LOGINTHALIA’S POVI jolted awake, my heart hammering against my ribs as the remnants of a disjointed nightmare clawed at my mind. The images were chaotic and broken. First, I saw Ryker. I recognized him instantly by the distinct, jagged 'N' mark branded onto his skin. Then, the scene shifted violently, and I was surrounded by a shadowy crowd. Their voices echoed in a terrifying, rhythmic chant that shook the very ground beneath my feet. “Separate the moonclaw. Separate the moonclaw.”I gasped for air, drenched in a cold sweat. The room was dark, but a gentle, cool pressure on my forehead made me blink. Eileen was sitting right beside my bed, pressing a wet cloth against my skin to cool my burning body.“Easy, Thalia,” Eileen whispered, her voice laced with deep concern. “You had a terrible night fever. You were thrashing around so much. What was the nightmare about? What did you see?”My throat felt like sandpaper. I swallowed hard, the chilling words from the dream echoing in my ears. I
CALEB’S POVI was genuinely, deeply sorry.Every single defense mechanism inside my brain screamed at me to make up another lie. I wanted to tell her that I had stolen the page from her book simply to betray her, to hand it over to my father, to ruin her life. That would have been so much easier. It would have kept her at a safe distance. But having her so close to me, smelling the sweet vanilla scent of her skin, and hearing her speak to me in that soft, desperate voice—it broke something inside my chest. I couldn't bring myself to torture both of us any longer. With the last bit of strength in my aching arms, I reached up, drew her close, and wrapped my arms tightly around her.Thalia didn't hug me back. She remained completely stiff in my embrace, her body frozen like ice. I didn't blame her. I knew exactly why she couldn't bring herself to comfort the boy who had caused her so much misery. But I held on anyway, burying my face in her shoulder.“I am so sorry,” I choked out, th
THALIA’S POVPanic exploded in the courtyard. In a split second, everyone rushed forward and surrounded Caleb’s limp form on the dirt. I dropped to my knees right beside him, my hands shaking so hard I could barely coordinate my movements. He looked deathly pale, his skin turning an ash-gray color that made my throat tighten. I reached out, my fingers trembling as I pressed them against his neck to check his breathing. I didn't have any kind of healing abilities, but I had to try. I had to do something.As I pulled back the collar of his shirt to check his pulse, my breath caught. His skin wasn't smooth. It was covered in deep, jagged, angry red scars that webbed across his chest and shoulders.“Look at his skin,” Jamie breathed, crouching down on Caleb's other side. He reached out, his fingers hovering over the marks. “These aren't normal wounds. These are severe internal damages. Caleb... he looks like he has been practicing for something. Something highly dangerous.”My heart ham
THALIA’S POVBefore the sun even cleared the horizon, I was already awake. I sat at the small wooden desk in the corner of our room, the dim candle casting long, dancing shadows over the pages of the book of forbidden practices. I kept flipping through the worn text, my eyes scanning the faded ink over and over again. The message was always the same. If I wanted to break the ancient barrier, I could not do it as a weak pup. I needed to assume my full wolf form. I needed the raw, unyielding power of a full shift to smash the magic dome.To make things worse, my sleep had been completely ruined by a series of relentless nightmares. They were entirely unfamiliar. The faces of the people around me were totally different, and the architecture belonged to another world entirely. In the dreams, a catastrophic fight broke out and the moonclaw relic was violently shattered. I vividly saw the three glowing halves falling through the darkness.Waking up, the heavy message felt loud and clear.
CALEB’S POVWatching Ragnar kiss Thalia was pure, unadulterated torture.Seeing his hands near her, seeing the way she eventually stopped resisting and let him close—it made a wild, dangerous surge of jealousy explode in my chest. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to storm across the training room, grab Ragnar by his throat, and pry them apart by force. But I couldn't move. I had absolutely no right to step in. I was the one who had brought her nothing but tears, terror, and pain. So, before they could notice me standing in the shadows, I turned around silently and walked away. I climbed the stone stairs all the way to the high rooftop of the main building, needing the biting morning air to cool the fire in my blood.I stood at the edge of the roof, my eyes fixed on the shimmering, translucent barrier that locked us in. Suddenly, the phone in my pocket began to vibrate. Ever since the board opened up the internal lines for emergency use, I had access to my device again. I p
RAGNAR’S POVWhile I was down in that freezing water, the physical numbness was nothing compared to the sharp, tearing pain in my chest.There was a dark truth I had not told Thalia yet. In my pack, if an Alpha wolf finds his true mate and does not mark or claim her within two months, the bond begins to turn sour. The rejection poisons the soul. It causes a constant, dull ache in the heart, and eventually, the Alpha will go completely, violently feral.The two-month mark was dangerously close. I wanted her so badly it physically hurt. Every time I looked at her, my wolf roared beneath my skin, begging to tear through and take what was ours.But no matter how much she froze me out, I swore to myself that I would always stay right by her side to help her anyway. Once we dragged ourselves out of the pool, Miss Lyra gave us no warmth and no rest. She stood over us like a tyrant. “Do not even think about sleeping,” she commanded, her sharp voice echoing off the damp stone walls. “You wi
THALIA’S POVMy hands shook so violently that I could barely open the wooden door of my wardrobe. It was strictly forbidden to possess any outside communication devices within the academy walls, but I had smuggled in a secret phone before leaving home, keeping it hidden away for an absolute emerge
RAGNAR "We have arrived."The door swung open, and I heard the chauffeur's sharp intake of breath following his horrified gaze. I looked down at my unbuckled belt, my trousers pooled around my ankles in a bunched mess.Yeah. That probably looked bad.Before I could say anything, not that I owed an
THALIAThe one on the left was easily six foot two. He looked fit, and lean—an athletic warrior’s build. He had platinum blonde hair, and a book in his hands, and… he looked like he wore his heart on his sleeve. Beautiful was the word to describe this porcelain skinned man. He reeked of Alpha, and
THALIA [ONE WEEK LATER] The leather trunk sat by the door, packed with everything 'Lucian Ashen' would need for his first semester at The Howling Spire. Formal uniforms, training clothes, books on wolf history, combat theory, and some hidden necessities of my own. I stood in front of the mirror







