LOGIN“I didn’t ask for this, Vivian.”“No. You never ask for anything, do you?” She scoffed. “Just don’t do anything stupid. Whatever happens in that room reflects on every healer in this wing, myself included. Do you understand me?”“I understand.”With that, she turned on her heel and left.I finished
Nora’s POVUpstairs, our room was dark. Vivian’s bed was still empty, and behind the white sheets of her fort, Lily was fast asleep on the bottom bunk, curled up on her side with a corner of her blanket balled up in her fist.I ducked under the sheets, knelt beside her, and tucked Pinky in under her
Some protector I had turned out to be.Eventually, I made myself go back inside. Whatever I had done to Nora, I still had a duty to the King, and I had already left his daughter’s side once tonight. I figured I should at least check on the situation.The infirmary was quiet now. Low voices drifted o
Damian’s POVI sat back against the step like she had slapped me. Out of everything Kane could have told her, why did it have to be that?I rubbed the back of my neck and looked down the empty corridor instead of at her.“He isn’t wrong,” I admitted. “Or at least, he wasn’t, a long time ago.”Nora d
“But she has no qualification!” Octavia said through gritted teeth.The King turned to look at her. Octavia smoothed her skirts with both ringed hands, and when she spoke again, it was in the soft, sorrowful voice of a concerned elder, not the hateful woman I knew all too well.“Forgive me, Your Maj
Nora’s POV“Your Majesty.” I dropped into a curtsy so low and deep that the ends of Pinky’s feet dragged on the floor. When I stood, I flushed, realizing everyone was staring at the stuffed animal, and hid it behind my back.It was one thing to stand beside the King on the dais, when he had been too
NoraI had gotten good at hiding.Six years will do that. Six years of folding myself and my little sister into closets and crawl spaces every time Victor came home drunk.Tonight, my stepfather was drunker than usual.I pressed my hand over Lily's mouth and felt her breath shake against my palm. Sh
Nora"I was at the diner," I said. "They needed an extra hand for the dinner rush."It was the same lie I always told. Until now, it had always been enough.Victor didn't move. "You think I can't smell him?"The floor seemed to tip sideways under my feet.I had scrubbed that room until my hands crac
Nora"Lily." I cut her off before the name could leave her mouth. "Enough."She looked up at me, confused, but went quiet. She knew that voice.I couldn't let her say Victor's name.Victor was an Alpha. His word ran this whole territory, and Kane was young, half-healed, and still a stranger here. If
KaneI came awake the way I'd been trained to. Hands first, eyes second.Someone had stepped into the room. My body decided she was a threat before my mind got a vote.I had her against the wall before I understood I was standing. My fingers found a throat. Small. A pulse slamming under my thumb.Th







