LOGINAuthor’s POV The silence that followed was thick. Heavy. Pressing in from all sides.Lysera didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. Didn’t take back her words. She simply sat there, watching him and waiting.Henry dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once—twice—like a caged animal trying to find an exit that didn’t exist.“You think this is a negotiation?” he snapped suddenly, turning back to her. “You think you’re in any position to make demands?”Lysera tilted her head slightly, studying him. “Yes.”The single word landed harder than anything else she had said. His eyes flashed.“You are alive because I allow it,” he continued, his voice dropping, turning colder. “Don’t forget that.”“And you will remain alive because of me,” she returned just as quickly.That stopped him for half a second.Then his expression twisted. “Don’t,” he warned.“No,” she cut in, her voice sharper now. “You don’t get to pretend that’s not true. You said it yourself. Your wolf is tearing you apart. Without this bon
Author povThe words hung heavily between them. Enough to cut through the thick haze that had wrapped around them moments ago.Henry stilled. For a second—just one—something close to clarity flickered in his eyes.Then it hardened. His jaw clenched, the tension snapping back into place like armor he was desperate to put on.“Talk?” he repeated, his voice low, rough from behind the place placed softly against it. “Now you want to talk?”Lysera didn’t remove her hand from his mouth immediately. She held his gaze, steady despite the uneven rhythm of her breath, despite the way her chest was still rising too fast.“Yes,” she said finally, pulling her hand away slowly. “Before this gets any worse.”Henry let out a quiet, humorless breath.“Too late for that.” But he moved back just enough to put space between them again.Lysera was staring at him with an unreadable look in her eyes.“Fine. Talk.”“There need to be some ground rules if anything is going to happen between us.”“If anything?”
Author’s POV The sound of that soft, satisfied whine inside him made Henry’s expression darken even further.“No,” he muttered under his breath, more to himself than to her.Lysera caught it and her eyes narrowed slightly, suspicion sharpening her already hostile gaze.“What is wrong with you?” she asked, her voice low now, controlled—but no less cutting. “First you break into my room, climb into my bed like a lunatic, and now you’re standing there talking to yourself. Are you going mad?”Henry didn’t answer immediately. Because he didn’t have one. Or rather—he did. He just refused to say it out loud.His jaw clenched as he forced himself to move back from her, putting a sliver of distance between them. It didn’t help. The air still felt thick and heavy. Like something unseen was pressing them together no matter how far apart they tried to stand.Lysera noticed it too. Of course she did. Her breathing had changed. Subtly. It was now slightly faster than before.She hated that. He cou
Author’s POVThe moment Henry stepped close enough to the bed. He was hit by a sweet scent.It was floral. Soft. Familiar. His body went still. It was the same scent he had always known. The same one that used to calm him, ground him, pull him back whenever his temper threatened to slip.Isyra.For years, that scent had been everything. His comfort.His home. His Choice.But now, it felt wrong and almost suffocating.It filled his lungs and sat there, heavy, doing nothing to soothe the restless thing clawing beneath his skin.Nothing to quiet the voice. Nothing to ease the hunger.His jaw tightened. Disgust flickered through him.Then it shifted. Because as he drew closer… the scent changed.Subtly. Not too much. It was still floral. Still soft. Still eerily similar.And yet, it wasn’t the same.There was something warmer beneath it. Something deeper. Something that didn’t sit on his skin but sank into him, curled around his chest, and tightened there.His breath slowed, then deepen
Author’s POVIsyra slept peacefully in his arms. Soft, warm and unaware of what was going on inside his head.Her body was curled into his like she belonged there, like she had always belonged there, her quiet breaths brushing against his chest in soft, steady rhythms. Every slow inhale brought her scent into him—floral, sweet, familiar and comforting.It should have been enough. It used to be enough. But now, it did nothing to quiet the restless itch crawling beneath his skin. Nothing to silence the voice in his head that did not sound like him and yet… was him.‘Go to her.’ The voice urged. ‘Claim her.’Henry’s jaw tightened. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, willing it away. It didn’t stop. Instead, it got louder and more aggressive.‘Go to her. Claim her.’He hated it. Hated the sound of it. Hated the way it slithered through his mind, persistent, relentless, impossible to ignore.This was madness. Everything about this—about her—about the bond—was madness. And he wanted no
Lysera“He is?” I grinned again. “If he truly were yours, you wouldn’t need to tell me. I’d already know.”“He’s mine!” she snapped, her voice sharp with barely contained aggression.My gaze dropped to her hands resting on her lap. They weren’t clenched.Oh.She wanted to hit me. But she wouldn’t. Not here. Not with guards in the room and servants passing through at any moment.I leaned back slightly, unbothered.“If he’s yours,” I continued smoothly, “then he wouldn’t be trying to touch me.”I let the words linger before adding, deliberately softer—“He wouldn’t be trying to make love to me.”I chose the words carefully. Let them sound intimate. Beautiful. Provoking.“He wouldn’t be so desperate to complete the mating ritual between us…” I arched slightly in my chair, tilting my head as my eyes drifted toward her neck in an exaggerated inspection. Then I clicked my tongue. “…when he hasn’t even marked you.”My gaze returned to her face.“You’ve been with him for years,” I added, my t
LyseraI snapped awake to screaming.Not the kind that belonged to nightmares or memory, but real—raw, panicked, echoing through stone and corridors like a warning bell rung too hard, too fast.“Maids! Healers! Someone come—now! The alpha is drying!”Harlow’s voice.My heart slammed against my ribs
Author’s POVThe room was thick with perfume, heat, and restrained fury.Isyra stood at the center of her chambers while two maids fluttered around her, fastening the last hooks of her gown and smoothing invisible creases that did not exist. Silk slid over her skin like a second layer of armor—deep
Author’s POVThe room was filled with a tense, uneasy silence.Henry lay on the bed in Harlow’s chamber, his broad frame unnaturally still against the dark sheets. His chest rose and fell slowly, shallow breaths that looked more like the body remembering how to live than choosing to. His skin had l
Author’s POVMorning crept into the pack house with an unease that refused to lift.The sun rose, as it always did, casting pale light through the tall windows of the throne room, but it did nothing to chase away the heaviness that had settled over the stone walls. The pack moved in hushed currents







