Mag-log inCHAPTER 2
I didn’t even realize how warm his hands felt until I tried to pretend they didn’t matter. My apartment smelled faintly of incense and cheap candles, the kind you buy to feel like your life is sophisticated and controlled. He kissed me like I was the only thing in the world that mattered, but I couldn’t stop the hollow ache twisting in my chest.
Because I wasn’t thinking about him. Not really.
I had chosen this life. Chosen him. Chosen college, chosen independence, chosen to shove the past into a box and pretend it didn’t hurt. But some nights, when it was quiet and I was alone, I could feel it…the pull of him, my Alpha, the one I was meant to be with.
Tywin rolled on top of me, his lips brushing my neck, whispering my name. “You’re mine, Solyn,” he murmured.
And I wanted to believe it. I wanted to close my eyes and let myself feel it. But the truth was sharper than his kisses. I didn’t feel it the way he did. I didn’t feel alive the way I remembered.
“I… I love you,” I said anyway
“I love you ",I repeated again. Maybe I could force myself to believe it. I swallowed the lump in my throat. It was a lie. Or maybe it wasn’t entirely. I did love the idea of him. I loved the comfort, the distraction, the life I’d built here. But I didn’t love like my heart had loved him.
My phone vibrated against the nightstand, loud enough that it startled me. I groaned and rolled over, reaching for it, but my stomach twisted when I saw the name on the screen.
Mother.
It was the middle of the night. She never called. Not ever. Not for birthdays, not for grades, not for anything I’d done. I ignored it, shoving the phone under the pillow, pretending I didn’t care. My boyfriend groaned from behind me, tugging at my hair playfully. He nipped at my nipples playfully. He raised his head to look at me.
“Solyn… what’s wrong?” he asked, breath hot against my shoulder.
“Nothing,” I muttered, curling into him, but my mind was racing. Why now? Why is she calling now?
Minutes later, the phone buzzed again. I froze. Twice. Mother called me twice. No, I couldn’t ignore her again. Not when she never called. My hand shook as I swiped it open.
“Solyn,” her voice was sharp, clipped, and I felt a strange chill run down my spine. “I need you to come home. Now.”
“What?” My voice cracked, and I could feel Tywin’s eyes on me, worried. “Mom… it’s three in the morning. Can this wait?”
“No,” she snapped. “This is about your sister.”
“I don't care. Just leave me alone"
“She was kidnapped", my mother said. The words hit me like ice water. My heart stuttered. “W-What do you mean? Who…how…”
“I don’t know all the details,” she said, voice tight. “All I know is that she’s been taken by the Silverlings. You have to come home. Now. You are the only one who can…”
I felt like the world had tipped upside down. I tried to breathe, tried to steady myself, but my mind was screaming. My twin. Sailyn. The one who had taken everything from me—the one who had taken him. She was… gone.
I sank back onto the bed, pulling the blankets around me. My boyfriend reached for me, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, trying to push him away gently. “I… I have to go home.” My voice was tight, hollow. “It’s… family.”
He frowned, pulling me closer. “Do you… want me to come with you?”
“I don’t think… this is something you can help with,” I muttered. I wanted him to feel safe. I really wanted to believe he could help. But no. This was bigger than both of us. And it was about her. My sister. My shadow.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the irony. Sailyn, the one who had stolen everything from me, the one who had ruined my bond with my Alpha, was now vulnerable. And somehow… part of me wanted to hate her less, even as every scar she’d left burned in my chest.
I slid out of the apartment, grabbing my bag, fumbling with the lock on the door. My phone buzzed again. Mother. I ignored it. No words could prepare me for what she would say next.
The drive home was a blur of rain-slick streets and streetlights casting long shadows. My thoughts refused to stop. I kept picturing Sailyn, terrified, trapped, maybe hurt. And I couldn’t shake the pang of guilt. She had tormented me, manipulated me, lied to me, but she was still my sister. My twin. And now… she was in danger.
