MasukMelissa’s POVI straightened, pushing myself back up, my hands moving again, this time with purpose, grabbing everything I needed before stepping away from the table, quickly placing crystals in a circle around me. Small things.I closed my eyes.Taking a slow breath.Then another.With my little spell book in my hand, I opened my eyes, scanning the words in front of me. “By blood and bone, by earth and sky, I call the strength that does not die. From root to stone, from wind to flame, no harm shall pass, none stake a claim.” Magic began to buzz under my skin, the air around me becoming still. “Circle sealed and power bound, let no dark force cross this ground. By will, by word, by magic true, I cast this shield, I make it new. Let all who enter come in peace, or turn away and find release. This land is guarded, this bond is sworn, protect them.”Light flowed from me, spreading out like a wave, pushing through the palace walls, over the grounds, out toward the edges of the kingdom.I
Arthur's pov“The white petals are too much”, I said to Cecilia as she fixed my bowtie for the tenth time.Everything had to be perfect. Liz deserved it, and I needed to show her just how much I love her. “Arthur, stop!” Cecilia said, her eyes burning into mine. “The petals are perfect, Liz will love it.”“She's right,” Finn said in his calm voice. “And besides, there's no time shes hear.”My head snapped to where he was looking, sweeping over the sea of people all waiting for the same thing I was. The carriage came to a halt, and my heart began to pound in my chest. ‘Mate’, my wolf called in my mind.The door opened, and everything around me slowed. Alice and Diana started to walk down the aisle, but my eyes were locked on the carriage as Liz stepped out, taking her father's hand. A smile swept across her lips as her eyes lifted and locked onto mine. The world around me narrowed, fading away to just her.Everything in me stopped.I couldn't breathe.I never gave up hope that this
Melissa’s POVLiz and Arthur needed the day to go right.They needed this moment. After everything they have been through, I wasn’t about to let anything ruin this for them.My steps got faster as I walked away from Liz, my eyes scanning everything around me. The guards. The tree line. But Nothing stood out.I turned the corner, heading around the side of the palace, already running through in my head what I could do. Wards. Barriers. Small spells just enough to warn me if something crossed them.“Shouldn’t you be watching the wedding?”His voice made me stop dead, and my heart fluttered.I turned slowly.Frank. He was leaning casually against the stone wall like he had been waiting for me, his arms crossed. “I could ask you the same thing,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked at him.His lips twitched like he was trying not to smile.“I asked first.”I shook my head. “Liz felt something,” I said. “Someone watching her.”Frank's body straightened, his expression shift
Lizs povI stood turning around to see myself for the first time in the mirror, my hair and make-up done. The dress sticking to my skin like it was home and my heart racing. “You look beautiful”, Diana said as she stepped closer to my side. “Are you ready?”My eyes found hers in the mirror. I couldn't answer her right away, instead I just stood there looking at myself.Not at the dress or how my hair fell perfectly into place, or the soft glow of my skin.But at me.The girl staring back didn’t look like the one who had once stood in front of a mirror preparing to marry Lumian. That girl had been nervous, unsure, and weak. Trying to convince herself she was happy.This…This felt different.My hand lifted slowly, pressing lightly over my chest.My heart was racing.But not from fear.From something so deep and overwhelming, it almost made my knees weak.“I am,” I said softly, a small smile spreading on my lips.Diana’s smile softened beside me, and I felt her hand squeeze my arm gen
Lizs povStaring down at the book in my hands, they shock just enough for me to see it. My fingers tightened around the edges of it.I hadn’t even opened it yet, just holding it felt like too much. Like the moment I turned that first page, everything about my life might change.A knock came from the door, making me jump to my feet, the book falling from my hands, pages scattering on the floor in front of me.The door opened a second later, and Alice stepped inside first. Diana followed right behind her, and Melissa slipped in last, carrying a package and closing the door quietly behind them.For a second, none of them said anything.They were all just stood there staring at me.Then Alice crossed her arms and shook her head.“Oh no,” she said immediately. “That look has to go.”My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “What look?”“The one that says you’re about to lock yourself in this room and spiral into an overthinking mess,” Diana said as she walked further into the room, plac
Lizs povAlice stood there staring at me with wide eyes. “No, you're shitting me. Lumian's a hybrid.” Her hand came up to her mouth as she bit down on her nails. “This has her written all over it, but why…” She turned away from us, taking a minute to let everything I'd just told her settle in her mind.I wished I had the answers that everyone wanted. I'd been trying to find an explanation myself. “Shes desprate,” Melissa said when no one else spoke. “With Silas dead and Liz talking back her powers, she needs someone to protect her.”Everything Melissa was saying made sense, but it didn't sit right. It all felt too messy to be something that Angelica had come up with. “I don't think it is.” Everyone's eyes snapped to me. “Angelica seems to always have a plan, but turning Lumian into a hybrid just seems to be out of control for her. Hybrids are unpredictable”I didn't know much about hybrids, only what I'd read in books. Until today, I'd never met one, but what I did know is that a ne
Liz’s POVArthur still wasn’t back.The worry had been circling my mind for hours, not just for his safety, but also as to why he had left. He’s avoiding you.Angelica’s voice repeated that over and over again.We had been in the library for hours. Long enough for the candles to burn low and be re
Melissa’s POVShe followed. Barely upright. Barely holding herself together. But she followed without arguing, and that told me more than anything she had said on the floor of the library.Weak did not mean unwilling.Teaching her to unlock her powers wouldn’t be as easy as it would be for just a
Finn’s POVI stood tall even though my body screamed at me in pain.The battle I had fought earlier still lived in my bones. Every breath pulled at torn muscle. Every movement sent pain flaring through me. I should have been resting. I should have been horizontal and unmoving.Instead, I stood in
Liz’s POVI shouldn’t have been shaking. My hands trembled in my lap, no matter how hard I clenched them. The magic stirred under my skin, restless, impatient, like it knew time was running out, but no matter how hard I tried, it stayed locked beneath my skin.Sitting on the cold, hard floor, book







