LOGINKatherine AshfordThe moment Nikolai’s breathing finally evened out into something resembling rest, I slipped from his arms as carefully as I could. His grip loosened only reluctantly, even unconscious, like his body refused to let me go. I stood beside the bed for a long moment, watching the rise and fall of his chest.He looked… haunted.I pulled one of his cloaks around my shoulders and padded barefoot toward the door. The stone floor was cold, grounding. Every step away from him twisted something deep in my chest.I felt uneasy.I hated it. I hated feeling like I was failing him by not knowing how to reach whatever darkness had settled over him. Something was happening to him, and the fact that he didn't want to confide in me scared me. Worse, when I’d pressed against him earlier, and let my hands roam… I caught it. Faint. Almost gone. But unmistakable.Another woman’s scent. Not mine. Not the sharp, clean pine-and-winter-smoke that was purely Nikolai. Something different. For
NIKOLAI VOLKOV I stayed there in the pool, afraid to face my fears, or the guilt that remained in my mind. The water had gone cold by the time I dragged myself out of the pool. I stood dripping on the stone tiles, staring at the rippling surface like it might give me answers. My chest still carried the hurt from the previous night, the poison slowed but not gone. I could still feel her. Liora’s hands. Her mouth. The way my body had betrayed me even when my mind was screaming to stop. The way I hadn’t been able to stop her. I pressed the heel of my hand against my sternum, hard enough to bruise, trying to crush the memory down. It didn’t work. I dressed slowly, fresh tunic, fresh pants, fresh cloak. Every movement pulled at the wound. Shame filled my mind, it reminded me of how I had failed to uphold my vows to my wife. I couldn’t tell her, hell I wouldn’t do that to her. How do even open about having sex with Liora, she would break down. Katherine had already carried
NIKOLAI VOLKOV When I regained consciousness the next morning, pain hit me first. It was sharp. Burning. Deep in my chest.Then came a scent I couldn't recognize. My eyes snapped open.The ceiling above me wasn’t mine. It looked nothing like my chamber. I shifted my gaze and she froze as my eyes met with a naked body next to mine. Liora.I jerked upright, ignoring the way pain ripped through my chest.“What the hell…”My voice came out rougher than expected. Liora stirred beside me, stretching slowly like she had nowhere else to be, like this—this—was normal.How did this happen? What was I even thinking.“Good,” she murmured, her voice soft with satisfaction. “You’re awake.”I stared at her.My gaze moved from the disheveled sheets. Her bare skin. The marks on my body that had nothing to do with the fight.Memory didn’t come all at once. It crept in slowly. Her hands on me her voice and my body failing to respond to her advances the entire night. “What did you do?” I asked, m
NIKOLAI VOLKOV The palace felt different after the fire, almost like everyone was walking on eggshells. Afraid of what might happen next. I made certain that Katherine slept in our chambers, it was one thing to live freely. We could not afford any casualties. Not now that the elders would do anything to separate us.The council’s demands still rang in my ears. Elena’s voice. The elders’ silence. The unspoken threat: we need an heir, or we replace you.I couldn’t give them what they wanted.I wouldn’t. But I also couldn’t keep pretending I knew how to win this fight alone.I needed answers. Not prophecies or warnings. I needed Facts, history to back my claims. The kind my father never shared. The old man thought knowledge was weakness. He believed that if people knew little about you, they have nothing to fight. I went to the one place no one ever entered anymore. The royal archive. The walk there was slow. The archive lay at the eastern tower, narrow stone stairs, a single iro
KATHERINE ASHFORD “I think I can handle it.” I said and tried to go close but Nikolai held me back.“Stay back—”“No.” I whispered softly and he listened. “It’s not trying to burn the room anymore. It’s trying to show me something.”The flames snapped higher at my voice—almost in recognition.I raised my bandaged hands. Blood seeped through the cloth again, fresh and bright. I didn’t hesitate. I let it drip—willingly—onto the stone floor.The shadows surged forward, not wild this time, but controlled. They flowed into the fire quenching the flames from the inside. The died—leaving only smoke and the faint smell of scorched herbs. The altar stood untouched.I stared at it, chest heaving.Nikolai was beside me in an instant, sword still drawn, eyes scanning every corner of the room.Nora stood besides us the entire time. The servants moved around, trying to find answers to what had just happened. “Are you okay!” He asked kissing my forehead lovingly.“Spirit-touched,” Nora said as s
KATHERINE ASHFORD We got back to traveling the next morning. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. I was worried even if I knew my powers had the ability to hold him for sometime. At least until we arrived at the cave. “You're quiet.” Nikolai said with a smile on his face. “I'm worried. I just want all of this to end. I've never had a peaceful life. Everyday feels like I'm running from the shadows of my past, from decisions I should never have made in the first place. Giving Dominic the position of Alpha, is a decision I would regret for the rest of my life.” I said and he smiled. “It's okay to feel that way. But what's not okay is you blaming yourself for something you had no control over. It was bound to happen, no matter how much you try to fight it, evil would always try to prevail.” He said and I nodded. “I think we have arrived.” Nora announced as she dismounted her horse. We stared at the cave in front of us. Indeed the witches had done a good job in changing their hideout ag
NIKOLAI VOLKOV The doors closed behind Katherine with a soft click after she left, leaving me with Cassian. IHe leaned against the frame, arms crossed, that same infuriating half-smile playing on his lips. The same smile he’d worn the night he’d been dragged out of this palace in chains, banished
KATHERINE ASHFORD The silence that followed after my outburst shocked me. Nikolai stood across from me, hand still hovering where it had been on my throat a second ago, fingers curled as if he couldn’t decide whether to reach for me again or strangle the defiance right out of me. I didn’t move.M
NIKOLAI VOLKOV I stepped into the war room and watched curiously. Dominic's threat is still on my mind. My Beta, Ronan, broad-shouldered, scarred, loyal since we were boys, stood across the heavy oak table, fingers tracing the border lines where Dominic's territory bled into ours like an open woun
KATHERINE ASHFORD Nikolai was rough, showed no mercy in the bedroom and knew the right buttons to push, but this was not why I had come to his palace. He was the Lycan King, and if there's one reason why I showed up at his palace, it was to claim that which belongs to me. I watched him get down f







