LOGINElara's POV The days in this strange place was shorter than normal, the air here was different too. I sat at the window of our cottage, a cup of tea cooling in my hands, watching Arthur chase butterflies in the garden. His laughter drifted through the open window, bright and carefree. Kylan was with him, pretending to be a monster, stumbling and growling while Arthur shrieked with delight. It was perfect. Too perfect. I did not know when the thought had first crept into my mind. Perhaps it had been there all along, buried beneath layers of contentment. But now, in the quiet of the morning, it surfaced like a splinter beneath my skin. I looked around the room. The white walls. The wooden beams. The flowers in the vase on the windowsill. The painting of the meadow on the far wall. It was beautiful. Peaceful. Everything I had ever wanted. But something was wrong. I could not name it. Could not grasp it. But I felt it. A dissonance. A wrongness that hummed beneath the su
Lucian's POVThe birth happened three days after I returned from the forest.I had never been so terrified in my life. Nothing can ever prepare a man for this moment. Watching the woman I love scream in pain, her body straining, her face pale with exhaustion. The women moved around her, their voices calm, their hands steady. I could do nothing. I could only hold her hand and pray. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life."Push," the woman said.Elara screamed. Her grip on my hand was crushing. I did not care. I would have let her break every bone in my hand if it meant she would be okay."One more," the woman urged. "Just one more."Elara's face was red, streaked with sweat and tears. She looked at me, her silver eyes wide with fear and determination."I cannot," she gasped."You can." I pressed my forehead to hers. "You are the strongest person I have ever known. You can do this. I am right here."She pushed.And then we heard it. A cry. Small and fierce and full of life.The h
Lucian's POVThe beast took over without warning.I felt it happening—the crack of bones, the tearing of muscle, the scream that was not quite human. The world went red. The pain was immense, but I did not fight it. I let it consume me. I let it take control.I remembered Darius's face. The triumph in his red eyes. The dagger in his hand, gleaming with enchanted light. Then the blade sinking into my chest.The pain was white-hot and unbearable.Then nothing._____________________I woke in darkness.I was in a forest. The trees were massive, their branches twisted together overhead, blocking out the sky. The ground was thick with moss and fallen leaves. The air was cold and damp.I did not know how I had gotten there.I pushed myself to my feet. My body ached. My chest was tender, but there was no wound. No blood. Just a dull throb where the dagger had pierced me.Then I heard it, a growl. Low and deep, rumbling through the darkness like thunder. It came from everywhere and nowhere, v
Elara's POVI immediately called for the maid waiting outside."Send for Gaius and Gwen. Immediately."The girl nodded and hurried away. I turned back to Lucian, my hand still clasped in his. His breathing was still shallow, still fragile, but the spark inside me pulsed with a faint, steady warmth.The fate sisters had given me enough. Just enough to try.Gaius and Gwen arrived within minutes. Their faces were lined with exhaustion, but their eyes sharpened when they saw the change in me."Something has happened," Gaius said. "You look different.""The fate sisters came," I said. "They told me what I need to do. Lucian's soul is trapped by the beast. I have to go into his mind. I have to find him and bring him back."Gwen stepped forward. "That is dangerous. If you get lost in there—""I will not get lost.""You do not know that."I met his gaze. "I do not care. I can not just give up on him, I have to try."Gwen was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded. "The ritual is possible. We
Elara's POV I did not remember walking to the room. One moment I was on my knees in the great hall, the dagger in my hand, Lucian's blood on my skin. The next, I was here. The room was small, I don't remember ever being in it before. But I'm certain we were still in the palace. Torches flickered on the stone walls. The air smelled of herbs and blood and something else—something that smelled like death. Lucian lay on the bed. His face was pale, his lips blue. The wound on his chest had closed, but his skin was cold to the touch. His chest rose and fell, but barely. Each breath was shallow, ragged, a battle he was losing. I sat beside him, my hand locked in his. I had not let go. I would not let go. Gaius and Gwen moved around the room, their voices low, their faces grim. They had done everything they could. Herbs, tinctures, prayers to gods I did not believe in. "He is not waking," Gwen said. I did not look up. "Try again." "There is nothing left to try." "Then find something.
Elara's POVThe light surged from deep within me.It was not like before. Not controlled. Not measured. It exploded out of me like a dam breaking, white and blinding, fueled by rage and grief and terror. I felt it burning through my veins, scorching my skin, pouring from my eyes like tears of fire.I looked down at my hands. They were covered in blood. Lucian's blood. Dark and thick and still warm. It dripped from my fingers, soaking into my gown, pooling on the stone floor beneath me.His chest was still rising and falling. Barely. The dagger was still buried in his heart, its runes pulsing with sickly light. I could see his life ebbing away with each weak beat of his heart.Then I suddenly felt a warm trickle between my legs. Wet. Wrong.I looked down and saw blood. Dark red, spreading across my thighs, staining the torn fabric of my gown. The baby. The child I had been carrying, the life I had been protecting, the future I had been dreaming of."No," I whispered. "No, no, no."Dariu
Elara's POV The hunters came in the afternoon. Three of them. Muddy boots. Worried faces that looked real enough to fool anyone. Their leader spoke first, a broad shouldered man with a scar across his jaw. He said their companions were dying. Torn up by something in the woods. A bear, maybe. Or
Lucian's POV Three days. Three days of watching her walk past me like I was made of glass. Something she could see through but wouldn't touch. Elara threw herself into the healing hall every morning before the sun was fully up. She stayed there until the candles burned low, sometimes later. I
Darius's POV Liora arrived twenty minutes later. Her golden hair was disheveled, tangled from sleep. She wore a nightgown beneath her robe, and her feet were bare. The guards must have dragged her straight from bed. "Darius," she said, her voice trembling. "What is this? Why am I—" "Sit down."
Elara's POVI didn't remember the walk back to the palace.The forest blurred around me. Branches scraped my arms. Roots tried to trip me. I didn't slow down. My hood fell back. My white hair glowed in the darkness, lighting the path like a torch.Lucian didn't claim you







