Tessa's POV: Some mornings, I still wake before the sun.Old habits, I guess.There was a time when waking up early meant preparing for battle, whether emotional or physical. A time when I carried the weight of other people’s expectations like armor. When I didn’t know who I was. But now?I wake for peace.For the little giggles echoing down the hallway. For the scent of cinnamon and fresh air drifting through the estate windows. For the love that fills every crack I once believed would never heal.I rolled onto my side, smiling as soft fingertips brushed along my cheek.Lucian.Even in sleep, his hand instinctively reached for me. His brow softened when he found me there beside him, like the storm of his past still needed reassurance that I hadn’t left.“I’m here,” I whispered, kissing his knuckles. “I’m not going anywhere.”He stirred slightly, his lashes fluttering. “Mmm. You say that now… But wait till she throws oatmeal in your hair again.”I laughed softly. “She’s your daughte
Tessa's POV: The pain came in waves, fierce and wild, like a storm crashing against cliffs. My cries echoed through the estate halls, but I wasn’t afraid.I was ready.Lucian knelt beside me, gripping my hand with a strength that made me know that he couldn't lose me. He didn’t flinch when I screamed. He didn’t waver when I sobbed his name. He was just there, whispering encouragement, pressing kisses to my sweat-soaked hair, his eyes never leaving me. “You’re almost there,” he murmured, his voice raw with emotion. “You’ve got this, moonlight. Just a little more.”I gasped, breath hitching, as another contraction tore through me. My mother stood near the foot of the bed, calm and focused, guiding the process with ancient magic that soothed the sharpest edges of the pain. Beside her was one of the estate’s most trusted she-wolves, Marra, the head healer, and Kate, one of my former maids who had stayed despite the havoc caused by Olivia. They moved around me with practiced hands and so
Tessa's POV: The mating ceremony wasn’t the kind of wedding I ever imagined growing up. There were no white dresses. No flower girls tossing petals. No fancy chairs lined up in rows.Instead, there was a circle.A wide, open clearing under the full moon. The air was heavy with the scent of pine and the hum of ancient magic. Wolves surrounded us, shifters from every corner of Lucian’s territory, some in human form, others padded and noble in their fur, all standing in reverent silence.And at the center of it all, him.Lucian.The Lycan King. The Alpha.He stood shirtless, barefoot, draped in a ceremonial sash made of braided threads, black, silver, and deep crimson, the colors of the Alpha line. The mark of the moon was etched in ash across his chest.He looked feral and beautiful. Mine.His dark eyes found mine as I stepped into the circle.I wore nothing elaborate. Just a deep blue silk gown and a crown of wild white flowers threaded with moonvine across my hair. My feet were bare.
Tessa's POV: The wind that drifted through Lucian’s estate smelled different now. Not of blood, not of fear, but of wildflowers and ash, burnt sorrow giving way to something green again.We had returned a week ago.Not to pick up where we left off. That was impossible. Too much had been lost, too many truths had cracked open. But we came back to rebuild. Not the walls, but ourselves.Lucian’s estate was quieter than I remembered. Most of the staff had either fled during the chaos of Olivia or were reassigned by the Council until the dust settled.So it was just us.And strangely… I liked it that way.Our wounds, physical and otherwise, were still fresh. My ribs still ached when I twisted too far. Lucian winced when he moved his shoulder, where Olivia’s claws had nearly ended him. But the deepest healing wasn’t of the body.It was of the soul.He sat at the edge of the garden now, sunlight streaming through the overgrown vines above his head. His eyes were closed, his face tilted upwa
Tessa's POV: Dawn had barely begun to touch the horizon when the silence broke, low growls rumbling in the distance. Not from enemies. This time, they were different.I turned slowly, blood still drying on my skin, my breath catching as dark shapes approached through the woods. They came without sound, seven in total, cloaked in deep gray robes, faces partially masked in silver. Their eyes glowed faintly with ancient magic, and the moment they stepped into the courtyard, the very air bent around them.The werewolf council enforcers.Behind them came another group, less cloaked, more armored, already moving swiftly to begin evacuation. They carried stretchers, sacred warded tools, and whispered spells that lifted bodies with reverent silence.Olivia's still-bound form was hauled to her knees. She didn’t fight. Her eyes were blank now, devoid of the fire that once consumed her.One of the enforcers passed close to me, his silver eyes sweeping across the carnage. “We intercepted the dis
Tessa's POV: Olivia groaned under the crushing weight of my magic, slumped against the courtyard wall like shattered porcelain. Her limbs twitched weakly, still bound by the living vines I’d summoned from the earth itself. Her hair was tangled and streaked with blood, and her once-fierce eyes now brimmed with a trembling disbelief.Olivia.The Alpha who tore everything apart.The sister who murdered her own blood.Now she lay broken.And still, I wasn’t done. My palms pulsed white with power, raw and ancient. I could feel it in the wind, in the soil, in the ache of my grief; it surged through me, responding to every thought, every breath.But then…Something shifted in the air.A ripple.A soft hum, like magic brushing against memory.I turned quickly.And there he stood.“Noah.”He stepped out from the smoke and shadows like a vision from another lifetime.Still tall. Still steady. Still carrying the sadness in his eyes that had never really left since we were kids.His brown curls