ANMELDENSelena’s POVI was losing ground.Gradually I was beginning to know that Keiran was getting out of my control and soon I will not be able to control him and he might be a disaster to my Kingdom.The reports came one after another, stacked neatly on obsidian tables, delivered by hands that no longer trembled out of loyalty but obligation.Guards refusing secondary orders that was given directly from me. Witches requesting reassignment. Patrol leaders questioning the necessity of continued preparations.It was certain that these people are no longer afraid of what I might do to them and that amazed me. Before now, no one dared question my orders, because they knew they would be dead before anything.Fear had always been enough before. Fear and certainty. I had built this palace on the understanding that I am the final authority and going against me is like digging your own grave. But something had shifted. Fear was no longer unifying them. It was isolating them.People spoke in corners
Kieran’s POVThey loosened the restraints at dawn.The iron-thread shackles no longer bit into my wrists when I moved, but they never stopped touching skin. The runes etched into them stayed warm, humming faintly like a warning that hadn’t finished speaking. Every movement carried resistanc. A leash disguised as mercy.I understood immediately that they were trying to cage me like an animal since it was difficult for them to take my powers.The guards made sure I understood it too.They rotated through the yard in pairs, fresh faces, unfamiliar postures. Different voices. Different rhythms. Some stood too close. Some pretended not to watch me at all. One of them dropped his spear on purpose just to see if I’d flinch but I just glared at him.I stood barefoot on the cold stone, shirt damp with morning mist, breathing slow. The yard smelled of iron, sweat, and old fractures in the ground that never fully healed. The walls loomed higher than they should have, listening.They always liste
Aurelia’s POVThey let me out without warning.No knock. No explanation. One moment there was only the dark, thick, absolute, pressing against my eyes like it wanted to seep inside me and the next, the door opened.Light struck me like a blow.I flinched hard enough that my knees nearly buckled. Sound followed immediately, boots on stone, the clink of metal, the low murmur of voices that felt too loud, too alive. My ears rang. My vision blurred. I tasted blood, sharp and sudden.“On your feet,” a guard said.I forced my eyes open.The corridor swam, then steadied. The torches burned too bright, their flames aggressive after so long without anything but memory and breath. My body reacted before my mind caught up, heart racing, muscles coiling like I was about to be struck again.But no one touched me.That was the first wrong thing.They didn’t drag me. They escorted me.Two guards walked at my sides, not gripping my arms, not shoving me forward. They moved like I might shatter if hand
Dominic’s POVI woke up dying.That was the first thing I knew, before my name, before the cold, before the taste of blood thick in my mouth. Breathing hurt.Every inhale scraped like broken glass. Every exhale felt optional, like my lungs were asking why bother?“Don’t sleep,” a voice rasped near me. “If you sleep now, you won’t come back the same.”I tried to laugh. It came out wet.“Bold of you,” I muttered, my tongue thick, “to assume I’d come back at all.”The old prisoner sat beside the slab where they’d chained me, his back hunched, his hands stained dark with old magic and newer blood that was mine. His eyes were sharper than they should’ve been for someone who’d been down here as long as he had.“You’re still have time to leave, I can still feel your wolf.” he said. “Barely. But it’s enough to keep you forore days.”Something burned along my veins.I gasped, arching against the restraints as heat tore through me, vicious and bright. My vision exploded into white.“What did y
Aurelia’s POVThey didn’t explain anything to me.That should have warned me.One moment I was scrubbing ash from the stairwell stones, my fingers numb from cold water and lye, and the next, a hand closed around my arm hard enough to bruise me.“Get up you filth.” he said aggressively and I was so shocked.I didn’t resist because I knew so well where that will land me. I rose slowly, wiping my hands on my skirt, my pulse steady in a way that would have horrified me months ago. The guards didn’t look at my face. They never did when things were about to get ugly.“What did I do this time?” I asked and no one bothered to answer.We didn’t go toward the council chambers.We went down. Past the holding cells. Past the storerooms. Past doors I had only ever seen sealed, their wards old and humming with something that pressed against my skin like thick fog.One of the guards muttered, “Don’t talk to her.”The other answered, quieter, “She hears things and honestly I think they should just ki
Selena’s POVThe meeting was called before dawn.That alone told them how frightened they should be.The witches arrived first, cloaked and silent, their magic prickling the air like static before a storm. The council followed, men and women who had learned, over years of service, when to speak and when to keep their mouths shut. Today, most of them chose the latter.I stood at the head of the chamber, hands folded behind my back, spine straight despite the ache blooming behind my eyes. The stone floor beneath us was cold. Too cold. The wards etched into the walls pulsed faintly, uneven, like a heartbeat struggling to find rhythm.The ritual was slipping.I could feel it everywhere now.“Sit,” I said.They obeyed.No one asked why the guards had sealed the doors from the outside. No one commented on the faint metallic scent in the air, or the way the candles flickered despite the absence of wind.I turned slowly, letting my gaze pass over each face. Fear sat differently on each of the
Selena’s POVThe sound of their escape still echoed in my head long after the forest went quiet.The sickening realization that Dominic and Aurelia had slipped through my fingers again.By the time I got back to base, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely breathe.Fury burned through me so
Aurelia’s POVI turned slowly, my breath coming out in shallow, panicked gasps.They were everywhere.Dozens of rogue wolves circled us, their bodies half-shifted, muscles rippling beneath scarred skin. Yellow and red eyes glowed through the shadows, reflecting hunger, rage, and bloodlust. Low snar
Aurelia’s POVThe palace gates loomed ahead of us, it was still the same way it has always been and yet, the moment we stepped closer, something felt awfully off about this place.Music drifted through the air, and from a mile you'd know that a party was been held in the palace.Lanterns glowed alo
Aurelia’s POVI hit the ground hard.The impact drove the air straight out of my lungs, a sharp, blinding pain exploding through my side as my body slammed against unforgiving stone. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My mouth opened in a silent scream as my chest refused to move, my vision swimming







