terrified, some already calculating their next move.Violetta stood very still.
“Don’t you think you are being too possessive?” Violetta asked when she locked the door of her hotel room. Draven promised to stay with her, and it warmed her heart. Finally, there was someone who would be happy for her and watch her win the biggest dream of her life… without jealousy and without a
The backstage corridor felt colder than before. Violetta stood near the refreshment table, fingers wrapped tightly around a paper cup she hadn’t taken a single sip from. Applause still echoed faintly from the hall, but it sounded hollow now—like praise meant for someone else. She had known compe







