LOGINKAELAN'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,
KAELAN'S POVThe moon rose over Stonecrest, fat and silver, spilling its light across the palace walls like spilled milk.I stood at the window of my study, my fist pressed against the cold glass. Tempest stirred inside me, restless. Hungry. The full moon always did this to him. To all of us.But tonight was going to be different. I knew it. I felt it in my bones.The air was too still. The shadows too deep.Asher's text from earlier burned in my memory. "He's beautiful, Kaelan. It would be a shame if something happened to him."No matter what, blood was going to spill tonight. The fight between me and Asher had been delayed for too long. It needed to be let out.Asher and I needed to fight man-to-man. Blood-for-blood. I had always shed blood when it came to something I needed to protect.I did it for her in her past life. Even though I doubted she had seen that in her past memories. Even though I later had to kill her myself—plunged a dagger through her chest because my hands were ha
ISOLDE'S POVThe news spread through the palace like wildfire.The Luna had given birth. A son. A healthy male Alpha pup.I sat in my chambers, staring at the wall, my hands clenched in my lap.A son.That damn witch gave birth to a fucking son. An heir to the throne. If she couldn't miscarry her baby, she could have at least given birth to a girl.I hissed, running my hands through my hair.This was all Asher's fault. That slow maid confirmed she had delivered my letter, so why hadn't I gotten any reply? Why hadn't Asher and his forces stormed Stonecrest yet?I stood up and paced. My heels clicked against the marble floor. Every click felt like a countdown, a reminder of time slipping through my fingers.I thought about Seraphina. About the way Kaelan looked at her. Like she was the only person in the world. Like I didn't exist.I had been here first. I had played my part. I had done everything they asked. And what did I get? Nothing. A dead pup. A broken body. A title that meant not
SERAPHINA'S POVI sat in the middle of my bed, my knuckles clenched so tightly they ached, bone-white against the dark silk of the covers. The room, usually a place of uneasy refuge, felt like a tomb. Heavy curtains blocked the afternoon sun, leaving the space in a perpetual, gloomy twilight. For
SERAPHINA'S POV"Are you okay?" I heard Kaelan ask."Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, trying to shake off what I had just seen. Was that an illusion? It was so fleeting, yet so realistic."Let's head back," he said, and this time, I didn't argue.As we headed back, my body started getting weak; i
"Repeat all you said, dimwit," Kaelan gritted out, raising the man higher with his hand still wrapped around his throat.My eyes widened at the raw, effortless force.The man's friend rushed forward, trying to fight Kaelan."Come near me, and I'll throw this stupid idiot so far away that all his bo
SERAPHINA'S POV"Can I come in?" I asked, knocking simultaneously on Kaelan's door. I was quite surprised to see him in the mansion tonight.Although, he has been frequenting it more ever since I got pregnant. The bump was now fairly visible; you could now tell I was carrying a baby.He opened the







