LOGINJane's POVJosephine's room still smelled like her. That was the first thing I noticed every time I stepped inside.No matter how many days had passed. No matter how many people walked through the room. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that she was gone.The room still felt like Josephine was there. Her scent lingered in the curtains… in the blankets…in the pillows… in the wooden furniture she had polished countless times.It was comforting and painful at the same time. I sat on the floor beside her wardrobe with several dresses folded beside me. Some were old… some were worn… Some were beautiful enough that I could imagine her wearing them while tending her garden.Every piece reminded me of her.For nearly an hour, I've been trying to organize her belongings. Differentiating clothes to keep and clothes to give out. It wasn't about sorting the clothes, it was more like finding purpose in grief. I was trying to do things to keep myself busy because the moment I stopped
Alpha Liam's POVThe moment Dysebel mentioned seeing a Book of Life in her father's possession, every other thought vanished from my mind.Jane’s stubbornness, Josephine's death and funeral. Even the tension in the house vanished from my mind. All I could think about was the book. We had spent weeks chasing answers. We've spent half of our lives risking the same life to get answers. I had spent all my life trying to understand why so many people were willing to kill and destroy everything for these books. And now Dysebel had casually dropped the possibility that the president himself possessed one of the five books.My mind refused to let it go. In fact, the image of the president holding the book etched into my mind. If the president truly had a Book of Life, then he knew far more than he had admitted. And if he knew more, then every conversation we'd had suddenly became suspicious.Every warning… every piece of advice… every strategy he shared… every secret I thought we shared f
Alpha Liam's POVThe funeral had drained whatever energy I had left.Physically, I was still recovering from the burns. Emotionally, I felt like I had been dragged through a battlefield and was left behind. Josephine was gone. Jane barely looked at me. And the peace I thought I would feel after reclaiming my home wasn't there. I didn't even know if I could find that peace anymore. By the time I reached my study, all I wanted was silence and a few moments alone. I just wanted to have some time alone so I can put my thoughts together. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for me. Because the moment I pushed open the door, I found Dysebel sitting comfortably in one of the chairs near the fireplace as if she owned the room. One leg crossed over the other, giving that perfect confidence of someone who belonged. I immediately felt a headache coming. I contemplated going back but I didn't. Maybe this was the perfect time to talk to her. So I closed the door behind me."Why are you here?"
Jane's POVI never imagined I would be standing beside Josephine's grave this soon. Even as I stared at the freshly turned earth before me, my mind refused to accept it.It felt wrong.Everything about it felt wrong.The flowers, the mourners, the silence, the tears, the finality and most of all, the grave itself. Josephine had always felt permanent in my life. She was like the garden she loved so much… Like the morning sun… Like the walls of Liam's house.No matter what happened, I had always convinced myself that Josephine would always be with me, waiting, smiling, giving advice and scolding me gently.Now she was gone, and no amount of wishing could change that.I stood motionless beside the grave while the wind moved through the trees around us. Even the sky was gray as if the heavens couldn't decide how to feel.Around me, the people who had loved Josephine stood. Caleb, Lauren, several maidens, some guards, a few household workers, people whose lives she had touched without a
Alpha Liam's POV The moment Jane disappeared down the hallway with the Book of Life in her hands, the remaining part of me broke into pieces. Now, she looked at me like I was the enemy. Like I had chosen someone else over her. Like everything we had survived together suddenly meant nothing.I knew I hadn't done the right thing but that didn't mean I did something wrong. Bringing Dysebel wasn't wrong until it became a problem now. I slowly turned toward Dysebel She still stood there calmly, completely unapologetic.If anything, she looked annoyed as if she was the victim. She stood there like she hadn't just helped create the biggest argument I had experienced since returning home.I let out a bitter laugh. The sound surprised even me.Because whenever I looked back, I never saw this coming. Not even once had I imagined that Jane and I would become sworn enemies. "What is funny?" Dysebel asked. I looked directly at her."You."Her eyebrows rose in deeper annoyance. "Excuse me?
Alpha Liam's POVI should have known it would end badly.The moment Jane arrived and found Caleb and me talking, I already knew the atmosphere would be awkward. Things between us had been hanging by a thread ever since I returned. Actually, a thread would have been generous. A thread still connected two things.Whatever Jane and I had now felt like a rope that had already snapped.She spoke to Caleb while she ignored me. She looked at Caleb while she ignored me. She answered Caleb while she ignored me.Every time I opened my mouth, I felt like a stranger standing in my own house.I didn't like it. I hated it but I was trying to endure it. I was trying because Josephine had died. I was trying because Jane was grieving. I was trying because every time I looked at her, I remembered the things she said after the battle.If I knew your return would cause so much harm, I wouldn't have prayed for you to come back.The words still cut deep, but I endured them because she was hurting. And bec
Jane's POV The moment we entered Josephine’s room and shut the door behind us, the tension holding my body together finally loosened.I exhaled sharply and for the first time that night, I felt like I could breathe properly.The tension was so fierce that I thought we might not even survive the ni
Jane's POV “They were running errands for me.”The moment I heard Josephine's voice, relief flooded me so suddenly that my knees almost lost their balance. It felt like I was about to fall off a cliff and someone pulled me back before I could fall off. And to be honest, I truly believed everythin
Jane's POV Every corner of the house carried tension like smoke after a fire. Every footstep sounded suspicious. Every shadow looked alive. Even the walls themselves seemed to listen.And yet there I was, sneaking through Liam’s house like a thief. While Caleb walked beside me silently as we moved
Jane's POV For the first time since Liam disappeared, the people who ruined everything were no longer united. They were fighting among themselves, distrusting one another, and turning against each other.Father didn't believe his son could go against his words. Son didn't want to be his father's p







