LOGINCassian POVThe scout’s final report slithers through our compelled link like a dying serpent in the underbrush.His mental voice is a ragged, wet gasp in my mind. The cold thread of fae compulsion that binds him to me pulls taut, then violently snaps as his heart stops beating. But before the dark fully takes him, he sends a chaotic flash of memories through the runes I etched into his palm two nights ago.I see her through his dying eyes. The heir.She shifted. It was partial, wild, and agonising. Auburn fur and claws like wicked silver thorns. But she held it back. The serum’s cage cracked under the witch-powder, but it did not shatter. The dagger’s blinding light anchored her against the poison.I pace the perimeter of the fae enclave’s hollow, the luminescent moss underfoot blackening into ash with my fury. The ancient oaks’ roots twist like veins pulsing with my own rage. The cavern air is thick with cloying jasmine and the acrid burn of nightshade incense that Lirien burns
Liora POVThe training yard is bathed in the pale, fragile light of early morning. The dawn sun is just cresting the ridges, painting the packed dirt in soft pinks and golds, the air crisp and biting with the chill of dew-kissed grass.The packhouse is quiet at this hour. The warriors have not yet risen, and the pups are still huddled in the warmth of their mothers’ embrace. But I am out here, driven by Kai’s relentless command: Train. Get stronger. The shadows are closing in, and you need to be ready.I swing the Silver Dagger. The air whistles as the blade arcs, the ruby hilt flaring with a holy silver light that guides the strike. The heavy wooden arm of the training dummy splinters instantly under the impact.But the violent motion pulls at the suppression serum’s fading hold. Aria’s growl sharpens into a restless snarl that vibrates deep inside my marrow. Her auburn fur is a phantom brush against my soul, urging me to let go, to finally shift, to run wild under the dying moon.
Elvira POVThe grove ambush was my masterpiece.The tip was whispered to Cassian’s scout through a council contact I have cultivated for years—a delightful little thorn in their side. The medallion’s exact location was plucked effortlessly from overheard whispers in Kai’s study. A few pieces of Liora’s ridiculous visions, a rogue’s childhood memory of a crescent cradling a star, and the trap was perfectly set.They crashed into that grove exactly as I orchestrated. Like the Beast’s hunger made flesh. Silver claws flashing in the morning light, ripping their precious unity to shreds. Mara’s agonised yelp was a symphony of discord that fractured their arrogant trust, allowing Cassian’s men to snatch the rune right out from under them.My doing. I savour the thought, a dark, wicked thrill coiling hot in my belly. My mate bond to Cassian flares with that twisted, familiar fire. I can almost smell his smoke-and-iron scent, pulling at me across the miles like beautiful, venomous thorns i
Kai POVThe packhouse study is a shadowed sanctum of flickering lamplight and scattered files. The air is thick with the scent of aged leather and the bitter, metallic bite of cooling tea I’ve long forgotten on the desk.Two days have passed since the betrayal in the grove. The trek back was a haze of snarls and silver scars that still burn in my memory. The rage that boiled over in the infirmary has simmered into a low, seething absolute fury. Atlas’s roar is a steady, vibrating thunder in my chest, his fur rippling beneath my skin with the desperate need to hunt, to tear throats, to reclaim what was stolen.The silver shipment reports lie open before me.Liora was right. The mismatched numbers are a mocking riddle. Routes vanished. Destinations erased. Three crates of silver ammunition missing from the armoury, signed off as 'trade' by an administrative code that hasn't been used in years.It all points to a traitor’s hand.I pace the room, my boots thudding softly on the woven
Casian POVThe forest beyond Blood Moon’s borders is a labyrinth of thorns and whispers.The ancient trees twist like lovers in eternal agony, their branches interlaced to form a suffocating canopy that blots out the stars. Only razor-thin slivers of moonlight manage to pierce the gloom, guiding my path. The air is thick with the cloying sweetness of night-blooming jasmine, laced heavily with the metallic tang of iron-rich soil. It is a scent that clings to my cloak like a betrayal, barely masking the lingering, lavender ghost of Elvira’s perfume on my skin from our last clandestine meeting.The stolen medallion weighs heavy in my palm.Its silver surface, etched with the crescent moon cradling a star, glows with a faint, sickly green light. It pulses like a dying heart, the artifact warm against my flesh, humming with the stolen power of Shadow Ridge’s lost altar.The rune, I think, a bitter smirk curling my lips.The fae’s compulsion tugs at the edges of my mind. It feels like
Dax POVMara’s screams are a physical blow, landing low and dirty, stealing the breath right out of my lungs.The infirmary is a nightmare of blood and panic. Miss Ophelia’s hands are stained crimson as she packs the gaping gash on Mara’s flank with a poultice of silverleaf. The silver poison bubbles like venom in her torn flesh, turning Mara's familiar scent into something sour and desperate—a sickly twist that clings to the air like a physical curse.Torin hasn’t left her side. His massive shoulders shake with a terrifying mix of rage and helplessness. She’ll fight this. She’s strong, he repeats through the pack link, but his mental voice is a broken, ragged growl.And it feels like my fault. I was on the front line with Kael. I was scouting. I should have smelled the ambush before it swallowed us. Rune whines in my mind, a low, gut-wrenching rumble that claws at my ribs with pure guilt.In the corner of the room, Kai is a raging hurricane. His broad frame paces the confined spa
Liora POVThe ambush hits us like an avalanche of teeth and shadow.Kai shifts mid-stride, his bones snapping seamlessly as Atlas roars to life. His silver-tipped black fur ripples as he launches himself like a missile, tackling the first rogue. Blood sprays across the mossy ground in a dark arc a
Liora POVThe cave mouth swallows us whole, the last weak rays of dawn vanishing into an inky, suffocating blackness. The air turns instantly freezing, thick and damp, laced with the musty reek of stagnant water and the sharp, metallic bite of silver-laced stone. The weight of the mountain presses
Dax POVAs we push through the heavy steel door, its hinges groaning like a wounded beast, and the interrogation room comes into view Rune goes feral. “Mate,” he howls, clawing at my insides, his voice a primal scream that shakes my core, urging me to rip the chains off her and claim her right here
Kai POVThe air in the cells beneath the packhouse is damp and heavy, thick with the metallic tang of blood and the musty chill of stone, the kind that seeps into your bones and lingers. The captured rogue — Kael, she spat out under duress — is a feisty thing, chained to a steel chair bolted to the







