MasukScarlett's POV.I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I nearly drew blood to keep from bursting into laughter. Mrs. Gable carefully handed Nova over to my mother, and we all settled into our respective seats.Across the table, Braxton was staring directly at me, his fists clenched tightly over his linen napkin.“You should be sitting beside me,” his thoughts whined pathetically into my head. “You’re my woman. You belong at the head of this table with me, not next to him.”I caught his fiery amber gaze for a split second. The moment our eyes locked, Braxton flinched slightly, his cheeks flushing with a faint heat, and he abruptly looked down at his silver cutlery, trying and failing to look composed.Servants quickly emerged from the side doors, placing lavish platters of fresh fruit, eggs, pastries, and warm meats down the center of the long table.Mirrielle, who had been sitting quietly beside Braxton with an increasingly tense posture, cleared her throat softly. She turned to Brax
Scarlett's POV.“There… all ready,” I said, placing the delicate finishing touches on Nova’s little outfit and securing her hair pin.I knew my own hair was thick and voluptuous, but Nova’s hair was twice as thick, making it a bit of a challenge to style on a squirming child.“Here, let me help you with her,” my mother said gently, taking the silver-toothed comb from my hand.I stepped aside to give her room.“Mommy!” Micah shouted, bursting into the room with his shoes clicking against the polisheda marble floor.Mrs. Gable had volunteered earlier to help get Micah dressed so I could focus on Nova. Looking at him now, it felt like we were preparing for some grand, high-stakes gala, even though it was literally just breakfast in the estate’s dining hall.“Oh, look at you! You look absolutely adorable,” I gushed, leaning down to plant a loud kiss on Micah’s chubby cheek.He giggled, kicking his little feet. “I’m a big boy today!”“Me too, Mommy! What about me?” Nova’s small, sweet
Scarlett's POV. Braxton stirred lightly beneath the pillow, a low groan escaping his chest before his hand reached up to pull it off his face. His amber eyes fluttered open, drowsy with sleep. “Scarlett...” he mumbled, his voice thick and hoarse. Before I could even register his movement, his long fingers shot out and wrapped tightly around my wrist. With a sudden, lazy tug, he dragged me straight down on top of him. “What the hell are you doing?” I yelped in a sharp whisper, trying frantically not to wake the sleeping children. Braxton immediately wrapped both of his broad arms around my waist, pulling me flush against his bare chest. He buried his face straight into the crook of my neck, taking a deep, contented breath of my hair. “Hmmm...” he murmured huskily against my skin. “Stay here. Just five minutes.” “Like hell I will!” I hissed, digging my hands into his collarbones and pushing with all my strength to get up, but his grip was like an iron vice. “Stop moving around
Scarlett's POV.“Save me…” the voice echoed in my head, hollow and trembling.Where was I?It was dark—a thick, absolute pitch-blackness where I couldn't see a single thing. But I could hear the painful moans, the weak, rattling gasps for breath bouncing off invisible walls.“Who's there?” I called out, turning in a circle.Nothing. Just a heavy, deafening silence that made my ears ring.“Scarlett, save me...” the voice cried out again, weaker this time.I couldn't even tell if it belonged to a woman or a man. How had I even gotten here? What was this place?“Who are you?” I asked loudly, my heart hammering against my ribs. “Why can't I see you?”My voice echoed wildly into the empty space, every word reverberating as if it were being swallowed whole by an endless, bottomless void.It was completely black. I couldn't see anything, nor could I hear any other sounds except for that singular, agonized voice.That voice sounded like it had endured years and years of relentless torture—
—Narrated—Behind the carnage, standing calmly near the back pillar, Raven didn't flinch.The young inksmith leaned casually against the stone column, his dark, beautiful eyes watching the slaughter without a single trace of fear or panic. He didn't run, he didn't scream.He simply waited.Once the remaining survivors had managed to stumble out into the corridors, the grand hall fell dead quiet once again, painted in blood and bodies.Reginald’s massive, towering form turned toward Raven. The beast took long, heavy strides across the room, the marble floors scraping under the immense weight of his toe claws.Yet before he even reached the young man, the dark magic surrounding his body flared. Bones snapped back into place, black fur receded into skin, and within seconds, Reginald stood fully human once again, completely naked and breathing heavily.Raven reached to his side, picking up a heavy velvet robe he had prepared, and held it open, waiting patiently.Reginald stepped direct
—Narrated—The piercing, desperate cry of a newborn child echoed through the grand stone hall, deafening and raw.“Discard the useless trash,” the Alpha ordered calmly.Alpha Reginald of the Ravenmark pack sat on a carved obsidian altar with his broad back turned toward the assembly of his pack elders. His skin was glistening, bare from the waist up as an inksmith meticulously dragged a steel needle dipped in dark, glowing ink across his spine.Reginald didn't flinch. He didn't move an inch as the younger man worked the sacred, dark magic of his craft into the Alpha’s flesh.“B-but... your majesty...” the young servant holding the bundle trembled visibly, her knees shaking beneath her dress. “You haven't even looked at the child yet! It is a healthy baby boy…”The entire hall held its breath in absolute terror. The elders sitting around the massive oak council table swallowed hard, their faces turning deathly pale.This foolish, arrogant servant.Nobody dared question the Alpha Kin







