Mira POV The moment I stepped into their presence, I could feel it—like the weight of a storm cloud pressing down on my chest. The air was thick with tension, and my instincts told me it could only be about one thing: Lucian. I swallowed hard, my throat feeling like sandpaper. My heart twisted painfully inside my chest, a strange contradiction tearing at me. I should have been rejoicing at their misfortune, reveling in their suffering, but all I felt was a deep, unsettling ache. Why did it hurt so much to see them like this? They were my enemies, weren’t they? My targets. The ones who took my mother’s life, the ones my father had cursed since the day I could understand words. I came to this castle with the sole purpose of destroying them, of making them bleed from within, and yet… here I was, feeling my chest tighten at the thought of Lucian’s pain.Why do I have to feel this way towards the people I should hate with all of me? When Kai asked me about the shrine,
Kai pov I felt like my entire world was tilting beneath my feet. Councilman Ryker’s words echoed in my mind, loud and jarring. Witches… do not exist. It felt like a death sentence. But I wasn’t ready to let this rest. No, I needed to know every single detail. My chest tightened as I forced the words from my throat. “Explain,” I ordered him, my voice rougher than I intended. “Tell me everything, Councilman. Every word.” He nodded, his expression grim. His eyes carried exhaustion, the look of a man who had not only traveled far but had returned with burdens heavier than any physical weight. “When I arrived at Darkfire,” Ryker began, “it wasn’t the old King who greeted me. The old king was dead.” He paused, giving the room a moment to absorb this unexpected news. “His son had ascended the throne. Young but sharp.” I clenched my fists at my sides, grinding my teeth in frustration. Another complication. Another dead end. Ryker continued, his voice steady, though
Mira POVI was in my chamber, sitting on the edge of my bed, unable to steady my thoughts. Everything that Councilman Ryker revealed kept swirling in my mind like a raging storm. I thought that after his return, after hearing what he found out, I would have a sense of clarity. But all I had was more confusion.I folded my arms around myself and leaned against the bedpost, staring blankly at the opposite wall.Everything pointed to witches. All the signs — the strange magic, the explosions without gunpowder or other explosives, the way the lycans disappeared without a trace and had their memories wiped — all of it pointed to something unnatural. Something powerful. Something that only witches were once capable of.I found myself gnawing at my bottom lip, a nervous habit I hadn’t been able to break since I was a little girl. If witches were truly extinct, if Ryker was right about what he saw and heard in Darkfire clan, then who, or what, was responsible for everything happenin
Mira POV I froze when Damien stepped into the room. For a moment, the air was so thick with tension that I thought I would choke on it. My heart pounded in my ears, and my whole body stiffened under Kai’s touch. But to my surprise, Damien didn’t even flinch at the sight before him. His eyes, calm and unreadable, took in the disheveled state of the room, the closeness between Kai and me, the heated flush across my cheeks — and he looked almost… unaffected. “I came to see you too,” Damien said casually, closing the door behind him with a soft click. I blinked at him, confused. “You… you did?” He moved closer to the bed, his steps slow, deliberate. “Yes,” he said. “I needed someone to confide in.” Kai, who was still sitting beside me, leaned back slightly, giving Damien a glance that was almost daring. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he shifted to one side of me, while Damien took the other. I found myself trapped between the two brothers. Their warmth, th
Mira POV I woke up feeling warm and completely wrapped in comfort. For a moment, I didn’t even open my eyes. I just lay there, feeling the steady rise and fall of two strong chests on either side of me, their heartbeats a soothing rhythm against my skin. Damien was curled around my back, his arm slung protectively around my waist, while Kai’s hand rested lazily across my stomach, his fingers gently splayed like he couldn’t bear to let me go even in sleep. I didn’t want to move. For once, I didn’t want to listen to my mind screaming at me that I had made a terrible mistake, that I had crossed yet another line I could never uncross. No. I didn’t want to feel guilty. I wanted to stay right here, between them, basking in the safety of their arms, soaking in the warmth of their bodies, letting myself believe — even if just for a little while — that I belonged here. And strangely enough… I didn’t regret it. Not like before. When I had been with Lucian, afterward,
Kai POV I stood with my brothers under the shade of the large oak tree at the corner of the courtyard, my arms folded tightly across my chest as my mind ran in a thousand directions at once. Rowan paced back and forth like a caged animal, growling low under his breath while Damien leaned casually against the stone wall, deep in thought. The information from Ryker was still heavy on all our minds. I could feel it pressing on me like a mountain. Rowan finally broke the silence. “How is any of this even possible?” he snapped, stopping mid-pace to face us. “Mother and witches? That makes no sense.” Damien pushed off the wall, folding his arms too. “We don’t know the full story yet. For all we know, she could have been trying to destroy them, not help them.” His tone was calm but laced with frustration. I shook my head. “If she was trying to destroy them, why would she be sneaking off at night, leading someone to the witches’ graves?” “Maybe she was investigating?” D
