LOGINSIGRUN "I’m the real Sigrun!" I shouted, my voice cracking under the strain of the absurd situation. God, I hadn’t seen my best friend in months, and I couldn’t even hug her now because the impostor with my face was claiming that I was the impostor. I tightened my white-knuckled grip on the brass candlestick, keeping it pointed squarely at the impostor’s chest. "I lived in this apartment for three years! I know where the floorboards squeak outside the bathroom!" "No, I'm the real Sigrun!" sweatpants-Sigrun shrieked back, her manicured hands waving frantically in the air. Between us, Eva stood completely frozen in the doorway, the smoldering joint held mid-air. She slowly blinked, her eyes darting back and forth between us like she was watching a terrifyingly high-stakes tennis match. "Okay. Okay," Eva whispered, her voice dangerously flat. She closed her eyes, held up a single finger, and took another deep, shuddering drag of the joint. She held the smoke in for a few s
SIGRUN My lungs exploded. I jerked upright with a violent, agonizing heave, like a drowning body breaching the surface after minutes beneath the ice. Air—thick, warm, dusty air—slammed into my chest with the force of a physical blow. I gasped, choking on it, my throat burning as if I had swallowed glass. My hands flew instantly to my neck. I expected wetness. I expected blood. There was no blood. There was no collar. My fingers scrambled frantically over smooth, unbroken skin. My pulse hammered beneath my fingertips like a frightened bird, but the flesh was whole. I tore at my collarbone, breathing in ragged, hysterical hitches, my eyes wide and unseeing as my mind scrambled to process the lack of pain. Varul. The name ripped through my soul like a jagged blade. Where was Varul? Where was the dark blood pooling on the floor? Where was Krev? My body was trembling so violently I could barely sit up. I reached out through the darkness, searching frantically for the bo
VARULThe wolfsbane wasn't just killing me. It was executing my wolf.Inside the dark abyss of my mind, Siren was drowning in liquid fire. The poison coiled around his throat like spiked chains, crushing his chest and tearing his lungs to shredded ribbons. The great Alpha wolf—the terrifying beast that had made entire North bow—was on his knees, thrashing in dark pool after dark pool of his own dying spirit, letting out wet, agony-laced whimpers that ripped through my brain.We were chained in our own skin. Paralyzed. Mutilated from the inside out.And then Krev and his goons laid their filthy hands on her.A white-hot, apocalyptic rage detonated in my chest, so violent it should have shattered every bone in my body. That was my mate. My princess. My breath. My soul. My entire reason for existing on this godforsaken earth. To watch that bastard drag her up by her hair—to hear her sharp, helpless gasp—was a violence ten thousand times worse than the poison eating my internal organs.
SIGRUNI lay paralyzed on the stone, the heavy metal of the choker sinking its icy, unnatural fangs into my very soul. Every pulse of my heart felt like thick lead sludge crawling through my veins. Deep inside, where the burning spark of my magic usually lived—that electric, unyielding current—there was nothing but a void. A black, suffocating emptiness.Krev stood over me, looking down at my helpless form as if I were nothing more than a stray dog waiting to be put down.He stooped down, grabbed a handful of my hair, and hauled me off the stone.A sharp gasp tore from my throat as my scalp burned, my knees buckling uselessly. Krev yanked me upright, pulling my back flush against his chest, and in a single fluid motion, drew a dagger. The silver edge pressed firmly into the skin just above the cold metal band around my neck.It bit deep enough for me to feel the razor sharpness, hovering right over my pulsing carotid artery."Look at him," Krev commanded softly into my ear. "Look at
SIGRUNMy world narrowed to the cold, cruel curve of Lord Krev’s lips.Behind him, the hallway was a slaughterhouse. Through the frame of the shattered doors, I caught a glimpse of two royal guards sprawled motionless in pool after pool of dark blood. Darren wasn't among them, but his absence felt like a death sentence.Krev didn't even look at me at first. His eyes swept past where I stood, landing directly on Varul, who was choking on the floor.Every wheezing breath he took were like knives stabbing my chest. He was in so much pain. "A pathetic sight," Krev said softly, stepping into the room. His boots crunched over the splinters of oak littering the floor. "The great Alpha King of the North, brought low by wolfsbane. You should have checked your cellars more carefully, boy." He grinned wickedly. Wolfsbane. That was what Varul had been poisoned with. Scentless poisonous plants that could be turned into potions. I knew that wolfsbane was lethally poisonous to werewolves. For
SIGRUNMy training with Varul had become a daily sanctuary—hours spent honing my magic until it obeyed my call as easily as my own breath.Between the quiet nights in his arms and the growing strength in my blood, I had almost allowed myself to believe that everything was alright.I was wrong.The enemy had simply been waiting for us to lower our guard.——-One night, I lay curled against Varul’s chest, my head resting over the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat, bathed in the soft, lingering warmth of his skin. It was my favorite place. Then I felt Varul’s arm sweep over me, shoving me behind him as he threw off the heavy fur blankets. His shoulders locked tight, his head tilting toward the dark archway of the heavy double doors."Varul?" I whispered in sleepy confusion as I pushed myself up onto my elbows. He raised one large hand, signaling me to be quiet. Then I heard it, a sound so faint, it was almost swallowed by the low howl of the mountain wind outside our window: A sharp, mu
I stopped just inside the doorway.And stared.“Oh.”It was all I had.Because apparently the North had looked at the concept of subtlety and collectively decided against it.The entrance hall was enormous.I’m talking cathedral enormous.My entire apartment building back in Brooklyn could have fit
“Well, thank gods, ye snapped out o’ it, yer highness. What was all that about?” Rita said, giving me a stern, matronly look. Although she seemed friendly enough, she scared me a little. Thankfully, she didn’t give me time to answer as she bustled forward and fussed with my hair and clothes, all t
“Arghhhhh! Stay away from me, you perverts!” I scrambled to my knees on the bed (come to think of it, it was a really soft bed. The strangeness of it registered somewhere in my mind but I was far too occupied at the moment to think too much of it), and eyed the two (frightened?) women fearfully.
SIGRUN I was half asleep when I heard some muffled whispers. I probably forgot to turn off the TV before going to bed. I groaned lazily. I was too comfortable to get up. I was already snuggling the sheets and feeling pleasantly warm. With my eyes still closed, I tried to communicate with the







