LOGINSerena’s POVI did not wait for morning.The anonymous note still burned in my hand as I crossed the short distance between my chambers and Alaric’s private study. The guards outside his door took one look at my face and stepped aside without a word. I pushed the heavy door open and found him standing near the tall windows, a half-finished report in one hand, the other braced against the stone sill. He turned at the sound of my entrance, the hard lines of the day’s council still etched around his eyes.“Serena.” He set the papers down immediately. “What is it?”I crossed the room and held the folded parchment out to him. My voice came out steadier than I expected. “This was slid under my door tonight. No seal. No name. Just this.”Alaric took the note. His eyes moved over the single line once, then again. The change in him was subtle but immediate—the slight tightening of his jaw, the way his shoulders squared as if bracing for a blow he had already anticipated. He folded the parchmen
Serena’s POVThe first full day inside the Obsidian Royal Palace taught me that marble walls had ears.I woke in the private chambers adjoining Alaric’s, the bed far too large and the silence far too complete. A maid arrived with fresh clothes tailored in the deep crimson and black of the royal household. She spoke little, her eyes carefully lowered, but when she helped me dress I caught the quick, assessing glance she gave the faint bruise still healing along my ribs. Word of the forest fight had already traveled. Everything here traveled.Breakfast was served in a smaller solar overlooking one of the inner courtyards. Alaric joined me briefly, his expression composed but distant in the way it became when the weight of the throne pressed too heavily. He kissed my temple, lingered just long enough for the bond between us to warm, then left for a closed council session that would last most of the morning. “Stay within the royal wing,” he said. “Kieran will likely make himself available
Serena’s POVKieran’s smile was the kind that made people lean closer without realizing they had moved.He stepped forward with effortless grace, the perfect picture of a high-ranking courtier who belonged in these vast halls. Up close he was even more striking—sharp cheekbones, dark lashes, and those cold, intelligent eyes that seemed to catalog every detail of my face in a single glance. He bowed with just the right amount of respect, then straightened and offered me a look of open, almost brotherly warmth.“Lady Serena,” he said, voice smooth as polished stone. “At last. I have heard so much about the woman who managed to turn my difficult brother’s carefully ordered world upside down. I must say, the stories did not do you justice.”I felt Alaric’s tension through the bond, a low, controlled current of warning, but Kieran’s charm was immediate and disarming. He spoke as if we were already allies, as if the cold-eyed calculation I had glimpsed a moment earlier had been only a trick
Serena’s POVBy the time the healers confirmed Gale was stable enough to leave under continuous watch, the sun had already begun its slow descent toward the western spires of the capital. Alaric made the decision without hesitation. We could not remain hidden in the medical wing forever. The council demanded a formal appearance. The court needed to see that the Obsidian King had returned with his claimed mate, the authenticated treaty, and the first fragments of a far older conspiracy.I stood beside Gale’s bed one last time before we left. His color was better, though he had not woken again since the second collapse. I brushed my fingers lightly across his bandaged hand.“Rest,” I whispered. “We’ll finish what you started.”Alaric’s hand settled at the small of my back, warm and steady. “The palace healers will remain with him around the clock. When he wakes, we will be told immediately.”I nodded, drawing a steadying breath, and allowed him to guide me from the chamber.The journey
Serena’s POVThe name still echoed in the quiet chamber long after Gale’s eyes had closed again.Seraphine Vael.I sat frozen beside the bed, my hand still wrapped around his, while Alaric stood motionless on the other side. The healers had checked Gale’s vitals and confirmed he was stable for now, but the effort of speaking had drained what little strength he had regained. His breathing remained shallow. The silver residue was clearing, yet his body had paid a heavy price for the fight in the forest.Alaric’s voice was low when he finally spoke. “That name should not exist anymore. The Vael bloodline was declared extinct after the border wars two generations ago. If Liliana is truly Seraphine Vael…”He did not finish the thought. He did not need to. The weight of it settled over the room like a second darkness.I leaned closer to Gale, brushing damp hair from his forehead. “Come back,” I whispered. “Please. We need more. You have to tell us the rest.”For a long time there was only t
Serena’s POVThe medical wing of the Obsidian capital was quiet in the deep hours of the night, lit only by low-burning lamps and the soft glow of healing runes etched into the stone walls. Gale lay motionless on the wide bed at the center of the private chamber, his chest rising and falling in shallow, uneven breaths. Thick bandages covered the worst of his wounds. Silver-neutralizing tonics dripped slowly into his system through a carefully placed line. The senior healers had done everything within their considerable power, yet the verdict remained the same: wait and see.I sat in a chair pulled as close to the bed as possible, both of my hands wrapped around one of his. His skin was too cool. Too still. Every so often I checked the pulse at his wrist, needing the faint thrum beneath my fingers to prove he was still fighting.Alaric had not left.He had entered the chamber hours earlier without a word, dismissed the extra guards with a quiet order, and taken the chair on the opposit
Caden's POVThe air in the master suite was thick with the scent of lilies, a cloying, suffocating perfume that seemed to cling to the velvet drapes and the expensive new rugs. I stood by the balcony, the night air cool against my skin, watching the moonlight pool on the floorboards where Serena h
Serena’s POVThe air in the pack house main hall was thick with the scent of lilies and cold judgment. I stood at the center of the room with a very stiff stance, watching the elders of the Thornblood pack shift uncomfortably on their velvet-lined benches. These were the same men and women who ha
Selena's povIn a few minutes I was sent out of the packhouse I occupied and given a small cabin close to the woods. cabin air was stale, smelling of dust and the lingering, suffocating scent of my own misery. I was staring at the wall, tracing the cracks in the wood, when the door groaned open w
Serena's povI bathed myself in another cloud of lavender-his favorite scent. Today my mate, my alpha forever , was coming back home, draped in victory and merits. My wolf swelled with prideSmoothing over the little wrinkles on the bed, a smile played over my lips. For 3 years I have held up the







