LOGINHazel’s POV
Before I could blink, he pulled me to him. One second, I was glaring at him; the next, my back hit the bed with a soft thud that sent a tremor through my spine. My gasp filled the silence. The silk sheets were cold against my skin, but his body hovering above me burned like fire. “What the hell—” My voice broke off when his hand gripped my chin roughly, forcing me to look at him. His blue eyes were darker—stormy, dangerous, and full of something I couldn’t name. “You’ve always wanted this,” he said through clenched teeth. “And now that I’m giving it to you, you’re fighting me?” My heart pounded so hard it hurt. His words didn’t make sense. None of this did. I opened my mouth to tell him to fuck off, to push him away—but before I could even think, his lips crashed against mine. The world tilted. Every rational thought vanished. My mind went blank. It felt like someone had hit a switch inside me—like my brain stopped working and my body took over. His lips were rough, demanding, desperate. The kiss wasn’t gentle; it was war. And somehow, my body responded like it had been waiting for it all along. No. No, no, no. This was insane. I didn’t want this. I didn’t even fucking know this man. But my body… betrayed me. My hands pressed against his chest, not to push but to feel. My spine arched off the bed, heat crawling up my neck. A sound slipped from my lips—a soft, broken moan that didn’t even sound like me. Oh God. That didn’t come from me. I wanted to deny it, to bury it somewhere in the back of my mind, but his mouth moved against mine again, stealing the air from my lungs. I could taste him—bitterness and heat—and my thoughts blurred until all that existed was the weight of his body and the rhythm of our uneven breaths. “Stop,” I tried to say, but it came out as another breathless sound. His hand moved to the side of my face, then lower, tracing the edge of my jaw before sliding down the curve of my neck. My pulse leapt beneath his touch. I hated it—how my body reacted, how it trembled like it recognized him. He groaned against my mouth, the sound low and rough, like he was fighting something too. His lips trailed down my throat, and my breath caught when his teeth grazed my skin. No. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t my professor. This was the dumb ass King. The same cruel man who treated his queen like shit. So why did it feel like every nerve in my body had caught fire? His breath was hot against my collarbone. I bit my lip hard enough to taste blood, trying to snap myself out of it, but then his hand moved again—down my arm, down my side, until it found the edge of my robe. “Don’t—” I started, but he didn’t listen. The sound of fabric tearing filled the room. He ripped the robe off me in one brutal motion and threw it somewhere behind him. Cool air brushed my bare skin, and I gasped, arms instinctively flying up to cover myself. “Stop!” I said, breathless. He didn’t stop. His eyes flicked down, dark and hungry, and then he tore at the thin nightgown beneath, shredding it like paper until I was left trembling under his gaze. He didn’t even give me a second to breathe before his mouth was on me again—lower this time. The heat of his lips burned against my skin, and when I felt the rough drag of his tongue on my nipple, my body jolted. I should have fought. I should have screamed. I should have pushed him off. But instead, my hands grabbed his shoulders. Not to shove him away—but to hold on. He groaned again, the sound vibrating against me as his lips found the sensitive spot on my chest. My breath hitched. My mind screamed stop, but my body melted deeper into the bed, every inch of me trembling from the confusion of it all. “You’re so wet for me,” he growled against my skin, his voice low, primal. My eyes flew open. I shook my head, denial crashing through me. “No,” I whispered, but the word was weak, shaky, a lie my body refused to believe. Then he kissed me again, harder this time, swallowing the sound that escaped me. The world spun. I didn’t know what was happening anymore—where I ended and he began. My heart was pounding out of control. I could feel every beat in my throat, in my chest, between my legs. When had I lost control? His hand slid down, fingers brushing places that made my whole body tense and shiver at once. A choked sound left my lips—half protest, half something else entirely. He lifted his head, eyes locking onto mine, dark and unreadable. For a moment, I thought I saw something there—pain? Desire? Anger? I couldn’t tell. Then his mouth was back on mine, urgent, consuming. Somewhere in the haze, I realized his body pressed closer, harder. I felt the roughness of him against my skin—and then something else. Something hot. Heavy. Hard. My breath caught. My eyes flew open. When the hell did he take his pants off? His hips pressed forward slightly, and I felt it—him—rub against my stomach, sending a shiver straight through me. My pulse roared in my ears, a warning, a plea, a thousand thoughts tangled together. No. This couldn’t be happening. I wanted to scream, to run, to disappear—but I couldn’t move. Then I felt him shift, his hand sliding down, guiding himself lower, until I felt the hard length of him brush between my legs. And in that instant—everything stopped. My breath. My heartbeat. The world itself. I froze. And before I could stop myself, my hand landed on his face with a hard slap. “You fucking bastard!”Hazel’s POV I shot upright in bed with a scream still lodged in my throat. My heart was trying to punch its way out of my chest. Sweat soaked the back of my nightgown. My hair stuck to my neck. For a second I didn’t know where I was—cliff, falling, black water rushing up—then the familiar ceiling of my room came into focus. Just a dream. Just a dream. The door burst open. Two of my female warriors rushed in—eyes scanning every corner like they expected an assassin hiding in the shadows. “My queen!” the taller one barked. “Are you alright?” I pressed a shaking hand to my chest. “I’m fine,” I managed. My voice sounded thin. “It was…nothing. A nightmare.” They exchanged a quick look—concern still sharp on their faces—but they bowed and backed out quietly, closing the door with a soft click. I sat there, knees pulled to my chest, breathing hard through my nose. That hadn’t felt like a dream. It felt real. Too real. The cold wind on my face. The hard shove on my back. The w
