Mira POVI froze on the spot, unable to answer Lucian’s question. My lips parted, but no words came out. What was I supposed to say? That I didn’t know? That my mind screamed at me to reject the bond, but my heart longed for something else?For the longest time, I had a single purpose—to bring them down, to tear them apart. It was the reason I endured everything, the reason I came here in the first place. The lycan brothers had to be destroyed, and I was the only one who could do it. But the Moon Goddess had different plans. She had played a cruel trick on me, binding my fate to theirs in the cruelest way possible.I was supposed to despise them. I was supposed to see them as nothing more than enemies, obstacles in my path. And yet…Lucian stood so close, his warmth enveloping me, his intoxicating scent clouding my mind. He smelled of the wild—earthy, masculine, raw. The heat from his body seeped into mine, weakening my resolve. Unlike his brothers, Lucian didn’t push. He di
Mira POV I woke up feeling warm, wrapped in a cocoon of heat and comfort. My body was tangled with another’s, and for a fleeting moment, I didn’t question it. I sank deeper into the warmth, my fingers absentmindedly tracing firm, smooth skin. It felt… right.Then I heard a deep chuckle, and reality struck me like a bolt of lightning.My eyes snapped open, and I was met with the sight of Lucian’s bare chest beneath my hand. His arm was wrapped securely around my waist, and the moment our eyes met, his lips curled into a knowing smirk.“Good morning, little mate. How was your night? Hope you had a peaceful and wonderful rest.” His voice was husky, laced with amusement as he grinned at me.I gasped and shot up, scrambling away from him as if burned. My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and the events of last night came rushing back in vivid detail—the way he touched me, the way I let him, the way I had completely lost control.What have I done?I yanked the sheets around me and tur
Mira PovThe moment the gate slammed shut behind me, a deep sense of dread settled in my stomach. I turned just in time to see the monstrous boar step into the training yard, its thick muscles rippling under its coarse fur. Its beady black eyes locked onto me, nostrils flaring as it let out a deep, guttural snort. My heart stopped.I whipped around to face Rowan, who stood lazily by the sidelines with his arms crossed over his chest, watching me like this was some kind of twisted entertainment.“Rowan!” I shrieked, stumbling backward as the boar took a slow step forward, sizing me up. “What the hell is this?!”His response was maddeningly calm. “Your training.”“Training?!” My voice cracked as I took another step back, but the beast mirrored my movement, its sharp tusks glinting under the sunlight. “This isn’t training! This is murder! What sort of rubbish is this.” I was almost going crazy as I was scared it was going to come for me.“If you think that,” Rowan said, complete
Mira POV I lingered by the doorway, my breath shallow as I watched the scene unfold before me. The peasant man knelt in the center of the council chamber, his frail hands clutching his cap to his chest, his shoulders trembling. His face was pale with desperation, his voice hoarse as he pleaded. “Please, my lords,” he begged, his words barely above a whisper. “My family is starving. If I could just have a small loan from the crown—just enough to buy food from the next village during the upcoming market day. I swear on my life, I will pay it back in full.” The room fell into a heavy silence. I swallowed hard, gripping the edge of the stone wall as I peered inside. The councilmen exchanged glances, some sneering, others indifferent. They were all dressed in their expensive cloaks, their fingers adorned with gold rings, while the man kneeling before them looked like he hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks. “Do we look like a loan house to you?” one of the older councilmen s
Mira POV I had just finished dressing and was heading toward the meeting hall when Adela, my ever-attentive aide, appeared at my side, her expression unreadable. She fell into step beside me, her hands clasped in front of her as she matched my stride. “Luna,” she said in a quiet tone, “there are people waiting to see you. They say they are from the clan’s shrine and claim to be the Voice of the Moon Goddess.” I slowed my steps and turned to her, my brows furrowing. “The Voice of the Moon Goddess?” The title itself was unfamiliar to me, but I had learned enough in my time here to know that the Moon Goddess was sacred to the people of Blackwood. Even in Kilmore, there were those who believed in her divine will, though I had never paid much attention to the spiritual side of things. Adela nodded. “Yes, My Lady. There are six of them, and they insist that they have an important message for you.” My curiosity deepened. “Did they say what the message is?” “No, My Lady,”
Lucian’s POV The moment Mira stormed off, anger twisted inside me like a tightly coiled wire ready to snap. My jaw clenched as I turned to Kai, my fists tightening at my sides.“You shouldn’t have done that,” I growled.Kai’s eyes flicked toward me, golden and unwavering. “I did what was necessary.” His voice was steady, as if he hadn’t just pushed our mate away.“You had no right,” I snapped, stepping forward, my muscles tight with frustration. “Mira deserves to make her own choices.”Kai scoffed, rolling his shoulders. “She doesn’t need to hear their nonsense. You remember what happened the last time they gave a prophecy—it nearly led to war. I’m not risking that again.”I exhaled sharply, trying to keep my anger in check. “That’s not your decision to make.”“It is when she’s our mate!” he snapped back, his voice rising.“Exactly! That’s why we should be listening to her, not shutting her down!”Damien sighed, rubbing his temple. “The problem isn’t whether or not the prophecy is
Mira POV Lucian’s eyes—those once familiar eyes—were now completely taken over by the beast. “Lucian!” Damien shouted, standing protectively in front of me as the monstrous creature roared, its claws dragging along the stone floor with terrifying force. He thrashed, wildly, furiously, knocking over everything in his path like a storm unhinged. Furniture flew into the walls. Metal cracked. And still, Lucian didn’t slow down. Damien tried again, reaching out not with words, but with something deeper—his connection to Lucian. “Come on, brother. You’re stronger than this,” Damien growled through gritted teeth, his voice rough with effort as he dodged the claws that came inches from tearing through him. “Fight it. This isn’t you.” But Lucian didn’t hear him. Or worse… he didn’t care. He lunged. Damien shoved me back, intercepting the blow. I screamed as they both crashed into a workbench. The wood shattered under their weight. I scrambled to my feet, heart pounding, li
Mira POV I tried and tried for hours, but it didn’t work. No matter how hard I focused, how much I strained to hear even the faintest sound, there was nothing. The voice never came back. I felt a burning frustration rise inside me, spreading through my chest and up to my throat until I could barely breathe. With a loud growl of anger, I jumped to my feet and marched straight to the door. I slammed my fists against it with all the force I could muster, again and again, until my knuckles ached. “Let me out!” I shouted, banging harder. “Open this door right now!” There was no response at first, just silence, as if they had all gone deaf. My heart pounded in my chest with growing rage. I hit the door even harder. “I said let me out!” Finally, one of the guards answered, his voice muffled through the heavy wood. “My lady, we have direct orders from the lycan kings not to let you out yet.” I gritted my teeth, fury flooding my veins. “It has been over an hour!” I shouted.
