LOGINSERAPHINA'S POVThe soldiers had arranged for movement back to the palace. SUVs lined the edge of the forest, their headlights cutting through the darkness. Guards stood at attention, waiting for orders. Nathan was already settled in one of the vehicles, asleep in a makeshift bassinet one of the soldiers had fashioned from a crate and blankets.But before Kaelan and I got into the vehicle that would take us back, I pulled his hand.He stopped. Turned. Looked at me with a bit of curiosity and something else. Uncertainty."Hey... can I talk to you for a while?" I asked, pulling him aside.He followed me without saying a word. We walked a few paces away from the vehicles, away from the soldiers, away from the lights. The forest was dark here, the moonlight filtering through the trees in pale silver streaks.I stopped. Turned to face him."Kaelan...""I'm sorry." He stared deeply into my eyes. His voice was raw. Broken in a way I had never heard before. "I failed you, Seraphina. I did. I
KAELAN'S POVThe word hung in the air like a death sentence.Found you.Asher's smile was cold, triumphant. His sword pressed deeper against Seraphina's back. Just a fraction. Just enough to draw a thin line of blood.I saw it drip down her spine.My vision went red, and my fists folded. Tempest surged inside me, clawing at my chest, begging to be released. I wanted to shift. I wanted to tear Asher's throat out with my bare hands. I wanted to make him suffer for every second he had touched her, every moment he had made her afraid.But the sword was still at her back, so I couldn't make any move yet.One wrong move and it would go through her. Through Nathan.I forced myself to breathe. Forced myself to think."Let her go." My voice was low. Deadly. "This is between you and me."Asher tilted his head, amused. "Is it? Because from where I'm standing, she seems very much involved. And too bad there's nothing you can do about it. You're not so stupid.""She has nothing to do with Alyssa.
KAELAN'S POVThe forest had been lying to me for hours.Every trail I followed, every scent I caught, every broken branch I found. It all led nowhere. Circles within circles. A maze of false hope designed to keep me running while Seraphina waited somewhere in the dark, alone, scared, probably wondering if I was even coming for her.At this point, I was damn frustrated.I stopped in the middle of a small clearing. The moon hung overhead, pale and indifferent. My chest heaved. My hands were bloody from punching trees, from tearing through branches, from gripping my sword so tight my knuckles had gone white.Think.I closed my eyes. Forced myself to breathe. Forced myself to focus past the rage clouding my mind.The scent was wrong. Too strong in some places. Too faint in others. Deliberately laid. Like someone had walked one direction, then doubled back, then sent another wolf in a completely different direction just to confuse me.The person who did this had to be someone who was reall
SERAPHINA'S POVThe rope had been cutting into my wrists for what felt like hours. It was thick, knotted tight. It would take me quite a while to wriggle and break free. But I had to try. I had to escape. I had to save Nathan and be with my Alpha again.I didn't know what Asher was capable of. I doubted he wouldn't kill me when he got mad or felt like it. And since Isolde said Kaelan had been misled, he most likely wasn't going to find us. Even if he did, it might be too late. I couldn't just sit here and wait for him.I continued wriggling, trying to find my way around the knotted rope. But it was tied too tight. Still, I didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Every twist, every pull, every scream of pain from my raw skin was worth it if it meant getting free.Nathan was crying now. Not the soft whimper from before. A real cry. Hungry. Scared.Asher's words echoed in my head."Listen to your son cry for milk you can't give him."Rage burned through me. Hotter than the cold of this stone tomb. I
SERAPHINA'S POVThe first thing I felt was cold.Not the gentle chill of a winter night. This was deep. Bone-deep. The kind of cold that seeped into your veins and made you forget what warmth felt like.The second thing I heard was silence.No guards. No healers. No Kaelan's voice booming through the corridor.Just... nothing.I tried to open my eyes. My eyelids felt heavy, like someone had pressed weights against them. I tried again. Slowly, the darkness blurred into shapes.Stone ceiling. Flickering torchlight. Shadows dancing on the walls.Where am I? I was in the private hospital just now. What happened? Is Kaelan safe?I tried to move. My wrists were tied. Rough rope bit into my skin. My ankles too.Panic clawed at my chest.Nathan.I turned my head, ignoring the pain that shot through my neck.He was there. In a small bassinet a few feet away. Sleeping. Unharmed.Relief flooded through me. Then rage.Who took us?The answer came as footsteps echoed from the shadows.---A figure
KAELAN'S POVI released Asher and ran.I threw open the door to Seraphina's room without slowing down.The bed was empty.The sheets were rumpled. Still warm. Her scent lingered—lavender and honey—but it was already fading, mixing with the cold night air pouring through the open window.Nathan's bassinet was empty too.The blankets were tossed aside. A single stuffed wolf lay on the floor.I picked it up. It still smelled like him. Like baby powder and milk and that soft, sweet scent that only infants carry. I pressed it to my nose for just a second. Just one breath.Then I shoved it into my pocket.I spun around, my chest heaving. My hands were shaking. I couldn't breathe."WHERE ARE THEY?"Asher stood in the doorway, calm. Collected. His smile was gone now, replaced by something colder. Satisfaction."Alyssa," he said softly. "Seraphina. Nathan." He tilted his head. "You took one from me. I'm taking two from you."He let the words hang in the air like a death sentence."Fair trade,
The silence in the room became deafening. I almost lost my composure, but I caught myself just in time"The person who started those rumours should have his neck cut off," I said, my voice cold. She recoiled, startled."Do you believe in the rumours yourself, Luna Marcella?" I asked, and if she no
SERAPHINA'S POVI stood in front of the mirror, checking my baby bump which was now a tiny bit protuded. Shouldn't it have grown bigger than this? I'm four weeks gone.I smiled as I touched it, and a tiny bit of Ivanna's conversation with me seeped into my head. I really don't like thinking about m
SERAPHINA'S POVDid I hear wrong? I'm pregnant?"How? It's only been a week since we ...." I paused, and of course, the nonchalant Kaelan speaks."Since we had sex," he completed, and the old man grinned. “The Moon Goddess has moved quickly. You are with child, Your Majesty.”I looked at Kaelan. H
KAELAN'S POVI left Seraphina’s room, the image of her tear-streaked, empty face seared behind my eyes. Rio materialized from the shadows of the corridor, his expression carefully neutral.“How is she?”“She’s lost her wolf,” I said, the words tasting like ash.I stopped in my tracks, and faced him