The front doors of the mansion loomed ahead like a warning. My hands shook as I stepped inside, the familiar scent of polished wood and expensive perfume washing over me, the scent of my mother.
Mother was waiting in the grand foyer, her posture perfect, her pearl-white gown immaculate. Sailyn’s absence hadn’t dulled her precision; if anything, it made her sharper.
Her eyes flicked up when I entered, cold and calculating.
“You’re here,” she said, voice smooth but edged with steel. “Good. We need to talk.”
I clenched my bag strap, my throat tight. “What is going on?”
Mother’s gaze sharpened. “The Luna is missing. The council knows, the Alpha knows, but the pack cannot. Not yet.”
“What do you mean?” I dropped my bag as I took a seat" They are going to find out anyway"
“Not if you do what we ask you to do"
I blinked. “Wait…what?”
“You’re going to be her,” she said simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “You will act as the Luna until Sailyn is found. The pack cannot know she is missing.”
I laughed, harsh and bitter. “You want me to… what? Pretend to be her? Play the perfect little Luna while my sister’s probably screaming somewhere?”
Mother’s eyes narrowed. “It’s been discussed. Council members, the Alpha… all agree. This is the only way.”
I shook my head, voice rising. “And you think I’ll just… say yes? Act as her? Be her? You’ve lost it. I’m not her. I’m not…”
“Solyn.” Her voice dropped, dangerous now. “You will. The pack’s survival depends on this. If the council finds out Luna is missing, the rivals will see weakness. Chaos will follow.”
I felt my chest tighten. My fingers curled into fists. “I don’t care what anyone expects. I’m not playing her part.”
Footsteps echoed behind me, slow, deliberate. My heart stuttered. I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
He stepped into the foyer, tall, imposing, eyes dark with a mix of resentment and something I couldn’t name. My Alpha. My mate. My anchor and my torment.
“Hello, Solyn”
CHAPTER 43 — AlmostI could not sleep, I tossed and turned in bed, staring at the ceiling until the patterns on the stone started to blur. My throat felt dry and my jug was empty, the sheets cold on the side where no one slept. I groaned and threw the blanket off, grabbed the empty glass from my nightstand, and padded barefoot to the kitchen.The house was silent at two in the morning. I walked without thinking, my feet knowing the way, and my mind too tired to form complete thoughts.The kitchen was dark when I pushed the door open. I did not bother with the lights. I found the jug of water by memory, filled my glass, and drank until my throat stopped burning.Then I sat down at the small table near the window and stared out at the dark courtyard.I did not know how long I sat there. I was just sitting, my hands wrapped around the empty glass, my head too full of thoughts I could not sort through.The door creaked and I turned.Damos stood in the doorway, his hand still on the handle
CHAPTER 42 — The NotebookI laid on my bed with the notebook open on my lap, the pen moving across the page faster than my thoughts could keep up. The words came out in a rush, messy and uneven, the way they always did when I stopped pretending and just let myself write.I am tired of being her. I am tired of smiling wearing her clothes like a costume that is starting to fit too well. I do not know where she ends and I begin anymore.I paused, reading back what I had written. My handwriting was sharp, almost angry, the letters pressing hard into the page.I was never the problem. I was never the jealous one. I was never the liar. They made me into something I was not and I let them because fighting back never worked. But I was never the problem.I wrote it again as if writing it once was not enough to make it true.I was never the problem.A third time.I was never the problem.I set the pen down and stared at the page. The words stared back at me, dark and certain, the kind of certai
CHAPTER 41 — Tywin SpeaksI stood at the gate before the sun was fully up, waiting for Tywin to return.I had been standing there for nearly an hour but I did not care. Three days felt like three weeks and every time I walked past his empty post, every time I looked for him in the dining hall and did not see him, every time I remembered that he was out there alone because of me, my chest tightened a little more.The gate creaked open and a group of guards trudged through, their shoulders heavy, their boots caked with mud. And at the back of the group, limping slightly, his face pale and streaked with dirt, was Tywin.I walked toward him before I could stop myself.He looked up when he saw me, and for a moment he almost smiled. But the smile did not reach his eyes. He was too tired for that."Solyn," he said. His voice was hoarse and rough."Tywin." I stopped in front of him and looked at his face, at the bruise forming on his jaw, at the cut on his hand that had not been bandaged. "Yo
