LOGINLyra’s POVI knew Alaric had gone to NightFang even before Cyan said a word.My body always knows first—as if a thin thread is pulled from deep inside my chest every time, he steps away from me. That morning, before the sun rose, my head was already throbbing. Nausea came in waves, leaving my throat raw. I forced myself upright, but the world spun too fast.“Water,” I rasped.A nurse rushed over, her hands shaking as she offered the glass. I took a small sip, then vomited it back up. The bitter liquid burned my tongue.“Lady Lyra—”“Quiet,” I snapped. “Leave.”They left. They always do. Afraid of my voice. Afraid of my anger. And today, I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was this: Alaric chose NightFang.Vania arrived with a pale face she tried—and failed—to hide. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hand cold as it clos
Iris’s POVI knew Dad had arrived even before I saw him.Not because of his footsteps—people move quietly all the time in NightFang—but because the air around me changed. Alice, who had been sitting casually on the garden bench, suddenly straightened. The guard at the end of the narrow path shifted slightly, the way they do when the wind changes direction.I lifted my head from my book.Dad was standing near the inner gate. He wasn’t wearing the big black coat he usually had on. There was no shining emblem on his chest. He looked… ordinary. Like any other grown-up visiting.I didn’t run.I didn’t wave either.My feet stayed where they were, and I didn’t know why. My chest felt strange—not painful, just… unsettled, like there was something I didn’t understand yet. I stood there holding my book, watching him from a distance.Dad looked in my dire
Cassandra’s POVI welcomed him with a distance that was unmistakable.Not just physical distance—though that existed too—but a distance I had built deliberately, layer by layer, ever since his name reentered my life. Alaric stood in NightFang’s sitting room without the Alpha’s insignia, without escorts. He came alone. He didn’t carry the weight of authority that used to fill every space he entered.And precisely because of that, I was wary.I watched him from the far end of the room. The way he stood hadn’t changed—upright, controlled—but something was missing. The certainty that once made me feel small now seemed restrained or intentionally set aside. It unsettled me. Manipulation often arrives in its calmest form.“Please, sit,” I said, formal.He did.Orion wasn’t present in the room, but I knew he was close. Too close to be coincidence. NightF
Alaric’s POVI arrived at NightFang without a single symbol to my name.No Alpha’s cloak. No escort. None of the insignia that usually sat on my shoulders and made people lower their gaze before I ever spoke. I came as nothing but myself—and that awareness made my steps heavier than usual.The gates of NightFang opened quietly. No elaborate welcome. No rejection, either. Somehow, that hurt more. As if this place didn’t need my presence, didn’t require my approval to stand firm and whole.Every step I took was an admission of weakness.This was Orion’s territory.And for the first time in a long while, I came without leverage.I stopped in the inner courtyard when I saw her.Iris.She sat on a wooden bench beneath an old tree, a book open on her lap. Her hair was neatly combed, her expression calm. There was no trace of a child recently released from a hospital. No ling
Cassandra’s POVThe request came far too suddenly.Ben delivered it with careful, almost measured politeness—as if he knew that one wrong word could make me shut the door completely. I listened without interrupting, then asked for time. Ben nodded, didn’t press, and left.I remained where I was, standing still a few seconds longer than necessary.“Aunt Cass?” Iris looked up from her coloring book. “What’s wrong?”I offered a small smile. “Nothing, sweetheart. Keep coloring.”She nodded obediently and returned to her world. That small, quiet peace warmed my chest—and precisely because of that, the alarm in my mind grew louder.Alaric wanted to meet. Privately. At NightFang. With Iris.Why?I stepped onto the small balcony on the east wing and drew in the cold air. My thoughts moved quickly, connecting points that had been pressing too close
Alaric’s POVOn the first day I waited, I was still certain it was only a matter of time.Ben was probably arranging the schedule. Cassandra must have needed space. I gave her that—like I should have done long ago. By the second day, that certainty began to crack. By the third, I stopped counting hours and started counting mistakes.My study turned hostile again. Maps, files, and reports piled up, but my thoughts circled a single name. Cassandra. And another face I should have protected above all else—Iris.“No news?” I asked without looking up when Russel entered with a thick folder.“Not yet,” he replied carefully. “Ben said Miss Cassandra asked for time.”I gave a short nod. “Go on.”Russel opened the folder. “The old case… every trail leads back to Lyra. Witnesses were fabricated. Evidence twisted. Quiet payments routed through Vania. E







