Mag-log in"You are out of your bloody mind," Mitchell says, his fingers snapping against the arm of his chair.
"We summon the grand meeting," I say, leaning my back against the heavy stone wall of the council room. "Every king. Every mate. Every single alpha from the werewolf packs. We lock them in one room."
Adriel shifts his weight, his boots scraping against the floorboards. "Is that a good idea? What about Bet
Adriel POV"Get your hands off her before I snap your wrist."I didn't blink. My fingers gripped the brass handle of my bedroom door, the cold metal cutting into my palm. The corridor was silent, smelling of stale plaster and the faint, bitter tang of Betty’s fading heat.Adriel. Is everything fine? We are entering the castle now.My father's voice slammed into my head like an iron wedge. The mindlink was heavy, thick with the scent of pine and old blood that always trailed his thoughts. It made my skull throb behind my eyes.Yes, I snapped back, my jaw tightening until a muscle leaped in my cheek. Everything is okay. Come on in.I pushed my bedroom door open. The hinges gave a dry, high-pitched screech.Mitchell, everyone else are coming into the castle now, just so you know, I sent the link to my brother.A sharp, low huff echoed back through the bond. It sounded like
Jethro POV"Get your hands off her."My voice cut through the damp forest air like a snapped bone.The witch did not run. She just stood there by the edge of the clearing, her fingers lingering a fraction of a second too long on Nina's wrist. Nina blinked, her bright eyes shifting from the stranger to me. She looked entirely too innocent, entirely too soft for a world that wanted to tear her apart.Between them, the small kitten curled near baby Toby's basket hissed, its tiny black fur standing on end."Jethro," Nina said, her voice a soft, soothing balm that usually worked to calm the static under my skin. Not today. "Do not be jealous. She is a friend. She raised my cats. Do not you remember Pumpkin?"I did not care about the orange cat. I cared about the way the witch's scent smelled of burnt sulphur and dried lavender. It coated the back of my throat. I stepped onto the gravel path, my boots crunching hard against the stone."Insi
Novalee POV"Bexley, look at me," I say, stepping hard to the left.My voice is sharp. It cuts through the thick, damp air of the woods.Bexley does not stop. His jaw is locked, his knuckles white as his hands curl into fists. The black veins under his skin pulse with Kori's dark magic. He takes another massive step forward, his heavy boots crushing the dry twigs."Bexley, it is me," I say, my breath catching in my throat. "It is Novalee."He does not answer. He just stalks towards me like a wild predator. His eyes are completely pitch-black, swallowed by the illusion Kori fed his mind.I take another deliberate step backward, angling my heels. I need him to shift his weight. I need his left boot to hit the exact patch of dirt behind the rotted log."If that was really me in that vision, you would feel the betrayal," I say, keeping my pitch level, forcing the panic out of my throat. "You know my heart, Luka. You know someone forced me
Adriel POV"Open your mouth."The words left my throat like a growl, thick and heavy with the scent of ozone and burning pine.Betty did not answer. She could not. Her head was thrown back against the headboard, her dark hair a tangled mess across the pillows. Her skin was flushed a deep, violent crimson, soaked in the sweat of her third heat wave. She was completely out of her mind. The sweet, maddening stench of her pheromones filled every square inch of the bedroom, choking the air until it felt like inhaling hot glass.Mitchell gripped her hips from behind. His knuckles were stark white against her tanned skin, his fingers digging deep into her flesh to hold her still. He was panting, his jaw locked, his eyes completely black as his lycan took the reins."She is moving too fast," Mitchell grunted, his voice a gravelly scrape. "Adriel. Hold her."Betty bucked against him, her back arching in a desperate, instinctive rhyth
Betty POV"Open your mouth, Betty," Mitchell says.His voice is too low, too thick with the heat. He stands right by the edge of the mattress, his skin radiating a brutal, feverish warmth that makes the air in the bedroom feel heavy. He taps the tip of his length against my bottom lip.I pull my chin back, my spine stiffening against the headboard. "No."I am testing the limits. We all know it. The scent of the impending third wave is already drifting through the open window, sweet and heavy like rotting fruit, but I want to see how far I can push them before the fever completely takes over my mind.Mitchell does not argue. He just steps closer, his fingers snapping up to pinch my nose shut.My breath cuts off instantly. My lungs burn after five seconds, forcing me to gasp for air through my mouth. The moment my lips part, he slides inside.I choke, my eyes watering as I glare up at him. He thinks he has won. I lock my jaw, refusing t
Betty POV"Get up."The command cuts through the heavy haze in my brain. My skin is burning, a strange, blistering heat radiating from my core. I kick the heavy duvet off my feet, staring at the ceiling."It is freezing, Betty," Mitchell whines.I ignore him. His spine is pressed hard against mine. I lean back, seeking comfort, but his skin feels wrong. He is cold. Lycans are never cold. Both Mitchell and Adriel usually burn like furnaces, but right now, touching Mitchell is like pressing against ice.Mitchell groans, a low, gravelly sound. He plants a hand against my shoulder and shoves me away. I stumble sideways, my hip colliding with Adriel.Adriel flinches. He is icy too. I wrap my arms around his waist, rubbing my warm face against his chest to catch his heat.Adriel gasps. His entire chest expands, and then a brutal, territorial growl rips from his throat. He sits up fast, the mattress bouncing under his weight
Betty POV"Wake up, Betty!" a voice roars through the dark.I do not wake up.I slide down the cold stone wall instead. My fingers release the old king's head. The memory of the ancient curse rips through my skull like a hot blade. I feel their agony. I feel
Aleah POV"Open your eyes and look at what he did," I said, my voice cutting through the thick, suffocating mist of the Lycan King's subconscious.The memory flared to life around us, a blinding flash of ancient light that smelled of old parchment and damp earth. We wer
Betty POV“Wait,” Mitchell says.His hand slaps down hard on the oak table.“What do you mean by untouchable? Isn’t the matebond a magic thing?”Sir Melvin does not blink. He keeps his shoulders perfectly straight.“Correct, my prince,” Melvin says. “The matebond is born from magic. And I think tha
Betty POV"The king wants me dead."The words did not make sense. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. What had I done? I opened my mouth to demand an explanation, but a raw, booming voice cut through the heavy air before I could speak."Stop right there."I stiffened. The shout c







