MasukCassian’s POV“That’s my girl.”The man behind me pulled harder on my hair and pushed the knife tighter against my throat.“Drop them.”Lyra kept coming.He jerked me back. “I said drop the fucking weapons.”“Lyra.”“I heard him.”“That wasn’t why I said your name.”Kael stood a few feet behind her, blood dried down one side of his shirt. Rourke was farther back with a sword in his hand.The guy holding me looked between them.Bad idea.Lyra threw the knife.It hit him in the throat.His grip loosened and I caught his knife hand before the blade could slide across my neck. I slammed his wrist into the stone beside me until the knife hit the floor, then drove backward into him.Kael was already on the next man.Rourke took the other.The bastard behind me grabbed the chain between my wrists and yanked. I planted my feet, pulled forward and took him with me. His head hit the iron ring bolted into the wall.Once was enough.He went down behind me.Lyra stepped over him and crouched by th
Lyra’s POVRourke stopped walking.“Also?”Rowan made a noise against Kael’s shoulder that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.I pointed at him. “Don’t.”“I didn’t say anything.”“You were about to.”“I’m bleeding. I should be allowed a little entertainment.”Amber reached up and pressed two fingers against his neck again. “You should be allowed to shut up.”Rourke was still staring at me.I sighed. “Yes. Also.”His eyes moved to Kael, then to Rowan.“Three?”“There it is.”“Lyra.”“Yes, Rourke. Three.”He looked at Rowan again.Rowan lifted his head enough to meet his eyes. “Before you start, you already knew Lyra and I were sleeping together.”Rourke’s mouth tightened. “That isn’t the part I’m trying to understand.”“Good, because I really don’t want to discuss that while Kael’s carrying me.”Kael looked down at him. “I don’t want to discuss it either.”“You knew too.”“I did not know Rourke knew.”“Everybody knew.”I stared at Rowan. “Not everybody.”“You weren’t exactly subtle.”“W
Lyra’s POV The first warrior made it halfway down the slope before I moved. He was watching Amber instead of the trees above him, which told me everything I needed to know about Richard’s men and the amount of confidence they still had despite their territory burning around them. His sword was already drawn, his attention fixed on the woman their Alpha had apparently decided belonged to him whether she wanted him or not, and he never once thought to look behind him. I came out of the trees fast enough that he barely had time to turn. My boot caught the back of his knee and sent him forward. I hooked an arm around his throat, drove my knife into the gap beneath his armor, then let his body drop before the warrior beside him understood what had happened. Kael hit that one before I could. The clash of steel cracked through the ravine, and every man on the slope spun toward us. “There are two more!” someone shouted. I pulled my second knife free. “Technically, I’m worth a
Lyra’s POVI had seen Aurelia burn before.Buildings.Fields.Bodies.I knew what smoke looked like when it came from something nobody was going to save.But I had never stood on the side of a mountain and watched an entire werewolf pack tear itself apart.Another horn echoed across the valley.A howl answered somewhere beyond the trees.Then another came from farther south.I looked toward the columns of black smoke rising above Star Pack territory and tried to wrap my head around how quickly everything had gone to shit.Richard’s warriors had been hunting us less than an hour ago.Now his own wolves were fighting each other.Flynn had warned us there were wolves inside Star Pack who were done living beneath Richard’s rule. Wolves who had spent years keeping their mouths shut because speaking against their Alpha could get them killed.Apparently, they were done being quiet.Beside me, Amber hadn’t moved.She stared across the valley at the smoke.“Amber.”“That’s my home.”“I know.”
Amber’s POVThe first kick hit the front door hard enough to shake dust from the rafters.Wood groaned.Another crash followed.The iron latch screamed beneath the force.“Hurry,” Kael barked.I dropped farther into the narrow tunnel, the lantern swinging wildly in my hand as dirt and loose stone crunched beneath my boots. The passage was barely wide enough for one person, its rough walls damp with decades of moisture and thick roots twisting through the ceiling. The air smelled of wet earth, old stone, and the herbs my grandmother had once stored here.Behind me, Lyra climbed down carrying our packs while Rowan lowered himself into the opening with a grunt that sounded like it had been ripped straight out of his chest.“I’ve got him,” Cassian said.“You’ve got shit,” Rowan muttered through clenched teeth. “I’m still walking.”“You keep saying that like it’ll magically make it true.”“I’m walking.”Kael looked ready to argue until another deafening crack echoed through the cabin overh
Amber’s POVThe horn ripped through my sleep.I jerked upright before I was even fully awake, my pulse hammering as another blast rolled across the forest.Long.Low.Ancient.The sound seemed to vibrate through the floorboards beneath me.For one terrifying second, I thought I was back inside Star Pack’s estate.Back inside those suffocating stone walls.Back where every horn meant Richard was summoning someone to kneel.I sucked in a shaky breath and looked around the dim cabin instead.The little healer’s lodge.The fire had burned down to glowing embers, leaving the room washed in pale gray morning light filtering through cracks in the shutters.My blanket slid from my shoulders as I swung my feet onto the floor.Another horn answered in the distance.Then another.Not close.Not yet.But close enough that every tiny hair on the back of my neck stood up.Across the room, Rowan groaned in his sleep.I crossed to him immediately.The fever had finally broken sometime before dawn, le
Alpha Richard’s POV Sitting out on my balcony, I watched as the snow surrounded me, chilling my tumbler of whiskey. I missed my wife so damn much, and no matter how much whiskey I consumed, it never dulled the ache I felt. I'd spoken to Lucian earlier, listening to his ravings on the humans and t
Lyra’s POV I circled him like a hawk circling a mouse in the sky. I must have done one hell of a job pretending to be weak for them to send such amateurs after Rowan and me. But the biggest question at hand is who the fuck sent them? This man-boy wasn't speaking, and I needed to know whether it wa
Lyra’s POV Today’s finally here. I’ve been awake for hours, and as the first sunlight sneaks through the window, I know it’s time to get moving. I’ve already thought through every detail—all the ways things could go smoothly or totally go wrong. There are tons of risks: we could get caught and tor
Lyra’s POV “Welcome to Alpha Academy” Not trying to look at the Alpha any longer than necessary, we both muttered, “Thank you, Alpha.” This man is seriously creepy, but in an odd way, why did he look vaguely familiar? Shaking it off, I grabbed Rowan’s hand, and under the order of the comman







