Arthur’s POV“Liz, are you okay?” I asked, eyes fixed on her.Liz tilted her head, her expression unreadable, but with one hand on her chest. “I’m fine,” she said softly. “I just felt something like a tightness in my chest.”My heart skipped.It was probably nothing. I told myself. But inside, the fear and worry began to creep up stronger than ever. What if this was the first sign that we were running out of time? We had found nothing, and I read every book in the palace. Cecilia was watching me, waiting for me to tell her what had happened, but I couldn't. Liz leaned forward, placing her hand over mine, sensing my worry. “Im okay arthur, im still here.”I looked into her eyes and went to speak.But before I could, a flicker in my mind broke through.‘Arthur. Come downstairs. Bring Cecilia. Now.’ My father’s voice came cold through my mind-link.I looked down at Liz and Cecilia. “We’ve been summoned.”Cecilia raised an eyebrow. “Summoned?”“Our father,” I said. “And when he sound
Melissa’s POVThe scent here was wrong.Magic. Old and twisted. Hidden in plain sight.Whatever they’d called me here to destroy wasn’t lurking in the shadows. It was living among them. Moving through their halls, eating at their bonds. I could march right up to them and demand answers, but I didn't. Instead, I watched from the shadows because people lied, but behaviour didn't.Arthur did not seem like a stupid man, but this evil clung to him like frost. It was woven into the threads of his being, like a shadow too stubborn to fade in the light.At first glance, he seemed in control. But the deeper I looked, the more I saw the truth. Something clung to him. Something that pulsed with unnatural energy. It fed off him.It wasn’t attached to his body; it was bound to something deeper. His soul. The air around him buzzed with remnants of spellwork that shouldn’t exist. There was no scent. No mark. But the power was there. Foul and Heavy. As if death itself were walking with him.I’d fo
Frank’s POVI waited near the old shed just outside the west tree line. The pack didn’t come out this way anymore. Not since the expansion pushed everything further east. It was quiet and Isolated. The breeze shifted before I heard her footsteps.Melissa stepped from the trees like she was part of them, her cloak a deeper grey than the sky.“You came fast,” I said.She didn’t smile. “You sounded desperate on the phone.”“I am,” I said.I didn’t wait for more questions. I turned and pushed open the creaking shed door, stepping inside first. Melissa followed, her footsteps silent. Her presence wasn’t.Philip stood at the far end, half-shadowed beneath a broken beam, arms folded, back straight. He didn’t move as she entered. Just watched her with that guarded stare of his, the one that said he was already sizing her up, already deciding what he’d do if she failed him.“Philip,” I said. “Melissa.”He gave a nod, but Melissa didn’t return it. She didn’t bow. Didn’t even blink.Instead,
Frank’s POV“We need to talk,” I said, low.Philip didn’t turn his head, but I saw the way his jaw shifted. He gave a nod and followed me out of the hall without a word.I opened the door to a side room away from unwanted ears.“I have been watching them and fear this is worse than we could have ever imagined,” I said. He closed the door behind us, arms folded.“There is evil in this pack, Philip. And it’s already sunk its claws into Cecilia and Arthur.”Philip didn’t say a word; he stood there waiting for me to go on.“I found Cecilia in the library this morning,” I continued. “She was talking to someone. I waited before stepping in, but when I entered the room, it was empty. Just her. She smiled like nothing was wrong. Lied straight to my face.”His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.“She was surrounded by books. Books that don’t belong in her hands. Dark and twisted magic. Rituals meant to pull at the veil between the living and the dead. Stuff even witches don’t touch unless th
Arthur’s POV“I’ve arranged a date for you.”I stopped walking.My father didn’t.He kept moving down the corridor like he hadn’t just said something that he knew I wouldn’t agree with.“Her name is Blair Crestwood. You’ll remember her father, Alpha Rowan. They’re arriving tonight. Dinner will be served in the east hall.”“No.” He slowed then, glancing back at me with that tired look he wore like a badge. “This is not a request, Arthur. You are the Alpha King. You don’t get to pick and choose when you play your part.”I stepped closer to him. “I will not be attending, do you understand me?”His jaw clenched. “You will not speak to me like that.”“And you will not arrange things for me like I’m a pawn on your board.”“You are my son,” he snapped.“No,” I said, voice low, steady. “I am your King.”That made him still.For the first time, he seemed to realise I wasn’t the boy who used to bow my head and follow his orders. I was no longer someone he could control with duty and fear. That
Frank’s POVThere’d been a strange feeling in my chest since the moment I returned to this pack.Something was off.Not in the usual way, things shifted when Philip was around his presence always tightened shoulders and straightened backs. No, this was deeper. I'd noticed things like how Arthur looked and smiled when there was nothing there, and how Cecilia was so wrapped up in books that she had no place reading. I'd seen the book she held when she had come rushing towards Arthur yesterday morning. Whatever was going on in this pack, it clung to Arthur and Cecilias. And after what Philip told me last night… I couldn’t shake it.Arthur is dancing alone. Speaking to empty air. Smiling at someone who wasn’t there. It made me realise the feeling that wrapped around me was more than just a feeling.I’d gone to Arthur’s room this morning, ready to speak to him face to face. No more assumptions. No more secondhand truths.But as I reached for the door, I stopped.He was talking to someo