LOGINThe sand was cold beneath my boots as we circled the center of the Great Arena. The silence of the crowd was a suffocating weight of expectation. I could feel Maxwell’s gaze from the stands—burning with a mixture of pity and spite. He expected the girl he broke to crumble under the weight of a Dragon’s aura.
Then, the King’s hand dropped. "Begin!" The air exploded. Instead of the standard pairing, I veered left, my speed blurring into a silver streak as I interceAella POVThe following days were quiet.Too quiet.Not peaceful.Not truly.Just... quiet.The kind of quiet that came before a storm.Sol and I spent most of our time recovering.The barrier ritual had drained us more than either of us had expected, and while our powers were returning steadily, neither of us was eager to test our limits again.Not yet.For once, we listened to Beatriz.Mostly because she threatened us.Repeatedly.And because she had several healers helping her enforce those threats.I had learned not to underestimate determined healers.They were terrifying.The children continued growing at an alarming rate.Riot had somehow learned how to open doors.Xander was still floating more than walking.And Althea had discovered maps.That had been a mistake.A terrible mistake.Because now she liked pointing at locations and demanding explanations.Fortunately, Sol became her primary victim.Unfortunately, he actually answered her.For hours.I suspected she understood f
Aella POVFor the first time in what felt like forever, life slowed down.Not stopped.That would have been impossible.Not with three children.Not with kingdoms to rule.Not with Elias somewhere out there plotting the end of reality.But it slowed.Enough for us to breathe.Enough for us to heal.Enough for us to remember what we were fighting for.The twenty-four days we spent in the Sanctuary passed faster than I expected.The children remained chaotic.Riot learned how to climb even more things.A development nobody had asked for.Xander still preferred floating over walking.A problem I continued to worry about.And Althea had somehow convinced three different maids, two guards, and one noble candidate to reorganize their entire schedules.The little tyrant was thriving.Unfortunately.Or fortunately.Depending on who you asked.Once Sol and I recovered enough, we finally returned to the Void.Not as warriors.Not as monarchs preparing for battle.As people trying to bring a dea
Aella POVFor one glorious hour, everything was peaceful.No battles.No politics.No mutant invasions.No ancient monarchs trying to destroy reality.Just sleep.Beautiful, wonderful sleep.Then the children arrived.The bedroom door opened.Not quietly.Not politely.The door practically exploded inward.I groaned without opening my eyes.Beside me, Sol buried his face deeper into his pillow.A sensible decision.Unfortunately, the invaders were already inside.Chaos walked into the room carrying Riot.Order followed carrying Althea.And Xander—Xander floated in by himself.The little boy drifted through the doorway like a tiny ghost.Completely unconcerned by concepts such as walking.Or gravity.Or personal space.The three children immediately spotted us.Then smiled.The expression never meant anything good."They're hungry," Chaos announced.As if that explained why he had brought them into our room at dawn.Actually, it probably did.The children immediately stretched their a
Sol POVI was exhausted.Aella was exhausted.The children, however, seemed to possess an infinite source of energy that defied every law of nature.Honestly, after everything we had learned recently, that should not have surprised me.Yet somehow it did.The war room meeting had ended.The commanders had been informed.The truth was out.And my mother had casually informed half the leadership of two kingdoms that Marcus and I were Elias' sons.Just like that.No warning.No preparation.No discussion.Not even a polite "How do you feel about this?"I wasn't angry exactly.Just...Tired.The whole world now knew I was the son of a monster.A monster who had manipulated kingdoms.Destroyed lives.Raised armies of mutants.And tried to steal one of my children before they were even born.I knew the truth.I knew who I was.But it still stung.The Bond must have carried some of those thoughts because Aella's hand found mine immediately.No words.Just understanding.That somehow made it
Aella POVThe atmosphere changed completely once the battle ended.The Silver Pack had survived.The barrier stood.The people were safe.And for the first time in weeks, laughter echoed through the territory.Real laughter.The kind that came when people realized they were alive.Children ran between the warriors.Families reunited.Pack members celebrated beneath the shimmering dome of protection.The barrier glowed softly overhead, a constant reminder that someone was watching over them.Protecting them.The commanders gathered around us while Beatriz and Samantha held the babies.Or attempted to.Xander kept floating.Riot kept escaping.Althea kept judging everyone.Normal behavior, apparently.The warriors were fascinated.Several commanders had gathered around Samantha.Others around Sol.The younger warriors were openly trying to get Riot's attention.Which immediately proved to be a mistake.The little menace looked delighted.I was introducing the children to several pack el
Aella POVThe battle continued long after the barrier rose.The dome of protection stretched over the Silver Pack like a second sky.Golden sunlight intertwined with shimmering darkness.Beautiful.Ancient.Alive.Every time a mutant slammed into it, the barrier responded with a flash of light.Holding.Protecting.Enduring.The sight alone gave the pack warriors new strength.Unfortunately, Sol and I had nothing left.Absolutely nothing.The ritual had drained us.Six hours of blood.Six hours of chanting.Six hours of feeding our essence directly into the land.By the time the barrier completed itself, my legs barely worked.Sol wasn't doing much better.We stood together near the boundary line, trying very hard not to collapse.The effort was becoming increasingly difficult.A mutant crashed through a group of trees.Another followed.Then another.I instinctively reached for my power.Nothing answered.Not enough.The barrier had taken almost everything.Then Hunter moved.The bat
Samantha’s voice, though raspy, carried an ancient authority that made the room go still. She leaned forward, her violet eyes burning with a desperate warning. "The Altar of the First Flame is not just a pile of ruins," she whispered, her gaze darting between Sol and me. "It is an ancient legend,
We walked quickly toward the access doors of the Silver Tower. Bruno—the Tiger Alpha—was already speaking into his comms, his voice clipped and controlled. “Monarchs have arrived. Repeat—Monarchs have arrived. Maintain barricade positions. No one breaks formation without direct authorization.”
The transition from "Ascended Monarchs" to "starving shifters" happened remarkably fast. For hours, we were buried in vellum and leather. We moved through stacks of ancient scrolls, but it seemed the Great Library of the Queens had a sense of humor—or a very mundane side. We found "The Little Drag
Maxwell was gone. Truly gone.For a flickering second, a memory I had tried to bury surfaced. I remembered his laughter as a pup, high and bright. I remembered him rolling around in the dirt with Caleb and Jax, four children making a mess of the world. He used to help me in ways no one else dared,