Mira POVI sat curled up by the window of my chamber, my mind spinning with the weight of what I had just heard. The evening sun poured into the room, casting long shadows across the floor, but I barely noticed. My thoughts were far away.The Blackwood lycans’ mother.The witches.The strange connection between them.I hugged my knees to my chest and stared blankly at the sky. What could it possibly mean? Why would their mother, a royal lycan Queen, have anything to do with the last witches that once terrorized the world? What reason could she have to risk everything by going to the place where the witches were executed?I tried to build a scenario in my mind, tried to make sense of something that felt so impossible. Maybe… just maybe… the high priestess’ words had some truth to them.She had told me that I was destined to be the bridge between the three factions—humans, witches, and werewolves.What if… the Blackwood lycans’ mother had the same destiny before me?It was the only
Damien PovI stood between my brothers, facing the large oak door that led into my private archive room. They didn’t know about this place — no one did.I pulled open the heavy door and led them inside. The scent of old parchment and ink filled the air immediately, a smell I had grown fond of over the years. The room was dimly lit by lanterns placed carefully around the walls. Scrolls, books, and ancient parchments were stacked neatly on countless shelves, towering all the way up to the ceiling.Both Rowan and Kai froze just inside the doorway, their mouths slightly agape.“You had this all along?” Kai asked, his voice a mix of amazement and suspicion.I shrugged as I moved further inside. “Every leader needs his secrets. This is mine.”Rowan grunted, clearly unimpressed. “Looks boring.”I rolled my eyes. “This is where knowledge lives. Copies of every important document from the main archives, along with other scrolls the public isn’t even aware exist. I’ve been building it for
Kai POV The sky was still cloaked in darkness, though the faintest glow of dawn had begun to brush the horizon when our carriage rattled over the rocky terrain toward the Darkfire border. The journey had been long and heavy with silence at times, but inside the double space carriage, we found ourselves deep in conversation once again. The air was thick with anticipation.Rowan sat with his arms crossed, his gaze sharp and unwavering, while Damien leaned forward slightly, elbows on knees, brows drawn as he listened to me lay out the final version of our plan.“We go in under the guise of diplomacy,” I said, my voice calm, but firm. “We are visiting the King and the council to pay our respects. That’s the surface. But our real task—what we must accomplish before we leave—is to uncover the witches.”“Find Benard Sawyer,” Damien added, nodding. “And locate those woods—the site of the executions.”I nodded back. “Exactly. If the Last Witches truly died there, then the secrets of what
Mira POV The wind was soft, yet cold, brushing against my skin as I walked along the stone path leading to the shrine. The sun hung low in the sky, bleeding orange light over the trees that framed the sacred space. My steps were slow. Heavy. But steady.I had walked this path before.And yet, today felt different.The shrine loomed ahead, surrounded by people kneeling in prayer or whispering hushed words toward the sky. It was more crowded than usual, packed with villagers seeking comfort amidst the chaos that had overtaken our clan. Some clutched candles. Others held small, carved totems. Their eyes were glassy, tired. Lost.As soon as I was spotted, a small group broke off from the rest and hurried toward me.“My Queen,” one of them—a man no older than thirty—spoke first. “Please… what do we do now? The clan feels like it’s crumbling. We’ve heard whispers that the Kings have vanished.”“Are we at war again?” a woman asked, clutching her shawl tightly. “Is Blackwood falling a
Mira POV Pressure wrapped around me like a noose.It tightened more with every cry that echoed beyond the castle walls, the angry shouts of the clan members rising like a storm I couldn’t stop. My fingers trembled as I clasped them in my lap, seated on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the door as if someone—anyone—would walk through it and tell me what to do.But no one came.The throne was mine. The responsibility was mine. For the first time, I was alone to rule.My mates—my kings—were gone. Their decision had been final. They left the castle with nothing but purpose in their stride and the weight of a plan I had no part in. And now, the clan wanted answers. Clarity. Leadership.From me.A pit had formed in my stomach. It felt cold and heavy, like a stone I’d swallowed but couldn’t digest. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t wise like Kai or confident like Lucian. I wasn’t brave like Damien. I was just… Mira. A girl burdened by a legacy I didn’t ask for and secrets I wished I could
