LOGIN~ Cade's POV ~The office smelled of stale sweat, spilled liquor, and the sickly-sweet, herbal drugs of the vials Zara kept tucked in her bodice. I sat behind my desk, the same one that used to feel like a throne and now felt like a cage, my fingers drumming a frantic, irregular beat against the wood.My skin felt too tight. It felt like a thousand needles were vibrating under the surface of my flesh, a constant, buzzing itch that only the medicine could drown out."The trade lines to the coast are being seized by the High King’s auditors, Alpha," Elder Vance said, his voice dripping with a poorly veiled contempt. He stood across from me, his grey eyes darting to my shaking hands. "The pack is hungry and the warriors are restless. They are saying you’ve traded our sovereignty for a mistress who can’t even hold her head up."“That is not the issue,” another elder said. “We shouldn't worry about what is being said, what we want to know,” he looked at me, his eyes hardening. “What we wan
All through that evening I just couldn't stop thinking about Kael no matter how hard I tried. The way he looks at me, his touch and just the way my body reacts to him... I didn't want it but I could not help myself.I have to get a grip too right? I do not want my heart to be shattered again because of my weakness of falling in love easily. Yes he had saved me from an abusive marriage and I pledged devotion to him but that should be all right? I should not get my heart involved.But when he looks at me with those eyes I simply cannot help my feelings. Maybe I really am cheap, always falling in love with a man who seems safe. Maybe I should stay away from him a bit till I can think straight. The night air was thin and cold, but as I drifted into sleep, the silk sheets seemed to morph into the damp, clinging mud of a Southern forest.I fell into deep slumber and In the dream, I was that young girl again that was in danger. The scent of pine was overwhelmed by the metallic tang of bloo
~ Risa's POV ~The morning of the day before the ceremony arrived with a heavy, silver mist that clung to the palace spires like a shroud. Inside the Queen’s Wing, however, it was a whirlwind of activity. Dressmakers, jewelers, and ritual scholars swarmed the sitting room, their voices a constant hum of debate over silk weights and ancient incantations I needed to remember before the event.I sat in the center of the chaos, like a mannequin for their ambitions, but my mind was miles away from all the activities going on here.Ever since Kael had left my room the night before, my wolf had been acting… strange. For five years with Cade, she had been a creature of high alert, always bristling, anxious, and sensing the coldness in the bond and trying to overcompensate by being more submissive, more useful. But here, in this fortress of black stone and secrets, she was different.Whenever Kael walked into a room, she didn't bristle nor did she cower. She always purred, It was a low, rhyth
The silence that followed my outburst was worse than the screaming. It was a heavy, suffocating pressure that made my skin feel like it was crawling with thousand of insects. My wolf was no longer pacing but he was curled in a corner of my mind, shivering, his spirit fractured by the looming reality of the Royal Mating.I looked at my hands, they still wouldn't stop shaking. It was like it was only getting worse by the minute. I was losing my mind as it is and I needed something…anything to calm my restless mind."Zara," I croaked, my voice small. I stumbled out of the kitchen, tripping over a piece of stool. I struggled to get up as I headed to Zara's room as my head ached like hell. I needed that vial she offered that made the world stop spinning for a while.I found her in the hallway, her expression still angry from our earlier confrontation."The medicine," I said, reaching for her, my fingers twitching. "Zara, please. I can't... I can't think. My head is burning. Please give it
~ Cade's POV ~Since Zara's suggestion the other day at council, I've been thinking about it but I haven't made a decision yet. I really wondered why I was hesitating so much, but I just couldn't bring myself to just mark her. I was hunched over the kitchen table with a half empty bottle of whiskey in my arm. I swiped through my feed looking for something to distract me at least. Then something caught my attention. It was from a big blog with a heading that I just couldn't ignore. -Breaking News: HIS MAJESTY KING KAEL ANNOUNCES ROYAL MATING CEREMONY WITH LADY RISA. THE MOON BLOOD RITUAL TO COMMENCE SOON….read more…..-There was even a photo attached to it of Risa holding hands with the king in the royal court. She looked radiant, her eyes focused on him with a clarity I hadn't seen in years and he looked at her too like she belonged to him.A painful pang began beating at the side of my brain as a roar tore out of my throat as I threw the damn phone, the metal shattering to pieces a
The scent of rain drenched pine drifted through the open windows of the room, but all I could smell was the lingering trace of sandalwood and citrus. It was the smell of Risa which had permeated every corner of this palace, turning this cold fortress into something that felt like a home.I stood by the tinted glass, watching her walk through the courtyard below. She was accompanied by that boy, Axel. I had let him in to come see her often because I knew she needed a piece of her old life to keep her company, but watching him touch her arm made the wolf inside me pace with jealousy but I suppressed it.“Patience, Kael,” I told myself, my fingers curling into the palm of my hand. She is a wounded bird and if I tighten my grip, I'll only feel her bones snap.I had spent the last hour reviewing the reports from my shadow guards I had placed around her. They told me how she had dismantled Elara and the Council daughters with nothing but her wits and the sheer weight of her presence. A ghos
As I walked down the stone path carefully, the mist from the waterfall was an icy veil that coated the rocks and my fur coat in a shimmering layer of moisture. The roar of the water was a low frequency thrum that drowned out the rest of the world, creating a place of absolute privacy at the base of
The villa the king had prepared for us was a marvel of minimalist architecture, it was all polished concrete, floor-to-ceiling glass, and smart home interfaces that responded to a flick of the wrist. But for all its luxury, it just felt like a high tech holding cell meant to distract you with its l
The wind on the ridge was biting into my skin, it was so cold out here this morning as the wind whistled through the sleek lines of the black SUVs idling in the driveway. I stood on the gravel, my hands buried deep in the pockets of a heavy grey fur coat I wore to keep warm, but it seemed the cold
The silence in the Meeting Hall was heavy, thick enough to choke on. The Elders sat up immediately, their gazes darting between me and the Alpha. Cade was the first to move to break the awkward silence, the screech of his heavy chair against the stone floor sounded like a scream."Risa," he said, h







