LOGINRemi POV“Still time to surrender.”Anatoria's voice carried across the arena.I stopped a few feet from her and glanced at the crowd surrounding us. Hundreds of wolves had gathered around the stone fighting ground, packed behind the barriers and spilling onto the palace steps. Even the council had come out to watch.I looked back at her.“You've been saying that since I walked in.”“And you're still standing here.”“I'm beginning to think you're nervous.”A few laughs broke out from the crowd.Anatoria's mouth tightened.Good.At least I could still annoy her.She took a slow step toward me. “You think this is a game?”“No.” I glanced at her claws. “But you keep talking, so I assumed you wanted conversation.”Someone near the front snorted.Anatoria's eyes flicked toward the sound before returning to me.“You're very confident for someone who has no idea what she's about to face.”“I know exactly what I'm facing.”“Oh?”“You.”Her smile returned.“Then you're more foolish than I thou
Alpha Manuel Pov Continued I stared at him.He pointed toward the restraint around my left wrist. “There is a crack near the buckle.”I glanced down.He was right. That was exactly why I needed him there.Mitch noticed things other people ignored.Chimera entered the room. The temperature seemed to drop with him.He walked toward the table slowly, his eyes moving from me to Mitch. “You still insist on staying?”Mitch nodded.“I told you to leave. And yet you're here.” Chimera stared at him for a moment before smiling faintly. “Loyal.”Mitch didn't respond.Chimera turned toward me. “You know why you're here.”I stared back at him. “Because you enjoy hurting people.”“No.” He stopped beside the table. “Because you're useful.”My stomach tightened.He picked up a small glass container filled with dark liquid. “This will change you.”I looked at the liquid. “What is it?”“You'll find out.”Mitch stepped forward. “Will it kill him?”Chimera glanced at him. “No.”Mitch's fingers stopped
Alpha 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