Mira POV I ran through the fields barefoot, the wind lashing my face. I was younger—perhaps thirteen—and the soft warmth of sunset bathed the skies above our small village.Laughter echoed behind me, the sound of teenagers playing a game I’d barely understood but tried to join. I had always watched them from the window of our cottage, envying their joy, their freedom. That day, for the first time, I had dared to approach.I remember how hesitant I was when I stepped into their circle. They looked at me, puzzled, surprised. I was the Chief’s daughter, the one who never spoke to anyone, the one who always looked distant. But they smiled, awkwardly at first, then welcomed me with timid warmth. I laughed—really laughed—for the first time in a long while as I tried to keep up with the game. It was clumsy and imperfect, but I had finally felt…human.Then he came.“Mira!” his deep, sharp voice split the air like a whip. Everyone turned.My heart dropped.My father stood at the edge of
Mira POV I stared at them, mouth slightly parted in disbelief. “You’re what?” I asked, even though I’d heard Kai’s words clearly the first time.“We’re going to the Darkfire clan,” Rowan said calmly, standing beside Kai with arms folded across his broad chest.My heart skipped. “Just like that? Without warning?”Kai’s voice was steady, resolute. “We’ve exhausted all our options, Mira. We’ve sent spies, scouts, even attempted magical tracking. Nothing’s led us to Baylor or any of the witches. It’s as though they’ve vanished from the realm.”“So, you’re going straight to the source?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.Kai nodded. “Yes. To Benard Sawyer. He started this. Somehow, he brought them back from extinction. He knows something… and we intend to find out what.”“But why go yourselves?” I argued, stepping closer to them. “Why not send messengers? Or councilmen? Even your generals? You’re the rulers of this kingdom. Your lives aren’t just your own to gamble.”Rowan gave
Mira POV When I arrived at the shrine, I immediately knew something was different.The courtyard was crowded, more than I’d ever seen it. People were pouring in through the arched gates, their footsteps fast yet quiet, their heads bowed as though afraid to lift their eyes. Some clutched prayer beads, others held burning candles. A few sobbed quietly as they moved toward the inner sanctum.I stepped aside as a woman passed me, dragging two small children behind her. One of them looked up at me, his eyes swollen from crying. My heart twisted painfully.I made my way inside and found the head priestess, her wrinkled face lined even deeper than usual.“What’s going on?” I asked softly, trying not to let the heavy tension around us suffocate my voice.She turned to me with a tired expression. “The people are afraid,” she said, clasping her hands together. “Since the massacre… the castle guards, the bloodshed… word has spread.”I frowned. “Word?”The priestess nodded. “About the wit
Mira POV Two days later…I woke up before the sun had risen, the castle still blanketed in silence. For once, I didn’t wait for Adela or any of the handmaids to come in. I slipped out of bed, walked barefoot to the bath chamber, and poured myself a cold shower. The icy water hit my skin like a slap, but I welcomed it. I needed the numbness. My mind had been anything but still for the past two days.I couldn’t stop thinking about the massacre—the way the blood had soaked into the stone floors, the way the guards’ lifeless bodies had been carried away one by one. And the families… Gods, the families. They had gathered outside the castle gates yesterday, their wails cutting through the air like blades. Some had thrown stones, others had just fallen to their knees, begging for answers. Begging for justice.I stayed in the shower longer than necessary, hoping the water would wash away the unease churning inside me. It didn’t. When I stepped out, I dried myself quickly and dressed
Mira POVI sat quietly in the carriage beside Damien, the steady rhythm of the wheels rolling over the rugged trail doing little to ease the storm brewing inside me. The sun was still rising in the sky, casting golden beams through the trees, but my heart felt too heavy to appreciate any of it. We were heading to the place where Benard Sawyer was meant to be executed years ago. Damien sat across from me, flipping through an old parchment from the archives, but I knew we were both thinking about more than just the past.The silence stretched between us until I finally broke it.“How’s Lucian doing?” I asked, not looking at him. I didn’t know why I needed to know so badly. Maybe because the thought of losing him clawed painfully at the inside of my chest.Damien looked up at me, his expression shifting to something solemn. “He’s hanging on,” he said softly.“But not for long. The disciple told me the only thing that could really save him is complete faith—from the three of us.”I
Kai POVThe air was tense as we stormed toward Councilman Baylor’s chambers. I walked beside Rowan with six guards behind us, all alert and on edge. Damien and Mira had taken off earlier to the execution site where Benard Sawyer was once meant to die. I hoped they’d find something useful. But right now, our focus was Councilman Baylor.Rowan kept glancing at me as we moved through the corridor. “What if he’s already done it?” he asked, low but urgent. “What if he’s already summoned them?”I didn’t need to ask who he meant. “Then we’ll be too late,” I said. “But we can’t think like that. We have to act before they arrive.”Rowan didn’t speak again, but his jaw tightened. He knew as well as I did that there was no defense against witches—not unless we were prepared. And we weren’t. Not yet.When we arrived at Baylor’s chambers, they were eerily quiet. The guards took position at the doors while Rowan and I pushed inside. The room was dim, the curtains drawn, the fire out. It felt li