登入Amber’s POVThe penthouse had started to feel like a prison.A beautiful prison, admittedly. Most wolves in Star Pack would have considered staying here an honor. The rooms were larger than some family homes. The windows overlooked half the territory. Fresh flowers appeared every morning, meals arrived before I could ask for them, and servants seemed determined to make sure I never lacked for anything.Except freedom.That part seemed negotiable.I sat curled into one corner of the couch with a book resting open in my lap, staring at the same page I had been pretending to read for nearly an hour. Every few minutes my eyes drifted toward the windows overlooking the territory below.Somewhere out there were answers nobody would give me.Every day that passed without news felt heavier than the one before.The academy was gone. Lucian was dead. Richard was tightening his grip on the pack. And Lyra…I squeezed my eyes shut.No.I refused to think like that.Lyra was alive.She had to be.T
Lyra’s POVThe cabin was small, but it was dry and hidden.At that point, dry and hidden felt dangerously close to luxury.There was a narrow kitchen, a worn table, a hearth full of old ash, a cot near the wall, and a second room barely big enough to hold another mattress. Someone had already left supplies inside. Folded clothes sat on the table in rough stacks. Towels. Soap. A comb. Tooth powder. A chipped basin. A few blankets. A lantern with enough oil to burn through the night.Clean clothes.Soap.A real roof.I stared at it all like an idiot.After four days in the wilderness, those little things felt so painfully normal that I didn’t know what to do with them. My throat tightened in a way that made me angry because it was absurd. I could stand in front of armed wolves without crying, but apparently soap was where I lost my mind.Mara brushed past me and grabbed a towel from the stack. She didn’t look at me, but her voice softened just enough for only me to hear.“Don’t you dare
Lyra’s POV“Well,” the young man said coldly, his bow still trained on us, “this is either the stupidest invasion I’ve ever seen, or somebody better start explaining why two Alpha heirs are carrying a dying human across my border.”The woods stayed silent after that, except for Rowan’s breathing.That was the sound I couldn’t stop hearing. Not the creak of bows drawn tight around us. Not the shift of boots in the pine needles. Not the low growl rumbling from one of the Star Pack wolves half-hidden behind a tree.Rowan.Each breath scraped out of him like his body had to drag it up from somewhere too deep. Kael held him carefully, but there was no making Rowan look anything other than broken. His head rested against Kael’s shoulder, his skin pale beneath the dirt and fever, one hand hanging limp near Kael’s arm. Mara stood close enough to touch him, her backpack still slung over one shoulder, her fingers flexing like she wanted to check his pulse again but knew one wrong move might mak
Lyra’s POV Four days had gone by with Mara, Rowan, Cassian, and Kael following me through the wilderness toward Star Pack, all of us chasing the same fragile hope. Amber. That name had become the only thing keeping me moving. We were dirty, injured, hungry, and I was pretty sure we were all partially dehydrated at this point. My mouth felt like sand, my muscles ached with every step, and every breath tasted like pine, dirt, and exhaustion. I was also pretty sure I heard Kael and Cassian grumbling more than once that if we were all wolves, this would’ve gone by much quicker. Sadly, I agreed with them. Not that I would ever admit it out loud. We followed the river as much as we could, using the water to cover our tracks whenever the ground allowed it. It slowed us down, but it also kept us just one step ahead of literally everyone tracking us. Aurelia’s soldiers. Wolves loyal to the Snow Pack. Whoever else had decided we were worth hunting through half the damn territory.
Amber’s POVWe both moved without looking rushed. Miri returned to the towels. I sat at the vanity and lifted my hair away from the mark, exposing it in the mirror just as Richard walked in. He wore black, because of course he did. Mourning suited men who liked people watching them suffer. His dark hair was tied back, his jaw clean-shaven, his Star Pack ring gleaming on his hand. He looked powerful. He looked calm. He looked like a man who had never once considered the possibility that the woman he locked away might be thinking. “Amber,” he said. His voice made my stomach turn. I lowered my eyes because survival was sometimes uglier than defiance. “Alpha.” His gaze went straight to the mark on my neck. Satisfaction softened his mouth. “You look better.” “I rested.” “You needed it.” I almost told h
Amber’s POVBeta Flynn was new. Too new for most of the council to trust and too young for the old wolves to respect without choking on it first. He had dark blond hair, quiet eyes, and the kind of controlled danger that made even stronger men watch their mouths around him. He had been raised along the borders and promoted faster than anyone expected after the last Beta died in the chaos around Lucian’s death. Richard had wanted a useful Beta. He had gotten Flynn instead. Flynn was idealistic enough to believe Star Pack could still be saved and dangerous enough to make men regret laughing at him for it. Most importantly, Flynn hated Richard. Everyone with eyes knew it. “Beta Flynn has been careful,” Miri said. “He obeys in public, but he’s been moving warriors off Richard’s private patrols and replacing them with border-trained wolves. Quietly. He also spoke with Gamma James last night.” My heart beat harder. “What did they say?” “I don’t know. They were in the lower armory.
Cassian’s POV I crossed my arms. “And what did you say?” Kael laughed, but it was humorless. “I told them to go to hell.” I blinked. “Really?” He shot me a glare. “Don’t look so shocked.” “I’m not shocked. I’m just impressed you didn’t add more creative language.” “I did. That was the cl
Cassian’s POVThree hours had passed since we’d left Lyra and Rowan’s suite, and Kael was pissed I’d offered her a deal. But unlike him, I believed in the will of the Moon Goddess and knew she didn’t make mistakes. He was naive if he didn’t think I knew his badly kept secret. He’d been obsessed wit
Lyra’s POV Kael and Cassian had left about an hour ago, their departure leaving the suite unusually quiet. As soon as they had walked out the door, Rowan had left me in the living room, stomping towards his bedroom and slamming the door as if he were a moody toddler having a tantrum. Honestly, the
Lyra’s POV Cassian looked at me with a glint in his eyes, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. Without saying a word, he came and sat next to me, and before I could flinch away, he took my hand in his. His smell of fresh-cut cedar was overwhelming my senses, but the mate bond was pulsing







