LOGINRHYDAN'S POVThe moment Anwen's distress hit the air, everything stopped.Our clash of power, the contest for dominance, the instinctive need to keep score—all of it vanished the instant we caught the scent of her fear.Across the arena, all three of us turned toward the same place.Toward her.Anwen sat curled in on herself in the bleachers, her face buried against her knees. Even from that distance, I could see her shoulders trembling. I could hear her whisper, begging us to stop.The sight twisted something sharp and unpleasant in my chest.In an instant, Fenric moved. As always, he was the first to react when it came to Anwen—just as he had been the one to start this whole spectacle the moment we sensed her presence.The fool was desperate to show off. Brammon was no different, despite his constant claims that he wasn't nearly as infatuated with her as Fenric was.Fenric's body exploded into motion as he shifted fully into his lycan form. Then he launched himself toward the bleach
ANWEN'S POVCorbin didn't slow, not even as the snow deepened beneath our boots.More than once, I had to half-jog to keep pace with him. To my surprise, though, my legs held up.Perhaps all those long morning walks around Blackreach had done more for me than I'd realized.Even so, we had been walking for quite some time. Long enough for curiosity to finally get the better of me. I opened my mouth to ask where exactly we were going when a distant roar rolled across the plateau.Voices. Hundreds of them.They were shouting. Cheering. Jeering. A few steps more and the structure came into view.It rose from the snow-covered landscape, unlike anything else I had seen in the camp.Massive stone walls formed a broad circular structure that dominated the surrounding terrain. Tiered rows climbed upward along its perimeter, while banners snapped in the wind from poles mounted high above. Wide archways opened into the interior, and through them flowed a constant stream of movement and noise.E
ANWEN'S POVI woke alone.The room was quiet and still, yet pleasantly warm thanks to the fire they had kept burning for me.The three kings had likely returned to matters of actual importance after spending most of the previous day with me.Heat crept into my face at the memory.I was still sore and drained, but deeply content.Even afterward, they had taken care of me. Brammon had fed me and bathed me. Rhydan, though characteristically silent, had changed the soiled sheets. And Fenric had dressed me in something warm and comfortable before tucking me into bed.My gaze drifted to the small table near the wall.Breakfast had been left there, along with my draught.I smiled despite myself. Brammon would probably appear out of thin air if I forgot it again and click his tongue in frustration.Not wanting to test that theory, I ate first.The food was still warm enough to be enjoyable, and with nowhere to be and no one rushing me, I took my time, savoring every bite.Once I was finished,
ANWEN'S POVBrammon gave no warning. His hand tangled in my hair, rough and insistent. Then he was pushing into my mouth—thick, demanding, stretching my lips wide.He was girthier than Fenric—substantially so—and my eyes widened as I groaned in protest around him. The sound was swallowed, lost beneath the wet slide of him as he began to thrust, his hand guiding my head in time with his hips."Relax," Brammon said above me, his voice strained. "Just take it."I tried to obey, forcing my jaw to loosen, my throat to open. But it was difficult—he was simply too large, and I hadn't recovered from Fenric. My jaw ached, my throat felt raw, and this new stretch burned in a way that made my eyes water.Then I felt movement behind me. Fenric's hand slid between my thighs, a single finger dragging through my drenched core, and I let out an embarrassing mewl—a sound of pleading that I couldn't suppress.He laughed, light and knowing. "You want relief?"Tears streamed down my face, humiliation wa
ANWEN'S POVI couldn't tell how long I'd been asleep.The room was dim when I opened my eyes, the fading light beyond the small window washed in shades of gray and gold. It could have been late afternoon. Or perhaps evening.Then again, the days were growing shorter now that the colder months were approaching.For a few moments, I remained where I was as the memory of what had happened just before I fell asleep rushed back. Heat crawled up my skin almost immediately.Then I turned my head.Fenric was watching me.He lay on his side, facing me, his silver-gray gaze so intense that I instinctively pulled the blanket up to my chin.I rolled onto my other side, only to discover Brammon sitting there with his arms crossed, his expression as stern as ever. At least his horns had already retracted.Rhydan remained seated in a chair, his boots resting atop the sleeping pallet, one foot touching my knee.For a moment, I wondered if they had stayed like this the entire time I'd slept. None of t
BRAMMON'S POVI watched Fenric lower Anwen onto the pallet with a gentleness that seemed almost unnatural for someone like him.The care he took in arranging her—making sure not to disturb her sleep—sent an uncomfortable twist through my chest. I couldn't say if it was jealousy or merely the same hunger that had been gnawing at me since Rhydan and I walked in on them tangled together. Anwen was asleep. Gone completely.Her breathing was deep and even now, a stark contrast to the gasping, crying out that had filled this chamber moments before.I couldn't look away. None of us could.Fenric stretched out beside her, propped on one elbow, his thumb tracing the air just above her cheek without quite touching. The bastard was hopelessly smitten. His gaze never left her face, tracking every flutter of her lashes, every subtle shift of her jaw, every faint change in her breathing.Across the room, Rhydan sat frozen in his chair. Even from here, I could hear the rough, measured rhythm of his
ANWEN'S POVI stirred as a bead of sweat slid from my temple down my cheek, the familiar sign that my fever had finally broken. Relief washed through me, and I instinctively burrowed closer, pressing my face against it with a soft sigh.I was just beginning to drift back toward sleep when my hand b
ANWEN'S POVI woke shivering violently—not just from the fever clawing its way back through my body, but from the cold itself.The chamber was freezing.Even beneath the thick blankets, harsh autumn wind slipped through the room, biting at my skin and stealing what little warmth remained. The fire
ANWEN'S POVA small, broken whimper slipped from me before I even understood why.Everything felt heavy.Not the crushing weight of the shelf pinning me down, but a thick, dragging heaviness, as though I were drifting somewhere deep underwater. My head throbbed dully, thoughts slow and slippery, re
FENRIC'S POVI could barely hear her heartbeat. And her breathing… it was fading, thinning into nothing, like threads being pulled loose one by one.“No,” I growled. “Anwen!”I dropped to my knees so hard the stone groaned beneath the impact. The shelf pinning her wasn’t heavy to me—not even close—







