LOGINCeleste POVThe next morning felt… different.Lighter.Not perfect.But lighter.I stood outside the room for a moment before knocking softly and stepping in. Amelia was already awake, sitting up in bed with a blanket wrapped around her small body. Her face looked better than yesterday. There was still a bit of tiredness in her eyes, but the color had returned to her cheeks.Relief washed through me instantly.“Good morning,” I said gently.She looked up at me and gave a small smile.“Good morning.”I walked closer and sat at the edge of the bed.“How are you feeling?”“Better,” she said softly. “A little tired.”“That’s normal,” I replied. “You had a scare yesterday.”Her smile faded slightly at that.“I’m sorry,” she said.That made me pause.“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I said firmly.She nodded, but I could tell she was still thinking about it.About everything.About Alora.About what happened.And that was exactly why I made a decision right there.“Get ready,” I said, st
Celeste POVThe room stayed tense for what felt like forever.No one spoke unless they had to. The healers moved quickly around Amelia, checking her breathing, rubbing her hands, preparing herbs, and forcing a little air through her lungs with practiced urgency. Kharl stood at the side of the bed like a statue carved from anger and fear, his whole body stiff, his eyes fixed on the little girl’s face.I stayed close too.Not because I knew exactly what to do, but because I couldn’t leave. Amelia might not be mine, but she was a child under my roof, in my care, and right now that was enough to make my chest hurt.One of the healers glanced up at me.“She’s breathing better now,” he said quietly. “But she needs a moment.”A moment.It sounded so small. Too small for the fear that had filled the room.Kharl didn’t move.“Amelia,” he said softly, the roughness in his voice making my throat tighten. “Open your eyes.”For a second, nothing happened.Then—A faint stir.Her fingers twitched f
Third Person POV“Call Mom. Now.”Blaze’s voice came out sharper than he intended, but there was no time to think about tone or calmness. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.Rune didn’t argue.He turned and ran.Fast.Faster than he had ever moved before, his small legs carrying him out of the room as fear pushed him forward.“Mom!” he shouted as he ran down the hallway.“Mom!”Back in the playroom, Blaze stayed where he was.Frozen.One hand still on Amelia’s arm.His breathing was uneven now, his chest rising and falling too quickly as panic began to take over.“Wake up…” he whispered.He shook her again.Gently at first.Then harder.“Amelia, wake up!”Nothing.Her body didn’t respond.Her eyes stayed closed.Too still.Too quiet.Blaze felt his throat tighten.“I didn’t mean…” he muttered, even though he didn’t know what he was apologizing for.Alora stood a few steps away.Not moving.Not speaking.Her small hands hung by her sides as she stared at the scene in front of her.At fi
Third Person POVThe afternoon felt calm.Too calm.The kind of quiet that settles over a place before something goes wrong.The children were gathered in one of the playrooms, surrounded by toys, cushions, and scattered little things that showed they had been trying to entertain themselves for a while.Rune sat on the floor, flipping through a small book, though he wasn’t really reading it. Blaze leaned against the couch, watching Alora move around restlessly as she tried to come up with something fun to do.And then—There was Amelia.She sat in the corner.Quiet.Still.Watching.Her small hands rested in her lap as her eyes moved between the triplets. She didn’t interrupt. Didn’t speak. She just… observed.It was obvious.She didn’t feel like she belonged.Not yet.And she was trying very hard not to make it worse.Blaze noticed first.He always did.His eyes shifted toward her again, lingering longer this time. He saw the way she stayed away. The way she didn’t try to push hersel
Lydia POVThe night air felt different when I stepped out of the hideout.Cool.Quiet.But not safe.Nothing felt safe anymore.I pulled the hood lower over my head, making sure my face stayed hidden as I walked through the narrow street. The clothes I wore were simple. Plain. Nothing that would draw attention.That was the point.I could not afford to be seen.Not now.Not after everything.Ever since the failed ambush, I had been forced into hiding. Moving from place to place. Keeping my head down. Watching from the shadows while everything I had worked for slowly slipped out of my reach.And now—Celeste was back.Not just back.Back with children.His children.My jaw tightened as I walked faster.The thought alone made something burn inside me.Everything I had done.Everything I had sacrificed.Was being undone piece by piece.And I refused to sit back and watch it happen.I needed help.Real help.Not those useless rogues who could not even complete a simple task.This time, I
Lydia POVThe call ended.But the words didn’t.They stayed.Echoing.Loud.Relentless.I stood there, the phone still in my hand, my fingers tightening slowly around it as everything I had just heard replayed again and again in my mind.Celeste is back.Back.Not just back—Back with three children.Three.My chest rose sharply as something dark twisted deep inside me.“No…” I whispered.Then louder—“No!”The word tore out of me before I could stop it.My hand moved without thinking.The cup on the table shattered the moment I threw it against the wall.The sound echoed through the room, sharp and violent, but it did nothing to calm the storm rising inside me.“How?” I demanded aloud, even though there was no one there to answer.“How is she back?”I started pacing.Back and forth.Fast.Restless.My mind was racing too quickly to settle.I had been careful.So careful.Everything had been planned.Calculated.Executed.She was gone.Banished.Broken.I made sure of it.I watched he
Kharl’s POVKharl chose the council chamber for the rejection.Not the private quarters. Not the healer’s wing. Not behind closed doors where truth could be bent and buried. He wanted witnesses. He wanted history to remember the moment clearly—without Morwen’s haze, without whispers reshaped into p
Celeste POVWe immediately began to prepare.Not the frantic kind that comes with fear, but the measured, deliberate movements of people who understood the weight of where they were going. Golden Sky Pack did not rush into politics. We armored ourselves with precision, with silence, with intent.Ry
Kharl’s POVKharl did not sleep again after the howl.Dawn found him seated at his desk, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles had gone white, eyes fixed on nothing. His wolf lay curled and restless beneath his skin, quiet now—but not calm. It was the kind of silence that followed injury, not heali
Kharl’s POVJust when Kharl was trying to calm himself, he received a mindlink directly from the Alpha KingThe summons arrived as a pulse of power rather than paper.Kharl felt it before he saw it—a ripple through the Alpha network, old and authoritative, impossible to ignore. The mark at the back







