LOGINAurelia’s POVThe vibration hadn’t stopped.It wasn’t violent anymore. It wasn’t shaking the walls or rattling the windows like it had the first time. But it was there, low, constant, like something alive beneath my skin.I sat cross-legged on the floor of my room, palms resting on my knees, eyes closed, breathing slowly the way Dominic once taught me. Inhale through the nose. Hold. Release.The air felt heavier these days. Charged.I could feel things now, emotions in corridors before I turned the corner, lies sitting on people’s tongues before they spoke, shifts in the wind that carried intention.It terrified me. It thrilled me.My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, pacing, stretching like she was waking from a long sleep.“Control,” I whispered to myself. “You need control.”I pressed my hands flat against the stone floor.Energy hummed up my arms.The room responded.The candle flame flickered higher without a draft. The water in the basin trembled faintly.I opened my eyes sharp
Chapter 171Selena’s POVI was so angry.Infact I was angry and frustrated after what had happened. I had been restless all day regardless of how many times I've told myself to calm down.I sat alone in my room long after the candles had burned low, my reflection fractured across the polished surface of the vanity mirror. Aurelia.Her name echoed in my mind like a persistent irritation, a splinter lodged too deep to pull out cleanly. No matter how many problems I solved in a day, no matter how carefully I tightened my grip on the palace, she remained a problem. She knew about my secret relationship with the guard, and the goddess helps me if she decides to say a word of what she saw to Liam. I will surely be dead! Liam had always searched for a reason to eliminate me and this would be the perfect one for him. I honestly need to think of a way out of this fast before I lose everything.The image of her standing frozen in the corridor replayed again and again in my thoughts. The way h
Aurelia’s POVI didn’t know what to tell her.Selena stood in my doorway like she had always belonged there, like the room had been waiting for her arrival instead of sheltering me. She hadn’t announced herself. She hadn’t knocked. One moment I was alone, trying to steady my breathing, and the next she was there, calm, immaculate, terrifyingly composed.Selena moved the way predators moved when they were already certain the prey had nowhere left to run. Her eyes skimmed the room, lingering briefly on my bed, my window, the small table near the wall. She catalogued everything before finally looking at me.“Well,” she said quietly. “This is awkward.”My throat tightened.She took a few steps inside, her heels barely making a sound against the stone floor. When she stopped, she was close enough that I could smell her.She folded her hands in front of her. Patient.“What did you see, Aurelia?”The question was simple. Casual, even.It felt like a blade pressed gently against my skin.“I d
Aurelia’s POVNight had a way of changing the palace.During the day, the halls were loud with footsteps and commands, with laughter that never quite reached the eyes and authority that pressed down like a physical weight. But at night, everything softened and sharpened at the same time. I was sitting on the edge of my narrow bed, my body still aching from the punishment earlier that day, when the knock came.It was soft. Careful. Almost hesitant.I froze.No one knocked on my door anymore.My first instinct was fear because then I just didn't want trouble. My wolf stirred uneasily, her attention snapping toward the sound. I rose slowly, every muscle tense, and crossed the room as quietly as I could.“Aurelia,” a voice whispered from the other side. “It’s just me.”Lyra.Relief loosened something tight in my chest.I opened the door.No one stood there.For a moment, confusion washed over me, until I looked down.A tray sat neatly beside the door, steam still curling faintly from the
Aurelia’s POVThe scent hit me first.It cut through the warm spices of the hall and the polished wood like a blade, sharp enough that my wolf recoiled inside me. My hands froze mid-step, the tray I was carrying trembling as my pulse spiked.Poison.My heart slammed so hard against my ribs it hurt. I didn’t need to see the goblet to know. The smell crawled into my lungs, settling there like smoke, screaming danger.Alpha Liam stood near the long table, his back to me, shoulders tense beneath the heavy ceremonial tunic he wore. A goblet of dark red liquid rested in his hand, lifted halfway to his lips. Luna Shannon stood beside him, her fingers lightly touching his arm, her posture the picture of maternal concern.Too perfect. Too calm.My vision narrowed.She’s going to do it. Right now.“Drink it,” Shannon said softly, her voice honeyed. “You barely touched dinner. You need your strength.”Liam exhaled, clearly irritated. “Mother, I said I’m fine.”“Humor me.” Her smile tightened jus
Aurelia’s POVThe stone floors were cold beneath my knees.I scrubbed harder than necessary, the stiff brush rasping against the tiles as if I could erase more than dirt. My fingers were raw, the skin at my knuckles split and stinging, but I didn’t slow. Pain was easier to deal with than thoughts.The eastern corridor was quiet at this hour. Most of the pack had gathered in the commons for the midday meal, their laughter and voices drifting faintly through the arches. I had been assigned here deliberately alone, tucked away, forgotten.Or so I thought. I sensed her before I heard her.The air shifted. Thickened. The faint scent of crushed jasmine and something sharper curled into my lungs. My spine stiffened.I didn’t look up.The sound of measured footsteps stopped behind me.“Aurelia.”My name slid from her tongue like a verdict.I rose slowly, setting the brush aside, wiping my hands on my already-soaked apron before turning. Luna Shannon stood a few paces away, her posture immacul
Madeline’s POVThe whispers started before I learned how to count properly.Before I learned which forks were for which meals. Before I learned that crying too loudly made the maids angry. I was seven, but then it felt like I had lived in this world for a long time.They came from everywhere and no
Aurelia’s POVThe message came at dusk.Not through the usual channels, it was not barked by a cruel steward or tossed at me like an afterthought by a guard who barely remembered my name. This one was deliberate. Formal. Carried by a palace runner who wouldn’t meet my eyes when he spoke.“You are r
Aurelia’s POVSelena didn’t raise her voice when she gave the order.She never did when she wanted to hurt me the most.“Take her to the ritual chambers,” she said calmly, sipping her wine as if she were discussing the weather. “They need to be cleaned. Thoroughly.”The guards stiffened. Even they
Aurelia’s POVFire.That was the first thing I saw when I blinked.Not the gentle kind from a hearth, but wild, living flames crawling hungrily along the stone walls behind me. They licked the tapestries, devoured the edges of curtains, crackled like laughter too loud and too cruel. Smoke burned my







