LOGINKora’s POVMy heart nearly stopped when I saw him.Ike — looking like death itself, pale and trembling — carried Zara’s limp body through the hallway and straight into the prepared guest room they had turned into a makeshift infirmary. Her red hair hung wet and tangled, her once-beautiful white mating dress clinging to her like a burial shroud. She was alive. Barely. But alive.Shock slammed into me so hard I had to grip the wall to keep from staggering. *How?* The currents should have taken her. The cold should have finished the job. I had planned it perfectly.I quickly schooled my expression into one of concerned surprise and stopped a passing guard. “Is she…?” I let my voice trail off, wide-eyed and trembling just enough to look worried.The guard nodded grimly. “She’s alive, Miss Kora. Barely. The Alpha and Ike pulled her from the water just in time. The healer is with her now.”Alive.The word echoed in my skull like a death knell. Panic surged through me, hot and suffocating. I
Kora's POVI paced the length of my room like a caged wolf, my nails bitten down to jagged stubs. The familiar sting in my fingertips did nothing to calm the storm raging inside my chest. Every second that ticked by felt like a noose tightening around my neck. They can't find her body. They simply can't.Zara had to die. It was the only clean solution.That meddling red-haired bitch knew too much. She knew my secrets, Kali’s secrets. If she survived and dragged herself back here, she would run straight to Emmett and spill everything. And then my entire future would crumble.I stopped in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. My face was still pale from the earlier injury, all thanks to Zara, but my eyes burned with determination. Emmett was going to be mine. I was going to stand beside him as Luna, ruling this pack with an iron fist. No one, especially not Zara or that pathetic white haired freak Kali, was going to take that away from me.I shook my head sharply, forcing my b
Ike’s POVI pushed harder, eyes stinging from the salt, hands groping blindly in the murky depths. My fingers brushed something soft, a fabric. I grabbed it and pulled with everything I had left. The current fought me, dragging us both down, but I kicked upward, refusing to let go.I broke the surface gasping, Zara’s limp body clutched tightly against my chest. Her red hair was plastered across her face like blood in the water. She wasn’t moving. Wasn’t breathing.“No… no, no, no,” I choked out, swimming frantically toward the shore. Every wave tried to pull us back under. My arms trembled violently, legs growing heavier with each kick. The disease clawed at my heart, squeezing it like a vice, but the terror of losing her hurt worse than anything my body could throw at me.I finally dragged us onto the wet sand, collapsing to my knees as I laid her down. Her white dress clung to her like a second skin, torn and soaked. Her lips were blue. Her chest was still.“Zara!” I shouted, voice
Ike’s POVThe moment I stormed out of the cabin, the cool evening air hit my face like a slap of reality. It did nothing to calm the storm raging inside me. My chest heaved with every breath, sharp and painful, but I welcomed the burn. It kept me moving when panic threatened to root me in place.I had come here with one desperate purpose: to stop the mating ceremony. To look Zara in the eyes and beg her to choose me instead of Isaac. Even if I was dying. Even if I had no right. And now she was missing.Because Isaac was too incompetent to keep her safe.I dragged a hand through my hair, heart hammering with fear and fury. Emmett’s heavy footsteps followed close behind me.“Ike, stop,” he called. “You are not thinking straight.”I didn’t slow down. My legs carried me straight toward the stables at the edge of the property. The horses shifted restlessly in their stalls as I threw open the door, the scent of hay and leather filling my lungs.Emmett grabbed my arm again. “We are going to
Ike’s POV“What do you mean Zara is missing?”The words tore out of me like a snarl. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I could barely hear anything else. The cabin’s main room felt too small, too bright, the air thick with tension and the scent of pine and panic.Isaac stood there in his half unbuttoned dress shirt, looking every bit the over pampered brat he was. I have never hated a face as much as I hated his.He raised his hands like he was trying to soothe a wild animal. “Ike, calm down. I’m already putting together some men to search the woods. She ran off after… an argument. We will find her.”“Calm down?” I barked, stepping closer. My voice echoed off the wooden beams. “How the hell did she go missing in the first place? You were supposed to be bonding with her today. What did you do to her?”Emmett moved in from the side, his big hand landing on my shoulder. “Ike, take a breath. This isn’t—”I shrugged his hand off violently, lunging forward and grabbing Isaac by the
I ran like the woods themselves were trying to swallow me whole. Branches tore at the delicate white fabric of my mating dress, ripping tiny holes that mirrored the ones now shredded through my heart. Tears streamed down my face, hot and relentless, blurring the path ahead until I could barely see where I was going. My chest heaved with ugly, broken sobs that echoed between the trees.Isaac’s voice shouted my name somewhere far behind me, growing fainter with every desperate stride I took. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. The image of him kissing Ben—his half-brother—was burned into my mind like a brand. The way their bodies had pressed together, the hunger in that kiss, the casual way Isaac had offered me a sham marriage so he could keep his secrets and his precious company… it made me sick.I stumbled over a root and nearly fell, catching myself against a tree trunk. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold on. “You’re sick,” I whispered again, repeating the words I’d spat at hi
Kali's POVI was walking through the courtyard when a hand suddenly grabbed my arm.Hard.Pain shot through my shoulder.I gasped and spun around.Kora.My heart immediately dropped into my stomach.I lowered my head at once."Kora."Her fingers tightened painfully around my arm."How dare you?" sh
Kali’s POV Hot. That was the first thing I felt The burning heat wrapped around me so violently it felt like I had been thrown into the center of a furnace. My skin prickled as sweat coated my body instantly. I tossed restlessly beneath the covers, breathing harder with every passing second. B
Zara's POV “What the hell is going on, Isaac?” My voice came out sharper than I intended, when he didn't answer right away.Isaac didn’t answer immediately. He was definitely stalling or maybe trying to cook up something to tell me He just… looked at me.Or rather, through me and for a split seco
Zara's POV I twisted and turned in bed, sheets tangling around my legs like they were trying to trap me. Sleep wouldn’t come. How could it? Kora was the silver wolf. The flame sapphire had proven it, glowing like a damn star in her hands. And Maduro had just… handed her over to Emmett. No fight.







