LOGIN(Isabella’s POV) “Could I use that connection to stop him?” “Yes.” My mother immediately shook her head. “No.” I turned toward her. “Mother…” “I have already lost too many years with you. I’m not going to watch you risk your life because an ancient being tells you that you are the only person who can save it.” “I understand why you’re afraid.” “No, Isabella. You don’t.” Her voice broke. “I held you in my arms while your father and I argued about whether we could keep you safe. I watched him walk away because he believed it was the only way to protect us. I carried you across mountains while people searched for us. And when I finally placed you on that doorstep, I had to walk away without knowing whether you would ever see me again.” Tears filled her eyes. “I did all of that because I wanted you to have a life. Not a prophecy. Not a duty. A life.” I stepped toward her. “And I want that too.” She looked at me. “But I can’t pretend I don’t know what is h
(Isabella POV) “Malrec?” I repeated the name, hoping I had misunderstood Eira. But the ancient being remained silent, its pale light trembling in the passage. “The voice I heard before I was born belonged to Malrec?” “Yes.” I looked at my mother. She had gone pale. My father looked as though someone had struck him. And Orion, who had spent so many years pretending he understood the Heart, suddenly seemed like a man standing before a door he had never known existed. “What does that mean?” I demanded. “How could I hear him before I was born?” Nobody answered. I turned toward my mother. “Please don’t tell me there is another secret.” Her eyes filled with pain. “I wish I could tell you that this was something we understood.” “You’re my mother. You knew about the Heart before I was born. You knew Malrec wanted me. You knew something had happened to my father. How can you not understand?” “Because we never knew he had reached you.” My mother stepped closer. “When you were
ISABELLA’S POV “You still believe in that old nonsense? The prophecy was written by frightened people who couldn’t control what they had created.” “No,” Liora replied. “The prophecy was written by people who finally understood that control was the problem.” The black wall surged toward us. “Now, Isabella!” she shouted. Isabella stepped forward. I reached for her hand. The moment our fingers met, the world seemed to become very still. I felt her fear, her grief, and the fierce determination beneath both. She felt my concern, my anger, and my promise to remain beside her. Neither of us tried to push the other into a particular choice. We simply stood together. Light spread from our joined hands. The black wall shuddered. Malrec’s expression twisted. “No!” The wall cracked. A second pulse of light crossed the chamber, and the barrier broke apart into drifting black fragments. Elara immediately led the soldiers toward the passage. “Move! We need to get everyone out!” Ca
ISABELLA’S POV For several seconds, I forgot how to breathe. The woman standing behind my father was older than the woman in the portrait Orion had shown me. Silver streaked her hair, and exhaustion had carved lines around her eyes. Her clothes were worn, and there was a faint scar near her temple, but none of that mattered. I knew her. Somewhere deep inside me, beneath years of forgotten memories and unanswered questions, I knew her. “My little star.” The words broke something open inside my chest. I took a step toward her. “Mother?” Her lips trembled. “Yes, my darling.” I shook my head, tears blurring my vision. I had imagined this moment so many times that I had stopped allowing myself to believe it could ever happen. In some dreams, my mother came back and explained everything. In others, she stood far away, unable to reach me. But she was here. She was real. And she was looking at me as though she had been waiting for this moment for years. I ran to her. She caugh
ISABELLA’S POV Malrec clapped slowly. “How touching. A family reunited through tears and regrets.” He stepped away from the barrier. “Now, Isabella, we can stop pretending. You have heard the truth. You know why you were hidden. You know what your father sacrificed.” He held out his hand. “Come to me, and I will release him.” Rex stiffened. “No.” Malrec ignored him. “One step across the marked circle. That is all I ask.” I looked at the floor. A ring of black symbols surrounded the barrier. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I could see that the markings were connected to the chains holding my father. “What happens if I step inside?” I asked. Malrec’s expression was almost gentle. “The Heart will recognize your presence. Its power will flow through the chamber, and I will finally be able to stabilize it.” “By controlling Eira.” “By giving Eira the guidance it desperately needs.” Eira’s voice whispered inside my mind. “Isabella, he is not telling the truth.” I look
ISABELLA’S POV“Do not let him open the Heart!”Eira’s warning rang through my mind, but I could barely understand what it meant. My father was standing behind a wall of black light, looking at me with eyes that were somehow familiar despite the years separating us.He was alive.He was real.And he was looking at me as though he had spent every day of his life waiting for this moment.“Isabella,” he whispered again.I took a step forward.“Dad?”His eyes filled with tears. He tried to stand, but the chains around his wrists pulled him back. I heard the painful clatter of metal against stone, and something inside me snapped.“Let him go!”Malrec smiled.“Such a beautiful reunion. I wonder whether it will be as beautiful when you discover what your father has done.”“Don’t listen to him,” my father said urgently. “Whatever he tells you, don’t believe him.”Malrec tilted his head.“Still protecting her with half-truths, aren’t you, Alaric?”Alaric.My father’s name.I held on to it as i
Steel sang melodies. The first Redcliff blade came down, and in that instant, the grand hall of Blackthorn exploded into violence. Rex shoved Isabella behind him just as a warrior lunged. Rex caught the attacker by the throat, lifting him clean off the ground before slamming him into the marble
Oh Ash knew something was off the second the doors of the Alpha’s private wing opened.He was leaning against one of the obsidian pillars in the stronghold’s upper corridor, arms folded, pretending to be relaxed while actually clocking every shift of scent, every footstep, every flicker of energy i
Isabella woke before dawn. The room was quiet, too quiet for a stronghold that never truly slept. Pale light filtered through the high windows, painting the stone walls in cold silver. For a brief moment, she didn’t move. Didn't breathe because the weight behind her was unmistakable. Rex. His
Rex didn't escort her.He took her. Not roughly, never that but with a grip that made it clear this wasn’t optional. His hand closed around her wrist the moment they were out of sight, pulling her through the inner corridors of Blackthorn with long, furious strides. Guards flattened themselves ag