Hazel’s POV I couldn’t sleep. I kept turning over in bed, flipping the pillow, pulling the blanket up to my chin, then kicking it off again because it suddenly felt suffocating. Every time I closed my eyes, my heart gave this weird little jump—like it was trying to climb out of my chest. Restless. Uneasy. Like something bad was waiting just outside the door and I could feel it breathing. I groaned and rolled onto my back, staring up at the dark canopy above the bed. This was ridiculous. I shouldn’t be lying here wide awake, stomach in knots, thinking about Nicholas. Nicholas—of all people. The same man who’d spent three years parading his mistress in front of me like it was a hobby. The same man who’d looked at me like I was invisible until today, when he suddenly decided to act like I mattered. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes. No. Nope. Not going there. I wasn’t worried about him. I wasn’t. I threw the blanket off completely and stood up. The marble floor
Nicholas’s POVI stepped out of the shower, water still dripping from my hair and running down my back. The steam in the bathroom clung to the mirrors, blurring everything into a hazy fog. I grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around my waist, letting out a long breath. The hot water had done nothing to wash away the tension knotted in my shoulders. If anything, it had given me too much time to think—about the vial sitting locked in a safe, about Hazel’s mark on my neck, about how everything was unraveling faster than I could control.I wiped a hand across the mirror, clearing a streak of fog, and stared at my reflection. The bite mark was still there—fresh, raised, a perfect crescent of teeth that made my wolf preen every time I looked at it. But the man staring back? He looked tired. Worn down. Like three years of lies had carved lines into my face that no amount of kingly power could erase.I was reaching for my shirt when the door to my chambers burst open.I froze.Foot
Hazel’s POVI stood on the balcony overlooking the palace grounds, arms folded tight across my chest like I could hold everything inside if I squeezed hard enough. The late afternoon sun was making everywhere glow gold, but despite the beauty and calm of the place, my mind was spinning too fast.Dimitri stood beside me—quiet, solid, arms crossed the same way mine were. He hadn’t said much since the incident that happened at the training field. The silence between us wasn’t awkward anymore. It was comfortable. Like he knew I needed space to think.I finally broke it.“Dimitri,” I said, keeping my voice low, “I think Nicholas and his beta are hiding something.”He turned his head just enough to look at me. “What makes you say that?”I leaned my elbows on the stone railing. “I was in Nicholas’s room earlier and Marco suddenly barged in. He was out of breath, eyes wild, and he shouted something about finding ‘the missing segment’ and how Nicholas could finally ‘tell the queen the truth.’”
Nicholas’s POVI stared at the vial in my hand like it might bite me.Pink liquid caught the sunlight and threw tiny sparks across my fingers. It looked harmless. Pretty, even. Like something a child would collect in a jar and call magic.But it wasn’t magic.It was a gamble.Three years of searching—three years of marriage with Hazel thinking I hate her—and now this tiny bottle was supposed to fix everything?I didn’t trust it.“I don’t know,” I said quietly. My voice sounded hollow even to my own ears. “This feels too easy.”Marco leaned against the bookshelf, arms crossed, watching me carefully.“We’ve been looking for this segment for three years,” I went on. “Dead ends. False leads. Empty vaults. And now it just… shows up? One day I’m holding her through the heat, the next you walk in with the answer in your pocket? I don’t even know how I feel.”Marco nodded slowly. “You’re scared.”I laughed—short, bitter. “Terrified.”He didn’t laugh back.“You have to tell her,” he said gentl
Nicholas’s POVThe room went so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat slamming against my ribs.Marco stood frozen—eyes wide, face pale, like he’d just walked into a lion’s den and realized he was dinner.I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.Did he just say he found the missing segment?The same missing segment we’d hunted for three years. The missing piece that could explain how to keep Hazel safe—how to keep her alive. The one thing that could finally let me stop lying to her. Stop hurting her. Stop pretending I didn’t love her more than my own life.Three years. Three fucking years of dead ends, ransacked libraries and sleepless nights.Hazel was still pressed against me—her wrist caught in my hand, her body warm and trembling just enough for me to feel it. I could smell her—vanilla, salt, the faint trace of last night’s heat still clinging to her skin. I could feel her confusion spiking. Sharp. Curious. Angry.She pulled away suddenly—yanking her wrist free like my touch burned.Her e







