LOGINAlpha Manuel POVThe next morning, they came for me.I knew it before anyone knocked.I had barely slept. I had spent most of the night sitting on the edge of the narrow bed, staring at the roof while Mitch slept across the room. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same things again—the Chimera standing over Olandria's portrait, the way he had spoken about Remi, the certainty in his voice when he told me that Moonstone would fall, and the promise that I would stand beside him when it happened.None of it made sense together.Yet somehow, it all connected.The Moonstone. Remi. Olandria. The army. And now me.Mitch had barely spoken that morning. He had been awake for almost an hour, sitting on the floor beside the window and arranging the small objects he had collected since we were brought into the den. He always did that when he was anxious. He placed them in a precise order, then rearranged them whenever something disturbed the pattern.A piece of stone A metal cup. A broken lea
Nero POV“You shouldn't have accepted the challenge.”Remi looked up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed, slowly untying the straps around her boots. “You already said that.”“And I'm saying it again.”She pulled one boot off and dropped it onto the floor. “You're worried.”“I'm not worried.”She gave me a look.I sighed. “Fine. I'm worried.”A small smile touched her lips, but it disappeared almost immediately. “Nero, I'm doing this because I need to.”I walked toward the window and stared out at the palace grounds. Moonstone was quieter than it had been earlier, but it wasn't peaceful. Guards moved along the walls. Torches burned beside the paths. Every now and then, I heard voices in the distance, followed by the low growl of wolves arguing somewhere below.Tomorrow, those same wolves would stand around an arena and watch my wife face my mother.The thought alone made my wolf restless. “My mother isn't like the people you've fought before,” I said.“I think you know.”
Anatoria POV Later That Night Before The Luna Challenge “Open the door.”The guard looked at me through the bars. “Matriarch, the prisoner is not permitted visitors.”I slowly turned my head toward him. “Did you misunderstand me?”His face tightened. “No, Matriarch.”“Then open the door.”He hesitated for one second too long before reaching for the keys. The lock clicked, the heavy iron door swung open, and I stepped inside without waiting for him to move aside. Victoria was sitting on the edge of the narrow bed at the far end of the cell, her back against the stone wall, her hands folded in her lap. She looked up when I entered, and the first thing I noticed was how tired she looked.Good. Tired people were easier to convince.Victoria studied me for several seconds. “What do you want?”I closed the door behind me. “I came to see my sister.”She gave a humorless laugh. “You haven't come to see me once since you put me in this cell.”“I've been busy.”“Planning tomorrow?”I smiled. “
Anatoria POV at her chambers “You're certain?”The servant standing before me lowered her head. “Yes, Matriarch. She gave the name herself. Caya.”For a moment, I was too stunned to speak.The name struck me harder than any blade could have. Caya.I turned slowly toward the window, staring at the courtyard below even though I could no longer see anything clearly. Tomorrow I was supposed to stand before the council and take what should have belonged to me for years, and yet the one person I had spent years keeping away from Moonstone had somehow found her way straight into the palace.“Where is she?” I asked.“At the entrance. She asked to see you privately.”“She cannot be here.”The servant looked confused. “Should I send her away?”“No.” I turned back sharply. “Bring her to me. Quietly. Tell the guards that nobody is to enter this room until I give permission.”The servant bowed and hurried away, and I remained standing there, my hands gripping the edge of the table. I had imagined
Caya POV“Go ahead.”I looked at Nero. “You want me to go ahead?”He nodded toward the trail ahead. “Find out what's happening at the palace before we get there. If Moonstone is as divided as they say, I don't want us riding straight into another fight without knowing what's waiting for us.”I glanced at Nero. “And you two?”“We'll catch up,” Nero said. “Take the main road. Stay close enough that we can find you if anything happens.”I smiled. “You finally trust me to scout ahead?”Nero gave me a look. “Don't make me regret it.”“I make no promises.”I turned my horse toward the road leading to Moonstone, but the moment I moved away from them, the smile disappeared from my face.There was another reason I wanted to reach Moonstone first.A reason I hadn't told any of them.My real mother was here.I had known for years that she lived somewhere in Moonstone. Not because she had ever told me directly, but because of the messages she used to send through the woman who raised me. They had
Nero POV“I vote to become King of Alphas.”For a moment, nobody moved. Then the entire hall exploded.Voices collided from every direction, some shouting Anatoria's name while others demanded that the vote be stopped. A few wolves immediately stepped toward me, while others moved behind Anatoria as if they had already chosen their side. Kade raised his voice, trying to restore order, but nobody listened. Anatoria stood in the middle of the chaos with a calmness that told me everything I needed to know. She had not made that declaration because she was angry. She had made it because she was prepared.I looked around the hall, taking in the faces of the wolves who had once bowed when I entered a room. Some still looked at me with relief. Others looked afraid. A few couldn't even look at me at all. Then I noticed the Alphas standing near the council platform. More than half of them had already moved closer to Anatoria.Kade saw it too.His jaw tightened.“She knew this would happen,







