LOGINI spun, dropping immediately into the submissive posture every servant learned their first day—head down, shoulders curved, hands clasped. My heart slammed against my ribs.
"Cleaning, Alpha. I was assigned to your quarters."
Heavy footsteps crossed the threshold. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, watching his boots approach.
"By whom?"
"Head Maid Margot, Alpha."
Calling my enemy Alpha gives me the ick. I'm fuming with anger, I want to kill this bastard and be gone from the place.
"I don't recognize you." His voice was deep, cold. The voice that had haunted my nightmares for four years.
"I'm new, Alpha. I arrived three weeks ago."
The footsteps came closer. Too close. I could feel the heat radiating from him, could smell leather and pine and something darker underneath. My wolf, silent for so long, stirred.
No. Not now. Not ever.
"What's your name?"
"Isora, Alpha."
A pause. Long enough that I wondered if I'd made a mistake, if somehow he knew—
"Look at me, Isora."
The command in his voice left no room for refusal. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but I couldn't. Not without blowing everything.
Slowly, I raised my eyes.
Sea blue met hazel.
And the world shattered.
It hit me like a physical blow….a snap so violent it drove the air from my lungs. Heat flooded my veins, every nerve ending igniting at once. The mate bond crashed into place with the force of a tidal wave, pulling me toward him with a need so primal.
It terrified me.
My wolf roared to life for the first time in four years, clawing desperately toward the surface, screaming MINE MINE MINE—
No. No, this couldn't be—
Kira shut up! I snapped inwardly but the damn wolf was acting on its own.
"Are you ill?"
His voice sounded distant, muffled by the roaring in my ears. I gripped the edge of the desk behind me, my knuckles white, fighting to stay upright. Fighting to keep my expression neutral even as everything inside me tore itself apart.
"I—" My voice came out strangled.
"Forgive me, Alpha. I haven't eaten yet today."
He studied me, those cold blue eyes missing nothing. This close, I could see the sharp planes of his face, the slight scar along his jaw, the way his black hair fell across his forehead. This close, I could imagine how easily those strong hands could snap my neck.
How easily they'd torn my father's throat.
The hatred steadied me. Gave me something to hold onto while the bond tried to drag me under.
"Margot starves her workers now?" There was no sympathy in his tone, just observation.
"No, Alpha. I simply haven't had time."
His gaze traveled over my face, and I fought not to flinch. "You don't look like a typical servant."
"I don't understand, Alpha."
"Your bearing. Your hands." Before I could react, he caught my wrist, turning my palm upward. His touch burned. The bond sang at the contact, begging for more.
Kira behave please!
"No calluses. You haven't done hard labor."
I pulled back carefully, respectfully. "I'm a quick healer, Alpha."
"Are you." It wasn't a question. He circled me slowly, and I felt like prey being stalked.
"What pack are you from?"
The lie came smoothly. I'd practiced it a thousand times. "I had no pack, Alpha. I'm a rogue. I was captured at your borders three weeks ago."
"Rogues don't carry themselves like warriors."
My blood ran cold, okay he's smart I'd give him that. "I'm not a warrior, Alpha."
"No?" He stopped in front of me again, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. Close enough that the bond pulled so hard I wanted to scream.
"Then why do I feel like you're planning how to kill me right now?"
Time stopped.
Did he know? Had I given myself away already?
The door burst open, shattering the moment.
"Alpha, the council is waiting." A tall man with dark hair and a Beta's presence filled the doorway, his eyes immediately finding me.
"New servant?"
"Apparently." Adrian's gaze hadn't left my face.
The Beta frowned. "Margot's choice?"
"So she says."
"Interesting." The Beta's tone suggested he found it annoying.
"We really do need to go. The Forest River delegation won't wait much longer."
Adrian stepped back finally, and I could breathe again. "You're dismissed. Return this evening to prepare the room for the night."
"Yes, Alpha." I dropped into a bow, desperate to escape, but his voice stopped me at the door.
"Isora."
I turned, keeping my eyes down. "Alpha?"
"If you're planning to steal from me, I should inform you that the last servant who tried lost her hand." His tone was conversational, almost pleasant. "I'm far less forgiving with those who betray my trust."
