LOGIN“Now, the heir belongs to me.”Damien’s words didn’t echo.They settled.Heavy. Final.Something inside me cracked.Not fear.Not a weakness.Restraint.The ancient dagger in his hand pulsed in rhythm with my fading heartbeat. Riven’s arm tightened around me, his body a shield I could barely feel anymore.I was slipping.Not into unconsciousness.Into something deeper.“You don’t own me,” I whispered.Damien stepped closer. “You misunderstand. I don’t need to own you. I only need to awaken you.”The shadows at my feet trembled.Not because I summoned them.Because they heard him.I felt it then—the fracture in my control. The barrier I had spent my entire life building to keep the darkness contained.The healer’s fragment still burned faintly inside my chest. The dagger throbbed in my palm. Kael lay motionless. Riven’s pulse thundered against my back.And Damien smiled like he had already won.Something primal rose in my throat.Enough.I stopped fighting the drain.Stopped trying to
There was no saving them both.The realization tore through me like a blade.Kael’s arm drew back. His strike would be fatal this time—clean, direct, unstoppable.Riven shifted behind me, preparing to counter.If he moved, Kael would die.If I hesitated, Riven would.So I chose.I didn’t block.I redirected.The dagger in my hand burned as I twisted my wrist sharply and stepped into Kael’s attack instead of away from it. At the last second, I altered the current of power running through the blade—angling it sideways rather than forward.The air between us warped.Kael’s strike veered violently off course as if seized by an invisible hand. His blade tore past my shoulder instead of Riven’s heart, slicing through fabric and skin.Pain flared hot and immediate.But it wasn’t deep enough to kill.The redirected force exploded outward.Kael was thrown sideways, crashing into the frost-covered earth with a brutal thud. His weapon skidded across the clearing.Riven lunged toward me at the sa
I froze.The shadows that had struck Riven moments ago trembled behind me, then slowly began to recede—sliding back across the frost-bitten earth as if retreating from something stronger than themselves.From someone.Kael stood at the edge of the clearing.For a second, relief surged through me.He was alive. He was here.Then he lifted his head.His eyes were glowing amber.Not the warm gold I had known since childhood. Not the steady loyalty that had anchored me through every storm.This was something else.Something is wrong.“Kael?” My voice broke on his name.He didn’t answer.Riven, still braced against the wooden barrier, stiffened. “Aria,” he said quietly. “Step away from him.”The shadows at my back flickered uncertainly, as if confused. They didn’t rise. They didn’t attack.They simply watched.Kael took a step forward.His movements were rigid. Mechanical. As though he were walking through invisible chains.“Why are you here?” I asked, forcing calm into my tone. “You were
I didn’t sleep.The bloodstained note lay folded on my desk long after dawn brushed pale light across my chamber walls.Your mate will betray you first.I must have read it a dozen times. The words hadn’t changed. They still scraped against my thoughts like claws on stone.Riven stood by the window, arms folded across his chest, the early light carving sharp lines into his expression. He hadn’t spoken for several minutes.Finally, he turned to face me. “You believe it.”It wasn’t a question.“I don’t know what I believe,” I said honestly. “But someone wants me to doubt you.”“And you’re letting them.”I flinched at the bluntness in his tone.“I’m not,” I snapped. “I’m being cautious.”Riven crossed the room in three strides. He stopped in front of me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him, steady and grounding.“Then let’s end this,” he said.My brows knit. “End what?”“The doubt.”His hand lifted—not to touch me, but to gesture toward the door. “Training grounds. Now.”I s
The forest was too quiet.Moonlight spilled through the towering pines, turning the ground into a patchwork of silver and black. Every branch, every drifting mist of breath from my lips felt louder than it should have. I moved carefully along the northern patrol route, my boots pressing softly into the frost-covered earth.Normally, the night soothed me.Tonight, it felt like the woods were watching.The dagger rested beneath my cloak, strapped tightly against my side. Even through its sheath, I could feel the faint pulse of power humming through the metal—alive, restless, aware. Since the moment I had caught it mid-air in the vault, something inside me had changed.The shadows answered me now.Not just around me.Inside me.A cold wind slipped through the trees, carrying the distant scent of pine sap… and something else.Wolf.Not one of ours.My body stiffened instantly.I stopped walking.Silence swallowed the forest again, but the feeling remained—sharp and unmistakable. Someone w
Damien’s whisper lingered long after he disappeared into the shadows.“She’ll never choose him.”The words pressed against my ribs as I descended from the battlements, the dagger warm in my hand. The courtyard had emptied, but the tension remained—thick, metallic, waiting for something to snap.“Aria.”I turned to find Liora standing near the archway leading to the healer’s quarters. Her silver-streaked hair was unbound, falling loosely over her shoulders. Her expression was not the calm mask she usually wore.It was guilt.“We need to speak,” she said quietly.Riven stiffened beside me. “Now?”“Yes.” Her gaze flicked to the dagger. “Especially now.”Something in her tone made my stomach tighten. I nodded and followed her through the winding corridors beneath the keep. The scent of dried herbs and crushed petals grew stronger as we descended into the healer’s chamber.Liora closed the door behind us.“What is it?” I asked.She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she crossed to a low s
The council chamber was silent except for the echo of my heartbeat. Cold stone walls rose high above us, carved with ancient runes that seemed to pulse faintly in the torchlight. The scent of iron and rain clung to the air—tonight, the sacred arena awaited blood.Riven stood at the center, stripped
Kael paces in front of the dying fire, the flames throwing fractured shadows across his scarred back. The air smells of pine and rain—heavy, restless—like the forest itself is holding its breath.He called me Princess of Shadowfang.He called my parents dead.He called someone on the council a trai
The forest swallows me whole.Branches claw at my arms as I run, breath burning in my throat, heart hammering against the cage of my ribs. The night presses close—cold, damp, alive with whispers. Every sound feels amplified: the snap of twigs beneath my boots, the rustle of leaves, the distant howl
The campfire crackled between us, its golden glow licking the edges of Kael’s scarred face. He looked less like a savior now and more like a ghost pulled from a grave of memories I didn’t know I had. His eyes—storm-gray and hollow—held something ancient. Something that made my pulse stutter.“Start







