Masuk*Ares POV*Three days. That’s all I had left to overturn a monarchy’s worth of lies and re-trust a kingdom that had forgotten the touch of loyalty in my leadership. Three days to prove I was not the tyrant I’d been painted to be. Three days until people would stand at the polls and choose whether I'd remain their Alpha…or have my name erased to stain in the gutter of crimes I never committed.Good thing I’ve always been a creature who knows the worth of silence — and how to weaponize it.I stood behind the tinted glass of the conference hall in the safehouse, rolling my thumb slowly over the silver ring Selene once called “too plain.” She had held it once, turning it until the muted metal caught the light. She said it “felt...lonely.” I didn't take it off after that.Elais entered first. Of course, he did. Beta, loyalist, betrayer, now...something else. He hovered inside the doorway, shoulders bowed but his eyes steady on me. That was enough. I wouldn’t make him speak first.“I signed
*Greta's POV*I walked slowly on the cold stones,dreading going in,and at the same time,dreading leaving.The house is too quiet when I return.The kind of quiet that hums beneath your skin like a bruise healing wrong.They’ve taken off the restraints, but the ghost remains — the smell of iron, the faint pinch of the cuffs on my wrists. I breathe through it. My hands tremble when I reach for the gate. Dominic’s guards look at me, impassive. They think I’ve learned my lesson.The prison I was sent to in question was just a dungeon I was served food that dogs would reject.What Dominic isn't aware of is the time he had given me to think–to awaken as I would call it,now I am bound by nothing,I've seen his worst and I have nothing to loose.When I open the door, the first thing that hits me isn’t his voice. It’s her laughter — soft, bright, almost… rehearsed. Selene is here.I still smell the faint notes of her perfume tracing exactly where she took her steps.I follow it closely to the l
Selene’s POV — “The Scene” I was only after one thing today,to be discreet. I returned at two am and was surviving off six hours of sleep in forty-eight hours. The nightmares were already an existing factor,my chest aching for Ares wasnt helping. I took the rest of the pills in the plane to calm the headaches,if I overdosed,I didnt feel it. All I knew now is I needed strength to do the final scene and find my way out of here. Away from everything and everyone. Hopefully with Greta,but if not. I'll leave anyway,I couldn't stand the memories this place held or rather,did memories it did not hold…What could have been.The pack is in political unrest so being discreet was easy,even the crew was beginning to wrap up. Everyone wanted to be away from here before shit goes down. I sighed and pushed the hair off my face,trying to convince myself somehow that it wasnt my fault.The soundstage smells like saltwater and artificial rain.They’ve turned the entire set into a replica of a roc
Dominic’s POV One ring,two…the operators monotonous voice cut through,saying the same thing I heard nearly ten times now. She isn't gonna reply. Typical Selene,but it'll all be over soon. The television hums softly in the background, the kind of hum that feels like it’s coming from inside my head. The news anchor’s voice slices through the static: “Breaking: the postponed national election has resumed — with a new contender, Alpha Ares himself going against the ambitious Dominic..” The sound doesn’t immediately register. I blink once, twice. My pen slips from between my fingers, rolling off the desk. Ares. He’s back. And not only back, but competing against me. My lips curve upward — not in surprise, not even anger — just amusement. Quiet, eerie amusement. “Of course,” I whisper, rubbing my thumb along the edge of my desk. “Of course he would,it could only take so long.” I lean back in my chair, tapping the side of the table with a rhythm that doesn’t match my heart
Selene’s POVThe moment the door shut behind him, something in me broke.The sound wasn’t loud — it was soft, final, like a page being torn from a book. My body went cold, the air heavy in my chest as though every breath had to fight its way through. My knees gave out before I could even think, and I collapsed onto the floor.The tears came before the realization did. Hot, furious, trembling. My body shook with each sob, my hands covering my face as if that could stop the shame from crawling up my throat.What have I done?The words echoed again and again, louder each time, drowning out the sound of my own heartbeat.It wasn’t supposed to go this way. None of it.I was supposed to stay focused — stay in control. Dominic had given me clear instructions. Observe, collect, destroy. But then…then Ares had smiled. Then he had touched me, said my name with that voice that crawled under my skin, that low, steady warmth that made the walls of my hatred crack. And the longing in my soul that f
Ares’s POVThings were finally starting to align. The vacation was nearly over, the days slipping by like soft sand through my fingers, and Selene and I were finally together. All that remained was for the world to see it—to see us—and the puzzle pieces would fall into place, neat, complete, whole.Every time I saw her, something inside me resurrected. Something I thought had been buried, dormant, finally stirred again. And now…finally, she felt it too—or at least, she had realized she felt it. It was almost unbearable, the thought that the woman I had loved across lifetimes was here, in this small room, hers and mine alone, breathing the same air.It felt too good. Too real. Too perfect.I splashed my face under the running water, the cool droplets cascading over my skin, trying to wash away the surreal haze. I wanted to convince myself that it had all been a dream, a figment of my imagination, but when I felt the warmth linger and the reflection staring back at me wasn’t gone, I kne