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
Mira POV I shifted another stack of scrolls and sighed. Damien’s secret archive was packed from floor to ceiling with books, dusty records, and ancient parchments. I could barely breathe from all the dust in the air, but I wasn’t going to stop. Kai and I had been digging through everything for nearly an hour now, trying to find anything about Councilman Benard Sawyer’s execution—the date, the place, even a small mention of it would be something. The deeper we dug, the more suspicious everything became.I glanced at Kai as he skimmed through a thick record book. “You really don’t know the date?” I teased, a half-smirk curling my lips. “Didn’t you grow up as your father’s little pet? Always at his feet, watching him rule?”Kai looked up sharply. “I wasn’t his pet,” he said, a bit defensive. “I did more than attend his meetings and parties. I trained with Rowan, built things with Damien… I even tried my hand at hunting once.”“Except Lucian,” I said quietly, flipping through a b
Damien POV I stood in my workshop, watching Adela as she sat nervously on the chair placed directly in front of the table. She looked lost, confused, and so much younger than her years. Rowan leaned against the wall by the door, arms crossed, watching with scepticism written all over his face.“I still think this is a waste of time,” Rowan muttered for the tenth time.“And I think you’re not helping,” I shot back without looking at him. I couldn’t afford distractions. Adela needed to remember, and fast.We had no idea what Councilman Baylor had done to her — only that her memories of the amulet, of everything she had learned, were gone. But I had a theory. If magic could block her mind, then science could trigger it back.“Alright, Adela,” I said softly, pulling a few paintings from the nearby cabinet. “Let’s start simple. Do you recognize these?”I spread portraits of the councilmen across the table. Some old, some new. Among them was Baylor’s.Adela leaned forward, squinting at
Mira POV I wiped my face quickly, my fingers trembling. I had cried enough. I knew now—there was no running from what the moon goddess had given me. My destiny wasn’t about revenge. It wasn’t about the hatred I carried or the love I feared. It was bigger than me. And no amount of heartbreak could be allowed to break me.I took a deep breath and stood up. My legs felt weak, but I forced them to move. No more hiding. No more letting my pain trap me. If I was truly meant to bridge the worlds—to heal what had been broken—I had to be stronger than this.When I stepped out of my chamber, the sunlight almost blinded me. It felt foreign against my skin, like I had been locked away in the darkness for too long. I shielded my eyes and headed straight to the courtyard, the place where everyone seemed to gather when something important happened.As I approached, I noticed Kai. He was standing there, as if waiting for me, his arms folded stiffly across his chest. His eyes softened when he
Mira’s POVI couldn’t believe what I’d just seen.Lucian. My mate. Lying unconscious on a bed hidden in the shrine. All this time, they’d kept it from me—every single one of them. Even Damien, who I’d come to trust more than I thought I would. The sight of Lucian’s motionless body sent something cold and aching straight through my chest. And then to hear them… Damien and the disciple, talking like I was never supposed to know. Like I wasn’t even part of this.The betrayal tasted like ash in my mouth.I stormed out of the room, my vision blurring with tears. I could hear Damien calling after me, his boots slapping the stone floors of the shrine, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. If I turned back, if I let him catch up to me, I might break completely.“Mira! Please, just listen!”“Don’t!” I snapped, spinning on my heel just as I reached the carriage. “Don’t you dare speak to me!”He stopped short, his chest rising and falling with effort. The look in his eyes was soft—regretful. But
Mira POV I stood in the courtyard, surrounded by the soft murmurs of the guards and the quiet tension that buzzed in the air like a taut string waiting to snap. Everyone was waiting for Adela to return. The amulet swap needed to happen perfectly, silently. One wrong move and Councilman Baylor would vanish into the shadows like smoke. We had one chance to use his connection to the witches to find them, and I couldn’t shake the anxiety tightening around my chest.Adela was brave, no doubt, but this was different. Dangerous. I tried to keep a calm expression as I stood beside Kai, Damien, and Rowan, but my thoughts were far from steady. My mind kept drifting back to the voice I heard last night. The moon goddess. Her words still echoed in my head like a steady drumbeat.You were born for this.The weight of her voice still lingered in my chest. Heavier than armor. More binding than any promise.If I was truly the bridge between the three factions, then I had to start walking that