CHAPTER 40 — Jealousy Again"I am tired, Tywin. I really am."The words came out before I could stop them, cracking in the middle, and then the tears followed. Tywin did not say anything. He just pulled me into his side and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. His hand was warm and steady against my arm."You have been holding too much," he said quietly. "For too long."I pressed my face into my hands. "I miss my old life. I miss waking up and knowing who I was. I miss not having to pretend every single moment of every single day."He did not tell me it would be okay. He did not tell me to stop crying. He just held me and let me cry."I am here," he said. "I will always be here."I leaned into him. His shoulder was solid against mine. His presence was the only thing in this pack that still felt real."I do not know how much longer I can do this," I whispered."Then do not do it alone."I cried into my hands, he kept his arm around me. The fountain trickled beside us, the courtyard wa
CHAPTER 39 — WhyI sat in the empty archive, holding a book that I had barely read a single line from. I could not stop thinking about Damos and how he reacted when I had defended him in the council chamber. The door opened, putting my thoughts on hold.Speak of the devil.Damos walked in, his steps slow and measured as usual, his boots barely making a sound against the stone floor. He was still in his day clothes, his shirt untucked, his sleeves rolled up, and he looked like he had been walking for a while without any particular place to go.He stopped at the end of my table and looked down at me."You are still awake," he said."So are you."He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. His elbows rested on the table and his hands clasped together, his eyes stayed on my face."Why did you do it?" he asked."Do what?""Defend me in front of the council. You stood up and you shut them down and you did not have to. They expected you to stay quiet and some of them expected you to
CHAPTER 38- She Defends Him I walked into the council chamber and saw the setup immediately. The elders sat in a half circle facing a single chair in the center. Damos's chair. They meant for him to sit there alone while they asked their questions and made their judgments. The room was arranged to make him look like a defendant.I sat in the chair beside where he would sit, not in the center, beside it.Elder Maris opened the meeting. He spoke about the good of the pack, about stability, and about the need to ensure the Alpha was fit to lead. Elder Tolland nodded along while Elder Corvus watched me from the far end of the table.They left a pause after the opening statement. Some of them expected me to stay neutral or quietly nod. I could see it in the way they looked at me, the way they waited, the way they had already decided what I would do.I stood up."The Alpha has led this pack through a kidnapping, an internal security breach, and a sustained campaign of border harassment fro
CHAPTER 17 — Wolf TroubleI am walking back from the kitchens when I hear the voices around the corner.Two guards stand near the stairwell, their backs to me. Their voices are low but not low enough. One of them shakes his head, his hand pressed to his chest like he is still trying to calm his own
CHAPTER 16 — The TimelineI spread the timeline across the floor and Tywin crouches beside me and goes through it carefully.I have been building it in pieces for days, cross-referencing everything I pulled from the archive with what I already knew.Tywin picks up the first page, he scans it, sets
CHAPTER 10 — The StrategistDamos calls me into the war room after the midday meal. I find him standing over a table spread with maps, his sleeves rolled up, his hair falling across his forehead. He does not look up when I enter. He just gestures toward the chair beside him and keeps talking."Silv
CHAPTER 8 The pack archive is locked at midnight, I know this because I checked earlier, walking past the heavy oak doors twice and counting the guards. The third time I come back with a hairpin and the knowledge that no one bothers to guard old secrets as well as they guard new ones.The lock cli







