LOGINMirabeth’s POVI stood by the window of my chambers and watched the training grounds below. My thoughts kept returning to the same moment in the corridor earlier that day. I saw the way Amreth caught and stared at her.It had only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough for me to notice things that other people would miss. Amreth was not a man who touched people without thinking about it. He was careful with his actions and even more careful with his emotions. I had spent years beside him, and I knew the difference between something meaningless and something that caught his attention. The mere thought of that lowly bitch being with him pisses me off to the point where I wanted to rake her eyes out! The memory made a cold feeling settle in my chest. For weeks now, I had watched the way his attention drifted whenever that girl was nearby. He did not speak to her, and he made sure to act indifferent in front of the pack, but I was not blind. I could see the small changes in him that ot
Lea’s POV“Alpha!”Mirabeth’s sharp voice broke the silence in the corridor like a glass shattering, and I felt a twinge of annoyance. The moment between us ended instantly. Amreth’s hands released my waist as though he had touched something that burned him, and I staggered back a step, catching myself against the wall before I could fall again. My heart was still racing wildly in my chest, and the warmth of his grip seemed to linger on my skin even though he was no longer touching me.Mirabeth came down the stairs quickly. Her green eyes moved between the two of us with open suspicion and anger. She stopped beside Amreth and let out a soft laugh that held no real amusement.“Well,” she said slowly as she folded her arms across her chest, “this is an interesting sight.”Her gaze traveled over me from head to toe with obvious contempt before returning to Amreth.“The pack maid falling the stairs and the Alpha personally catching her. How very noble of you.”I lowered my eyes immediat
Lea's POVRowan had wrapped both my hands before he let me leave that morning.He did it without being asked, without making a thing of it. He unwound the old bandaging with steady fingers and cleaned each knuckle as it mattered. I sat on the edge of the treatment mat and watched him work and tried to remember the last time someone had touched me without it meaning something bad was coming.I couldn't.He double-wrapped the left one because the skin had broken deeper there, and told me to keep both out of bleach water for at least a day. I nodded and didn't tell him that wasn't possible. He knew. He wrapped it twice anyway.I thought about that later that morning, standing over Mirabeth's laundry, my hands submerged to the wrist in water that stung every time it found a gap in the bandaging.The silk dresses floated pale and clean on the surface, and I worked through them one by one and tried to keep my mind on what I was doing.I really did try.The problem was the courtyard.Not eve
Amreth's POVIt had been weeks since I rejected Lea of Eel Pack, and I had no reason to be on this side of the grounds.The war council had been dismissed two hours ago, my correspondence was sitting unread on my desk, and there were seventeen other things that needed my attention before nightfall.None of them were in the direction of the washing grounds, and yet here I was, walking slowly along the lower corridor with my hands clasped behind my back like I was simply taking the air.Sven wasn't even pretending.He had been pulling at me since morning, that low, restless drag beneath my ribs that meant he wanted something I wasn't going to give him. I had learned a long time ago that the easiest way to quiet my wolf was to walk.I told myself that was all this was. An innocent walk through the grounds to calm my dramatic wolf and not for any other reason.I heard the sound of someone sniffling back tears, accompanied by the scrape of fragile skin against rock. I stopped at the corrid
Lea's POVThe drive to Royal Shifts took hours, and with each passing mile and hour, the chains grew heavier, burning my wrists. The smell of burning flesh filled the car, but they all ignored me, talking about how fun it was to kill the rebellious wolves. The spot where the silver bit into my skin was bleeding as well.The warriors kept talking amongst themselves, ignoring me completely despite my low, whimpering cries from the pain and loss of blood. They discussed the rebellion as if it were entertainment."Did you see Marcus try to shift? Man, that was Pathetic. The Alpha tore his throat out before he completed the transformation.""Margot was worse, see how she begged for her life at the end, like anyone would pity her useless existence."I closed my eyes and tried not to listen. I tried not to think about Margot's pale face or the way she'd tried to warn me. Eventually, we crossed into Royal Shifts territory and, strangely.enough I felt it immediately. The air itself felt diffe
Lea's POVThe painful, loud sound of gut-wrenching screaming pulled me from sleep immediately. Ever since I found the evidence in Damian’s office, I've never been able to really sleep or function normally. I feared for my life with the fact that I don't even know who's next to get sold or killed by my brother, whom I seem to know nothing about. He's definitely not the same Dame who had taught me how to climb trees and ride bicycles as well as hold my breath underwater.This is like someone else entirely.I bolted upright, my heart already racing before my mind caught up. The servants' quarters were empty; all the other mattresses were obviously abandoned, with their blankets thrown back in a hurry.More screams echoed through the pack house, followed by the unmistakable snarls and growling sound of fighting as well as the meaty thud of bodies hitting walls. What in the blood moon was going on?I stumbled to the doorway and saw wolves running through the corridors while my brother’s Wa







