LOGINANGELA’S POVThe war room went quiet the moment Pius’s counteroffer arrived.The Crimson emissary set the scroll on the table and stepped back, stone-faced, waiting. The parchment lay there like something alive. Renounce your title. Submit to my son. Then he goes free.Beta James went pale. Gamma Rylan slammed his fist into the table, then froze, shaking with rage. “He mocks us. He asks for the impossible.”But it was possible. That was the cruelty of it. My crown for Aaron’s life.Pain throbbed behind my eyes. Since the rescue, the bond had been chaos (his pain crashing into my guilt). Then, hours ago, it changed. Cold metal. Pius’s scent. Julius’s voice, oily and close, sliding straight into my head. A warning. Then silence. Not death, not fear. Just distance. A steady pulse, controlled and calm. Aaron was alive, and he was shielding me.With that calm came images. Not words. A vast hall. Raised stone. Crowds pressed tight. A public stage. Understanding hit hard. Pius did not want a
AARON’S POVDarkness was the first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes, then pain. My leg burned, my head throbbed to a sick beat. The smell of damp stone and rust filled the air. I opened my eyes to another cell, wrists chained to the wall, my bad leg stretched out at a painful angle. I tested the chains. Solid, buried deep. Escape would have to wait.The door clanked open. Julius walked in, clean now, wearing his smug triumph like a crown. “Welcome to your new throne room, King. Comfortable?”I stayed silent, conserving breath.“The little rescue was almost touching,” he said, circling like a vulture. “Your mate got away. My father is displeased. But we got you. The prize.” He stopped in front of me. “We got a message from your pack today. From your Luna.”My heart clenched. Angela was safe, and acting.“She made an offer. A trade.” He leaned in, his voice sharp. “She wants to give us someone in exchange for you.” He let the pause hang, savoring it. “Who do you think she’d sacrifi
ANGELA’S POVSafety felt like a lie.The Shadow Moon clinic was white and clean, sharp with the smell of antiseptic, but grief still clung to the air. I sat on the edge of a cot, a heavy blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Not a scratch on me, which somehow felt worse.The door opened and Beta James stepped in, soot and blood streaking his face. None of the blood was his. He didn’t look at me.“Report,” I said. My voice sounded hollow.“We secured the perimeter. Crimson forces broke off at the border.” His gaze lifted and struck me like a blow. “The stealth team… Erik and Silas died in the collapse. Three from your mother’s diversion aren’t coming home.”Five warriors. Five lives gone because I existed.“And my mother?” The whisper barely left my throat.“She is being treated now. Sword wound to the abdomen. Heavy blood loss. It’s uncertain.”The room tilted. I gripped the cot until the metal frame bit into my palm. She had charged into enemy lines for me, and she might die for it.“
AARON’S POVThe word “kneel” hung in the damp air between us. Julius smiled, a gash of pure triumph. Behind me, Angela trembled through the bond, a silent scream and panic. My warriors waited for my signal to attack or fight to the dead. That was the choice: our death for her life (a life soaked in guilt, but still a life), or a slaughter that would leave her to Julius for a worse death.It carved me open, but the answer was the same as always. I’d do anything for her, without a second thought.My muscles tensed, not to fight, but to yield, at least to buy us time for her to get to safety. My shoulders lowered , that small, terrible fall of posture.Julius’s eyes lit with savage delight. This was what he wanted. Not just her, but my submission. Then everything broke.Old Kieran, who had been shaking behind us, cried out, “The supports!” He didn’t charge Julius. He threw his whole weight against a rotten beam bracing the tunnel wall.At the same instant, a new sound rose behind Julius.
JULIUS’S POVWatching David Hunter grovel in our courtyard was the most satisfying sight I’d had in years.The great Shadow Moon Beta, once proud, once lethal, reduced to a shaking, dirt-smeared wreck. Fear clung to him, sharp and sour. When he offered Aaron’s weaknesses in exchange for his daughter’s life, I almost believed him.Almost.When he said Angela’s name, something hardened in his eyes. Not panic. Not desperation. Purpose. A stubborn, ugly resolve that made my skin itch. David wasn’t here to save his daughter. He was executing a role. And anything Aaron planned always drew blood.So I played along.I laughed, mocked him, paraded him into the great hall because that’s what he needed me to do. I let him believe he’d fooled us.Alpha Pius lounged on his carved throne, fingers steepled, boredom etched deep as David repeated his offer.“The girl is leverage, my Alpha,” David begged. “Against Aaron. Against Shadow Moon. I know how to break him. Publicly.”My father stroked his chi
AARON’S POVThe rage that had held me up and the fear that had kept me sharp both dissolved the moment the bond broke open. It wasn’t a sound or a sight. It was a wave, pure and violent emotion that slammed into my chest and drove me to my knees.Terror, cold and choking. Love, aching and fierce, pulling hard enough to hurt. And beneath it all, a danger that was patient and calculated. Angela. No words, just impressions: cold stone, damp earth, rust. And threaded through it all, the smug, icy presence of Alpha Pius.The pull had a direction. West. Not the main settlement, but older ground, the fortified compound carved into the hillside.Then it was gone. I sucked in air, shaking, but the image was burned in. She was alive. She was terrified. And Pius had her. The blind panic shattered, replaced by something colder. Focus. That surge wasn’t just a cry. It was a warning. A location. She’d handed me surprise.I veered off the path and disappeared into deeper forest. I didn’t need a warb







