MasukTalia's POVThe day had finally come.I didn't feel fear, or panic, or anticipation.I felt calm.Too calm.My wolf was silent in an eerie way.I glanced up at the moon, sending a final prayer to the goddess."Luna?" A voice called.I didn't move. I already sensed him coming."The coronation is happening at the back of the pack house," Damien informed, his voice heavy with anticipation."The pack members have evacuated the building," he added. "The council wanted it private."Private.I nodded slowly."Is everything set?" I questioned, my voice sounding unrecognizable—even to my own ears.Damien nodded."Yes," he responded. He paused, eyes flickering to the woods behind me, where the trees whispered in the night. "I got Dimitri to spread the word." He explained carefully."Lena and Mira testified to your existence."Huh.Lena, who had forsaken me during the trial.And Mira."Earlier today," he continued, his voice sharpening with something, something that sounded too much like hope, "
Cassian's POVCoronation day.It was finally time for Melissa to be marked as Luna.The council members were in good spirits, Melissa was over the moon, Kira was eerie as ever.But me.I felt rage."Are you ready?" Jarek asked, his eyes on me. After that day at my office, the council members watched me like a hawk.Dimitri had been locked up—accused of treason and the other two Omegas had completely disappeared. "Almost," I muttered, forcing lightness to my voice. I picked up my tie, then paused. Noise drifted to my ears. A loud chant. "What?" I whispered, my brows furrowing.Jarek's eyes sharpened on me, then slowly slipped to the window. The chants were getting louder with each passing second.I moved."I don't think you should—" Jarek warned but I was already at the window.My breath caught in my throat.Hundreds of pack members stood outside, their faces dark with anger, their eyes wide with determination and defiance—chanting one word.One name.Talia.Warmth settled in my
Talia’s POV“So this is it,” Katherine said, a solemn look settling on her face.I nodded.The memory from yesterday lingered vividly in my mind—Nicole’s laughter, Mason’s quiet presence, even Magnus sitting there like he hadn’t just been dragged into chaos.It softened something in me, blurred the heaviness hanging in the air.“Tomorrow it all ends,” she added.I nodded again.My chest tightened.“I’ll finally put an end to everything,” I whispered.The words felt heavier now.Final.Katherine cracked a smile.Or tried to.“I wish you the best of luck,” she said, lifting her hand in a half wave before hesitating. “I hope everything works out for you.”I swallowed the lump in my throat.“You’re a brat,” I muttered, forcing lightness into my voice. “Don’t get all serious on me now.”Her smile came easier this time—real, stretching across her face.“It’s a rare moment,” she said. “You should appreciate it.”A laugh slipped past my lips—the sound soft, real. She didn’t say anything else
Talia’s POVI lifted the bottle in the air. “We’re musketeers!” Kathrine stood, shaking her head. “No,” she corrected, snatching the bottle from my hand. “We’re the three muskeet!” Nicole sighed. “You two don’t know anything,” he sighed again, grabbing the bottle from her. “We’re the three!”I glanced at Kathrine, then we both burst into laughter, clutching our stomach. “You’re so dulll,” she snickered, pointing at Nicole. Nicole huffed, settling back on the ground. I ruffled his hair.“Don’t worry, someday you’ll catch up to us.” I reassured. “Catch up to what exactly?” A deep voice asked. We all froze, dread creeping up our spines.Slowly, we turned, as if in sync.“Mason.”“Mason.”“Mason.”We greeted at the same time. Mason’s face twisted. His eyes swept through us, then finally settled on Nicole—softening. “Whose bright idea was this?” He sighed, stepping closer to Nicole. “Your mate.”Nicole gasped, turning to me with a hand covering his mouth. “Traitor!”I snor
Talia’s POVI blinked. My eyes moved from the bottle in front of me, trailing slowly to Nicole—and his wide smile. Then Katherine—and her wider smile. “What is this?” I questioned. Kathrine tilted her head. “Huh,” she mused. “I thought you were the smart one.”“It’s wine,” Nicole answered, stepping closer. “Alcoholic wine.”“So,” Kathrine continued, ignoring Nicole. “He clearly isn’t the smart one,” she pointed at Nicole. “And neither are you.”She leaned in, her face inches from mine. “So who is it?”I frowned, moving my head back. “What the fuck?” Nicole grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away. “She may have already gotten started,” he smiled sheepishly. I sighed. With only three days left—till I finally put an end to this drawn out problem the council created—I’d come to the library to study the book Kathrine had given me. And it had been going well—except of course the migraine that came with reading a language you never learned—till Nicole barged in, holding a swaying
Cassian's POVThe air changed, becoming darker, sinister. I felt a sense of unease creep up my spine, that same unease that accompanied Kira’s presence.My wolf slammed against the barrier, more aggressively. My eyes locked onto my friend’s.Or her body. She was no longer my friend, the eyes I saw didn’t belong to the Kira I knew. “Kira,” my voice was dark, the anger barely concealed. She didn’t move for a second. Something was wrong.I could feel it.She stood in front of me, but she didn’t look like herself—not because of the darkness that had taken over. Her skin was too pale.Her lips dry, almost cracked.Dark veins spidered faintly beneath her skin, like something was rotting her from the inside out.Yet her eyes—They were sharp. Focused. Possessive.Locked on me.“Cassian,” she called softly.That voice.It slid into my mind like a blade wrapped in silk.Familiar and wrong.My fingers curled against the desk.I felt it instantly.That pull.That same invisible force that
Cassian’s POVThe ink bled into the parchment in slow, deliberate strokes, but my mind wasn’t in the numbers or the signatures. It drifted.Back to her.Talia.The way she’d stood earlier, stiff, guarded, trying so hard to mask curiosity under a layer of indifference, but her eyes always gave her a
"Hey!" Nicole's voice cut through the fog in my head. He had been waiting by the car, leaning against it with his hands in his pockets, but the moment he saw my face, he straightened instantly. He reached me in a few quick strides. "Talia—" I didn't stop. I couldn't. The world felt like it was t
Talia’s POV I’d never noticed how shiny and beautiful the sun was until today, mostly because I was lying flat on the ground, staring at it like an idiot with nothing else to look at. “You’ll get sunburned,” Mrs. Alanna warned somewhere to my left. I groaned but didn’t move, just threw an arm
TALIA'S POVIt was going to rain.I could tell from the way the clouds pressed low over the estate, from the restless lightning flaring after every growl of thunder.I hugged myself, pulling my cardigan tighter against the biting wind. I was just about to step inside when a black SUV rolled through







