LOGINHUNTERThe moment I saw Claire walking down the corridor, I stopped in my tracks as she popped into my head again. My jaw tightening slightly."Where is Athena?" The question was direct.Claire blinked, startled by my sudden appearance, and instinctively clutched the silver pitcher in her hands closer to her chest. "I just left her in her chambers. I was on my way to the kitchens to fetch her some water." She replied.Satisfied with the answer, I offered a terse nod and turned to go, ready to dismiss the interaction and continue on my way. But the moment she popped into my head I knew getting her out was going to be a problem, so instead of heading to my office I decided to go see how she was doing.I was turning the final corner to her wing when the sound tore through the quiet hallway.A scream.Athena.Every ounce of rational thought evaporated. The fragile wall separating the man from the beast within me shattered completely. A blinding, all-consuming rage took its place, fueled
ATHENAA growl.Hunter.It was him. He stood between me and Archer, a towering presence that blocked out the rest of the world. He looked less like a man and more like an unleashed beast, broad shoulders tense, his posture radiating a terrifying power.I had witnessed his anger before. I had felt the icy bite of his detachment, the weight of his authority, and the sudden flash of his temper. But this was detached from anything I had ever known. This was an ancient, unrestrained fury.Wiping the dampness from my eyes with a trembling hand, I saw that Archer never stood a chance. He couldn't even raise an arm to defend himself before Hunter was on him again, driving him back with a relentless brutality.One strike.Two.Three.Each collision made my stomach twist into painful knots. I had never seen that kind of unbridled violence directed at another living being. Crimson droplets sprayed across the polished floor, reflecting the dim light of the room as Archer’s head snapped backward w
AthenaSunlight filtered through my closed eyelids. For a few blissful seconds, the world was a blank canvas. I forgot the constraints of my reality, drifting in a haze where the air smelled of rich cedar and the mattress beneath me cradled my aching body like a cloud. The blankets were impossibly soft.Then, the phantom warmth of a hand on my waist flashed behind my eyes.Memory crashed back, brutal and unyielding.*Hunter.**The King’s bed.**His room.*My eyes flew open.I bolted upright so fast the room spun, a wave of dizziness forcing me to grip the silk sheets. My heart hammered against my ribs as I scanned the space, braced for the impact of his presence.The massive expanse of the bed beside me was empty. Hunter was gone.A breath rushed out of me. The sheer weight of the tension I’d been carrying rolled off me in waves, leaving me slightly hollowed out.In the daylight, the chamber looked entirely different. Last night, it had been a cavern of shifting shadows and paralyzing
ATHENA The reality of how vulnerable I was crashed over me in relentless waves.Every breath I drew felt thinner than the last, as though the room itself had decided I no longer deserved air. My chest tightened painfully, my lungs struggling against the invisible weight pressing down on me.Hunter stood over me like something carved from stone and shadow. The dim light spilling across the room only seemed to emphasize his size. His broad shoulders reflected what little glow the moon could give the night.I had never felt smaller. Never felt more aware of how completely powerless I was.Then his hand grabbed me. A violent shiver tore through my body, my eyes squeezing shut immediately.I braced myself.I waited for pain.Waited for the cold, indifferent touch of a king who viewed me as nothing more than a duty. A means to an end.His hand settled on the curve of my waist.The contact nearly stole my breath.His fingers were long and impossibly large, wrapping around my side with ease.
ATHENAThe chamber was submerged in a thick, suffocating gloom, illuminated only by the faint, silver sliver of moonlight piercing through the drapes. I stepped across the threshold, my pulse thrumming a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I had been summoned, and in this place, a summons was a command that brooked no delay.I moved with the caution of a wounded animal, my gaze scanning the area of the room. It seemed empty at first, a void of silence. I exhaled, a shaky sound that seemed too loud in the stillness, and took a hesitant step further.Then, he rose.It was not a movement of sudden violence, but a slow unfolding, like a predator waking from a light slumber. He stood by the window, the darkness clinging to him until he stepped into the sliver of pale light. My breath hitched, a gasp tearing from my throat before I could suppress it. I spun, my skirts swirling as I made to bolt back toward the sanctuary of the corridor."Stop."The word was low rumble that vibrated through the
ATHENA My boots hammered against the corridor, the sound echoing like a heartbeat. I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. The phantom pressure of Hunter’s lips still burned against mine, a brand of ownership from a man whose very name was spoken in terrified whispers. I burst into my room and shoved the door shut, leaning my weight against the wood as if I could bar out the reality of what had just transpired.I had run. I had turned my back on the King and fled like a startled doe.The silence of the room was suffocating. I paced the small space, my fingers tracing the outline of my mouth. He was the feared King, a man of iron yet he had touched me with a terrifying softness that unsettled me more than his rage ever could. Now, the adrenaline was fading, replaced by a cold, prickling dread. One does not simply walk away from him. I had defied him, and now I waited for the hammer to fall.I collapsed onto the edge of my bed, my breath coming in shallow hitches. Any moment now, the tread of
HUNTER I appeared silently behind the intruder,the weight of my presence settling before my voice ever reached the night. “And what are you doing here?” I asked, my words cutting through the darkness, deep and carrying that cold authority I’d honed over years. He stiffened instantly, like I’d st
HUNTER Hunter leaned back in his leather chair, rubbing his temples. The pressure behind his eyes was relentless, a dull ache that throbbed with every blink. The last file on his screen had been a blur, he’d skimmed it, absorbed the details without really seeing them. He closed the laptop with a mu
ATHENA Claire and I halted mid step, the sudden presence before us freezing the air around me. My chest tightened, my breath catching somewhere in the back of my throat. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to obey. We both turned slowly, and my wide eyes locked ont
LUCAS We had been expecting Athena’s return. Two days had dragged by with no sign of her, no timid footsteps echoing through the hall, no bowed head appearing at the entrance. Her absence sat heavy in the pack house, an irritation that clung to the walls. “Maybe that bitch finally grew wings and