🪷ISORA🪷 The fire was still burning. I was sitting on the cold ground, my knees pulled to my chest, my eyes fixed on the flames that were consuming him. The rain had stopped hours ago, but the sky was still dark, and the air was thick with the smell of smoke and ash and grief. I had been sitting here for hours, watching the fire burn, watching the flames lick at his body, watching the last traces of him disappear into the sky. My hands were numb from the cold, my face was raw from the tears, and my throat was raw from the screaming, but I could not move. I could not look away. I could not do anything except sit here and watch him burn. His face was still there, through the flames, through the smoke. I could see his eyes, his lips, the scar on his jaw. I could see the way he had looked at me when he said I love you. I could see the way his hand had fallen from my face. I could see the way the light had faded from his eyes. I reached for him, my hand stretching toward the fire, tow
🪷ISORA🪷 The healer's hands were still on Adrian's chest, his fingers pressed against the place where his heart should have been beating. I watched his face, watched the way his eyes darkened, watched the way his jaw tightened. "The wizard." The healer said, his voice low and urgent. "The tether was bound through him. Azrian used his magic. If the wizard dies, the bond might break." I did not wait to hear the rest. I was already on my feet, running toward the dungeon, my legs carrying me faster than I had ever moved. The rain was still falling, soaking through my clothes, mingling with the tears that were streaming down my face. I did not feel any of it. I could not feel anything except the hollow emptiness where the bond used to be. The absence of him was a physical weight, pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. My lungs burned and my legs screamed and my heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, but I did not stop. I will not let him die. I b
🪷ISORA🪷 I watched Adrian fall to his knees, and something inside me snapped. Kira had been pacing beneath my skin since the moment Azrian appeared at the gates, her fury building with every taunt, every laugh, every time my mate's blood spilled onto the stone. But when I saw Adrian stumble, when I saw him struggle to rise, when I saw his hand pressed against his side and the blood seeping through his fingers, I could not hold her back any longer. "You promised me his death." Kira's voice was a snarl in my head, raw and ancient and filled with years of grief. "You swore on our parents' ashes. Now take it." I did not think. I did not hesitate. I shifted with the speed of light, my bones cracking and reforming, my body surging forward before my mind could catch up. My white wolf was faster than anything I had ever known, a streak of silver and fury that crossed the distance between us in the span of a heartbeat. The ground blurred beneath my paws, and the wind roared in my ears, an
🐺ADRIAN🐺 "Hello, brother." He said, his voice echoing in the silence. "Did I disturb your sleep?" The words hit me like a physical blow, and I felt my hands clench into fists at my sides. My body was screaming with every movement, the moon weakening me with every passing second. I could feel the cold sweat on my skin, could feel the way my hands were shaking, could feel the way my vision was blurring at the edges. Every breath was a struggle, and I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs like a trapped animal. The ground beneath my feet felt unsteady, and I could feel the fatigue settling into my bones like a heavy weight. I walked forward, my footsteps slow and deliberate, my eyes locked on Azrian's face. He was standing in the middle of the path, his arms spread wide, his body swaying slightly as if the effort of standing was almost too much for him. "You look weak, brother." Azrian said, his voice dripping with mockery. "The blood moon suits you. It makes you look almost
🪷ISORA🪷The moment Adrian said Azrian's name, I was fully awake. There was no grogginess, no slow transition from sleep to consciousness. My eyes snapped open and I was sitting up in the bed before I even realized I had moved, my heart pounding against my ribs, my body already responding to the danger I could feel in the air. The sheets were tangled around my legs, and I could feel the cold sweat on my skin from the nightmare that had woken him, the nightmare that had made him scream, the nightmare that had left him shaking and pale beside me.Adrian was standing at the window, his back to me, his shoulders rigid, his hand still holding the curtain aside. The blood red light from the moon spilled into the room, casting everything in shades of crimson and shadow. I could see the tension in his spine, the way his muscles were coiled like he was ready to spring into action, and I could feel the fear radiating off him like heat from a fire. He was terrified, and that terrified me. His h
🐺ADRIAN🐺I was ten years old again.The blood was warm on my hands, dripping from my fingers and pooling on the stone floor beneath me. It was thick and sticky, and I could feel it drying on my skin, cracking as I curled my fingers into fists. The smell of it filled my nostrils, metallic and sweet, and I could taste it on my tongue, copper and salt. Dead wolves surrounded me, their bodies twisted and broken, their eyes open and staring at nothing. The silence was the worst part. After the screams, after the chaos, there was nothing but the sound of my own ragged breathing and the slow drip of blood falling from my hands onto the stone.I recognized some of them. There was Marcus, who had taught me to hold a sword when I was five, his kind eyes now empty, his mouth frozen open in a silent scream. There was Lena, who had braided my mother's hair and always saved me an extra piece of bread at dinner, her body crumpled against the wall, her apron soaked red. There was old Thomas, who ha
🐺ADRIAN🐺I knew she would not agree. I watched her face the whole time I gave her the option. I saw the way her eyes flashed with pure hatred. I saw the way her body fought between what her mind wanted and what the bond was forcing on her. She would rather die than c
🪷ISORA🪷My body went completely still.Not because I decided to stop struggling. But because the words landed and I genuinely thought I had heard wrong, I thought the bond and Kira and the heat of his hands on me had scrambled something in my processing, and I needed one full second of stillness
🪷ISORA🪷And the bond ignited.Full force. It detonated the moment his body made contact with mine, every nerve ending I had lighting up simultaneously, Kira surging forward with a howl that rang through my skull so loud it was almost physical. This was the first time. The first real contact, skin
🪷ISORA🪷I went completely still.Every part of me locked in place at once, the instinct to move crashing headfirst into the reality of what I was standing in the middle of Adrian's room I had walked into voluntarily, a trap I had walked into voluntarily, a situation I







