LOGINManuel POV"Not all of it." She kept her eyes on the road ahead. "The door was thick. But I heard enough." She paused. "Grandma said the word very dangerous. Father said it will hurt her. And grandma said—" She stopped. "Grandma said only if she doesn't know what she is in time."Manuel was very still beside her."Did she say anything else?""She said someone needs to be with Remi who knows her. Who can read he." Isolde looked at him. "She said Remi would go to war for everyone around her and not tell anyone how much it was costing her. And someone needed to be watching for that."The road went quiet."That's why I followed," Isolde said simply. "Not just because I want out of Riverside, because that is a huge plus." She was quiet for a moment. "Because I know my sister. I know when she's lying to herself. And whatever tonight is — she's going to need someone who can tell the difference."Manuel looked at the road."She's going to go too far," he said. Quietly."She always does," Isol
Manuel POV"You're falling for her." Mitch said it without looking up from his clipboard. Like he was reading weather data. Like it was just a fact he was noting for the record."I'm not responding to that.""That's statistically consistent with someone who is falling for her and doesn't want to confirm it.""Or someone who isn't and doesn't want to waste time on a false premise. I admire her resilience," Manuel said. "Most wolves in her position would have—""Collapsed," Mitch said. "Yes. Most would have. She didn't." He made a mark. "You admire that she didn't collapse.""Exactly." he looked at the road. "She stayed. She kept staying. Every time it got worse she found another reason to stay. Put the clipboard away.""I'll put it away when the data stops being interesting." He turned a page. "The data is currently very interesting."The road ahead was empty. Trees on both sides. The sky above still dark at the edges. Everything was damp. The ground soft under their boots.Manuel kept
Remi POV He pushed open a set of heavy doors at the end of the corridor.The throne room.It was Massive. Stone walls. High ceilings. The king's throne at the far end — carved dark wood, high-backed, the kind of seat that had held every Blackwater Alpha before him.Around it. The elder council chairs. The seats where people had called me temporary. Concubine. Baggage. Replacement.All empty.Just us.He locked the door behind us.Looked at me."Every chair where someone looked through me," I said quietly. Taking it in."All empty," he said."Just us.""Just us." He walked toward the throne. Sat. Looked at me from it. "Come here."We are on the THRONE, Parrot said. In the THRONE ROOM. With the EMPTY COUNCIL CHAIRS WATCHING. This is either the most dignified or least dignified moment of our life and I genuinely cannot decide."Both," I said."Both what?" Nero said."Nothing." I walked toward him. "You wanted to say something.""I did." He reached out. Pulled me closer. His hands on my
Remi POV"How did you know she was here?"Nero didn't even look up from the window. "I felt her cross the gate.""You felt her.""The Moonstone gives the king of this pack the ability to sense any witch who enters palace grounds." He turned. That small almost-smile. "You have so much to learn about me.""Apparently." I crossed my arms. "So what else don't I know?""Many things." He started walking. "I'll take my time teaching all of them."My face went warm.We are absolutely getting that education, Parrot said immediately. Sign us up. Full curriculum."And my itinerary for today?" I said. Keeping my voice level. Following him down the corridor.He glanced back. "Keeping my hands off you."I stopped walking.He kept going."That's—" I started."Extremely difficult," he said. "Given that you're—" He paused. Something moved in his expression. He looked at me. Started to say something.Stopped."Given that I'm what?" I said."Given that the blood moon is tonight and I need to focus." He
Remi POV. "Little hero."Abel's arms were already open. I walked straight into them.He caught me properly. Both arms. The kind of hug that meant someone had been worried and wasn't going to admit it."Still have both hands?" he said into my hair."Count them."He pulled back. Checked. "Two. Good." Then he looked harder. At my face. At my general. State."You're glowing," he said."I'm not—""You absolutely are. That specific kind of glow." He tilted his head. "I wonder whose handiwork that is.""Abel—""My brother works fast. I'll give him that."My face went completely on fire.He is GLOWING too, Parrot noted. Look at his face. He knows EXACTLY what happened and he's delighted."Damon." I turned. Desperate for a subject change. "You look well. Considering Kade said you went missing."Damon looked at me. Almost smiled."Missing in his heart," he said. Quietly. "As I am apparently no longer his."The air changed slightly around Kade.He was looking at the gates. Very intently. At som
Nero POVI got in the boat.It moved. Immediately. The moment my weight shifted to it the whole thing rocked and dipped and the water came very close to the edge on one side.I sat down. Fast.The boatman looked at me. Said nothing.Remi got in after me. The boat barely moved when she stepped in. She sat beside me."See?" she said. "Fine.""Fine," I confirmed.The boatman pushed off.The current took us immediately.I gripped the side.She looked at the bank. At the trees passing. At the water.Then she looked at me.I was looking at the water. At how much of it there was. At the way it moved under us. At the fact that the bottom of it was completely invisible and whatever was down there could be—"Tell me about the army," she said.I looked at her."The recruits. How did you plan to get them?" She was looking at me. Not at the water. trying to distract me."The arena," I said. "Word spread. How far it spread I didn't know until—" The boat lurched. The current shifted. I gripped the s







