MasukNicole’s POV I watched the sun rise slowly over the horizon, watched the darkness fade away, watched the first speck of snow drift down and melt into nothing. Through it all, only one thought remained on my mind. Cassian was gone. Her voice pulled me from my thoughts. I turned to her. She was sitting upright, hair still matted, clothes still worn, eyes puffy and hollow. She didn’t get any sleep. She’d spent majority of the night tossing restlessly and mumbling her mate’s name. “You look…” I hesitated, because no word fit. “…awake, at least.” She cracked a smile—or tried to. And failed. “Did you get any sleep?” she asked quietly. “Ready to talk about it?” I countered, because the questions stacking in my chest were too heavy to ignore. Her shoulders sagged. That tiny movement hurt more than anything she could have said. And she told me everything. Cassian forgetting her. Being locked away. The trial. The council’s manipulation. Mrs. Alanna. Alpha Black. Her mother
Nicole’s POV Whatever Alpha-male spell I’d been under shattered the second I heard her name. It was like someone punched the air out of my lungs. I pushed off the wall before I could think, instinct taking over. “Where is she?” Magnus didn’t answer. His jaw tightened instead, eyes flicking toward Mason—as if he needed permission to breathe. That alone told me everything was bad. I didn’t wait for approval. I brushed past him, following the lingering trail of her scent down the hallway. My heart hammered in my chest, palms damp, head spinning with too many questions that I didn’t have the strength to face the answers to. Why was she here? What happened to Cassian? What the hell happened to the Pack? Reality slammed into me so hard I nearly stumbled. I rounded the corner— And stopped breathing. She stood there between two guards like a criminal being escorted to execution, their hands tight on her arms as if she were something dangerous. As if she wasn’t the Luna who once he
Nicole’s POV “I have to leave.” Mason didn’t respond. He just kept flipping through paperwork like I wasn’t standing right there, losing my damn sanity. “I’m talking to you, Mason.” Silence greeted me. He didn’t react, not even a twitch. I clenched my jaw, feeling the frustration coil tight in my chest. It’s been four days since that strange bastard dumped me back here—four days of being locked inside a pack that wasn’t mine, with no word, no updates, no movement. Just waiting. Rotting. I was done. My fingers brushed the doorknob. “You don’t understand.” His voice cut through the room like a blade. “If you go out there, Nicole, you’ll be taken back. Magnus risked too much for you to just stroll back into Serena’s arms.” I froze. Of course. Of course that’s the part he cared about. I turned, glaring at him. “That’s all you care about then,” I muttered. “Magnus.” He snapped. “What the hell, Nicole—” “I have too much at stake,” I bit out, anger spilling into my words. “
Talia's POV I groaned lowly. My head throbbed. My body felt heavy—too heavy to move. Where was I? As if summoned, the memories came crashing—hard and painful. Cassian. The trial. My loss of control. I jerked upright, glancing around. I was on a bed—my bed. This place, these walls—it was familiar, familiar in a way that tugged at my heart. I was in my room. My childhood room. How— The door creaked open, snapping my attention to it. I hoped for Cassian, expected my mother, but I didn't expect— "Alpha Black." He didn't smile, didn't react. He simply walked in, his presence filling the space with that familiar air of authority he carried. My mother trailed behind him. She didn't look put together as she always did, her hair wasn't in its regular ponytail, her skin wasn't as radiant as it usually was, she didn't have makeup on. She looked... normal, real. Her green eyes locked onto me. I didn't see the usual contempt or disappointment in them. For the first time,
Talia’s POV “Prepare the execution.” The words rang in my head, loud and painful, a reminder of my reality. I failed. I fell right into their trap. Here I was, on my knees, practically begging for someone to see me, to remember me. While these power hungry bastards judged me, erased my entire existence. Something inside me finally went quiet. I stopped holding back. I blamed the exhaustion, blamed the hopelessness but deep down, I knew the truth. This was me. An evidence of raw, unrestrained rage. My entire body trembled. Power burst right out of me. I could hear sounds, could see movements, the shouting, the screaming, the accusations—none of it reached me anymore. The arena blurred at the edges, faces melting into darkness, voices growing into a distant hum. So this was it. No more fighting with words. No more pleading. No more hoping someone would remember who I was. They had already decided. They decided before the trial even started. My palms h
Talia’s POV “No,” I whispered, my eyes widening as the weight of their words crashed into me. “You can’t do that.” The arena was death still, silent—my heavy breathing the only sound. “Oh?” Elder Vérin smirked, leaning back in his seat as though this were entertainment. “And who, exactly, is going to stop us?” “It’s against Pack law,” I said, forcing my voice to steady even as my chest burned. “You don’t have the authority to sentence a Luna to death. Only the Alpha does.” A ripple moved through the crowd. Uncertainty. Doubt. Good. Whatever spell Kira had on them was evidently wavering. “You overstep,” I continued, lifting my chin. “Even if you claim I’m an imposter, you cannot execute a pack member without Alpha consent. Exile, yes. Confinement, yes. But death?” I shook my head. “That power does not belong to you.” For a brief moment, I thought I’d struck something real. Then Elara laughed. The sound was soft, amused. “How admirable,” she said. “Quoting law as







