ログインJanet’s POVThe bond between us pulsed like a second heartbeat—hot, insistent, alive.I don’t know who move first, Ryan’s mouth was on mine, fierce and claiming. The door slammed shut behind us with a finality that sent a thrill racing down my spine. His hands were everywhere at once: tangling in my hair, gripping my hips, sliding under the hem of my shirt to brand my skin with heat.“Need you,” he growled against my lips, voice rough with the wolf riding just beneath the surface. “Right fucking now.”I moaned into the kiss, fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt as we stumbled toward the bed. Clothes hit the floor in a frantic trail—my blouse, his jacket, my bra tossed somewhere near the window. By the time the backs of my knees hit the mattress, I was only in my panties, and Ryan was gloriously naked, cock thick and hard, already leaking at the tip.He pushed me down onto the bed and followed, covering me with his body. The weight of him felt perfect—solid, possessive, safe.
Ryan POVI left before I said something I couldn’t take back.The moment Celeste told us to get out, I knew she was right. The look on Rune’s face was enough to snap me out of it. But that didn’t mean the anger disappeared. It just followed me.All the way back to the palace.By the time I stepped into my wing, the tension in my chest hadn’t eased at all. My mind kept replaying the scene in the hospital. Kharl standing there like he had a right to decide everything. Celeste forced to defend herself again. The kids caught in between.I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply.Damn him.He always came in like a storm.Even now.Even after everything.I pushed the door to my room open without thinking.And stopped.Janet was there.Sitting quietly in the corner of the room, her hands folded in her lap, her posture small but composed. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t pacing. She was just… there.Waiting.The moment I saw her, something in me shifted.The anger didn’t disappear completel
Celeste POVThe moment the door closed behind Ryan and Kharl, the room felt different. Quieter.Like something heavy had been lifted, even if only for a moment.I let out a slow breath I didn’t realize I had been holding, my hand still resting on Blaze’s arm. His breathing was steadier now. His small chest rose and fell without struggle, and for the first time since all of this began, I allowed myself to believe he would be okay.The doctor came in shortly after.He checked Blaze carefully, running a few tests, asking a few questions, his expression calm but focused. I watched every movement, every flicker of his face, trying to read what he wasn’t saying out loud.Then finally—“He’s responding very well,” the doctor said.My heart skipped.“The blood transfer worked faster than expected. His body is stabilizing. If this continues, he can go home and recover there.”Home.The word alone almost made me cry.“Are you sure?” I asked quietly.“Yes,” he nodded. “He’ll need rest and monito
Kharl POVThe memory didn’t leave me immediately.Even after I opened my eyes.I exhaled slowly, my gaze fixed ahead as I tried to steady my thoughts. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence between me and Ryder was no longer just quiet. It carried meaning now. Shared understanding. History that stretched further back than I had ever realized.“Did you ever know who took her?” I asked finally.My voice came out lower than I intended. More controlled.Ryder didn’t answer immediately.I turned slightly, watching him.His expression didn’t change much, but I could see it in his eyes.He had thought about this question many times before.“I have my suspicions,” he said slowly. “But I never had enough evidence to prove it.”That didn’t sit well with me.Not anymore.“Who?” I pressed.He didn’t look at me right away. His gaze stayed forward, like he was weighing whether to say it out loud or not.“Markus,” he said eventually.The name settled heavily.His adopted brother.The same ma
Kharl POV“Celeste?”The name left my lips slowly, but the moment I said it—Something shifted.Not in front of me.Not in the garden.But inside my head.A memory I hadn’t touched in years stirred, faint at first, like something buried too deep to reach easily. I frowned slightly, leaning back against the bench as I tried to grasp it.“I…” I started, then stopped.Ryder didn’t interrupt.He didn’t push.He just watched me.And that gave the memory space to rise.“I was young,” I said finally. “Four… maybe.”Ryder nodded once.“That sounds about right.”The garden faded from my awareness.And slowly—I was no longer sitting beside him.I was there.A child again.⸻The pack had never looked that bright before.Everything felt bigger when you were small, but that day—it had been more than that. The halls were decorated, the air filled with voices and laughter, people moving around with excitement that even I could feel without fully understanding.“Stay close,” my mother had said, her
Kharl POVThe moment Celeste told us to leave, I didn’t argue.For once, I knew pushing further would only make things worse.Ryan and I stepped out into the hallway in silence, the tension between us still heavy but no longer explosive. Neither of us spoke. There was nothing left to say in that moment that wouldn’t lead us right back to where we had just been.We went in opposite directions without even acknowledging it.That alone said enough.I kept walking until the noise of the hospital faded behind me. The air changed the moment I stepped outside. It was quieter here. Cooler. The faint scent of trees and earth replaced the sterile sharpness of the clinic.I didn’t stop until I reached the garden.It was well-kept. Orderly. Peaceful in a way that felt almost out of place compared to everything that was happening inside me.I dropped onto the nearest bench, leaning forward slightly, my elbows resting on my knees as I stared at the ground.Everything was a mess.Not just complicate
Chapter Fifty-One: The AssignmentCeleste POVThe council hall felt different the next morning.Not quieter. Not louder. Just… aware.Whispers traveled faster than official announcements, and yesterday’s incident had not faded into polite forgetfulness. Delegates watched one another with renewed cu
Kharl POVKharl did not intend to watch her.He told himself that as he took his seat along the curved edge of the council chamber, reports laid neatly before him, eyes fixed deliberately on the central platform where the next discussion would unfold. He told himself he was here as Blood Moon’s rep
Ryan POVRyan did not make a plan.He simply adjusted his steps.The council complex had a rhythm to it—delegations moving in predictable patterns between halls, dining chambers, and meeting rooms. Once you observed it long enough, you could almost predict who would pass where and when. Ryan had al
Celeste POVThe maps told a cleaner story than memory ever could.I leaned over the table, tracing the thin blue line of the river with my finger, following how it curved through Silver Ridge territory before dipping just slightly into Blood Moon land where the mineral deposits had been marked. Who







