LOGINSAPPHIRE’S POVThe world felt like it was folding in on itself. One moment, Alberto was holding me, the weight of his survival anchoring me to the earth; the next, the very walls of our home were screaming.“Take her!” Alberto roared, his voice stripped of everything but raw, protective instinct. He shoved our daughter into my arms.“Layla,” I sobbed, clutching her tiny, swaddled form against my chest. She was so small, so impossibly fragile, her eyes wide and unblinking as they stared into the encroaching gloom.“Alberto, no! I’m not leaving without you, please!” I screamed, but he was already a blur of motion, his sword drawn and singing as he carved a path through the suffocating darkness.The fort was falling apart. The floor beneath us buckled as if the foundation itself was rejecting our presence. I didn't think, I ran. My feet thudded against the stone, my breath hitching in my throat as I navigated the familiar corridors that were now twisting into something alien. The air g
SAPPHIRE’S POVMy eyes scanned this empty place carefully. One minute I was in a room with a lurking shadow, the next minute, I was here, a shallow lonely place that I couldn’t wrap my head around.“Hello” I called out with a raspy voice “Anyone here?” I screamed, walking into the windy plains but then I heard his voice, calling out to me.“Sapphire!” “Alberto!” I screamed back “I’m here, Alberto!” I yelled harder, running through what felt like sand beneath my feet but the more I moved and cried for help, the softer the sand and the ground.“Sapphire, where are you?!” I heard him call from a distance.“I’m here!” I shouted back but then I felt my legs sinking, “No, no, no, no…what is this?! Help, Alberto, Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as my legs delved deeper into whatever this was.“I’m here” I heard him say even when I didn’t see him, or his figure or at least his silhouette.“I’m here..In this sinking sand” I answered as loud as my voice could yell as the sand muffled
ALBERTO’S POVFind AVA? How on earth am I supposed to do that? She’s dead.My face stayed frozen, my hands clasped with hers, her eyes now sealed shut, there was an eerie silence in the room once again.“She isn’t dead” Lyra said from behind, her voice catching me off guard, her silk robe shimmering even in the darkened room “Your daughter has been born, I am tending to her, do you want to see her fir..”“What do you mean Sapphire is alive?” I questioned. What good would our child be without her mother “I felt her pulse..an..and her heart, I can’t hear it anymore” I stated “I’m not even sure if what she said was only just a figment of my imagination” “It wasn’t” she replied “Your mate lives, she’s trapped in another realm”“Then don’t just stand there…do something, bring her back!” I commanded, standing up when I felt her hand still intertwined with mine so strongly, it was as though she held onto me.“Sapphire..” I called out but her eyes were still sealed shut and her pale skin go
ALBERTO’S POVI felt it faintly in my head, her voice softly calling onto me, Enzo would have to wait, I trust that Gonzalo would follow through with our plan and lay low.“My Lord” Pedro, an alpha I had situated as high ranking approached me, his voice hoarse.“We are still in search of Enzo, my lord” he started, I didn’t turn to look at him, that wasn’t my priority at the moment, my mate was.“And what do you wish to report?” I asked, sheathing my sword and preparing to leave. For some reason, I felt the strong urge to be around Sapphire, coupled with the fact that I had that dream, the one which I wasn’t able to save her in time.“We have found some of the elders who plotted treason against your majesty” he stated, his head slightly bent low.“Deal with them accordingly” I answered without hesitation, taking up my head for the door.“My Lord..are you departing from the pavilion?” He asked.“Yes, I am, you’re in charge” I replied “I want Enzo, alive, and Gonzalo’s ashes, well, have
GONZALO’S POVI watched, frozen, as the girl I thought I knew stood up. Alora, or whoever she was becoming, floated an inch off the cold, glass floor. Her eyes were burning like two miniature suns, and the room began to shake as if the very foundation of the world was angry at her existence.The shadow-thing, the monster that looked like me, recoiled, screeching as the golden light tore through it. I scrambled to my feet, my muscles screaming in protest. I didn't care about the King, or the throne, or the war. I just grabbed her waist, pulling her back toward me, my heart hammering against her spine."Alora, stop!" I roared, trying to shield her with my own broken body. "You’re burning yourself up!"She went limp instantly, the gold light fading as she collapsed into my arms. The room went dead silent. The cracks in the floor stopped spreading, and the shadow-thing vanished like mist in the morning. I didn't wait for another trap to spring. I scooped her up, she felt light, too ligh
GONZALO’S POVThe cold in this place was not natural. It was a freezing, dead kind of chill that tried to stop my blood from moving. I knelt on the hard, glass-like floor, my hands shaking as I pulled Alora toward me. She was so still. Her eyes were closed, and her skin, which usually had that beautiful, warm glow, was turning pale and stiff, like the ice cocoons I saw lining the walls.“Alora? Wake up.”I shook her gently, trying so hard to jolt her awake, but her head just lolled to the side. My heart was thumping against my ribs like a trapped bird. I looked down at her side, where I had seen the blood earlier, and the sight nearly finished me. The wound wasn't just there, it was growing. It looked like black, jagged cracks were spreading out from it across her skin, like a spiderweb made of shadows.I touched the skin near the wound, and it was hard, like crystal. She was turning into something else. She was fading away, becoming a statue in this dead place.“No…no, no..no” I f
Alberto’s PovThe air was cold in the war room, matching the frost that lingered in my mind from Sapphire's mirror. Only the day before yesterday, I was terrified that I was about to lose her when I heard her screams. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed that there was no one and no immediate threat
Sapphire’s PovThe new suite was, well, new - a sprawling expanse of polished obsidian floors and walls hung with tapestries of silver-threaded wolves, looking like it had been designed just yesterday. It
Alberto’s povOrion pushed open the large, iron-bound doors of the Royal Archives, the scent of cedar and ancient dust hitting us as we walked in. He had refused to just tell me what happened, insisting that the result had to be shown, not spoken of."As long as it's worth my time," I had told him,
Alberto’s povNow I got the explanation I had been missing all this while. Kael was under no obligation to help Sapphire, but he did, he even risked his life to protect her because he loved her. He didn’t admit it, but his deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression. I suppressed a growl from within







