LOGINThen I whispered, “She woke because of truth.”Nicholas’s POVTruth.The word cut deeper than any blade.Watching Esther’s wolf awaken, seeing that glow ripple through her, was like watching dawn break inside my own ribs. Norman howled in joy, circling like a storm.Mate. Whole again.I wanted to re
Esther’s POVThe moon hung low over the palace courtyard, pale and thin as if it too had been hollowed out by truth.I hadn’t slept in days. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Carl’s face in that hospital bed, the IV line glowing red with Nicholas’s blood, a thread connecting them that could never b
I couldn’t stay. Not then. Not with the room spinning around the truth.I turned on my heel and left.Outside, the evening had turned cold. The palace gardens stretched wide and silent, shadows long across the stone. I made it halfway to the fountain before the first surge of fury hit, hot and wild
Nicholas’s POVIt was supposed to be an ordinary morning.A quiet one, even the kind where the palace felt less like a fortress and more like a home. The smell of breakfast bread drifting through the halls, the faint laughter of children somewhere near the east courtyard.Then came the scream.High.
I turned the page without a word.Inside, the fragile hope I’d been nurturing began to splinter.Nicholas found me near noon.He stormed in, half out of his formal jacket, eyes dark and wild. “Who leaked this?”“You’re asking me?” I said.“I’m asking everyone.” His voice was a snarl. “They’re saying
Esther’s POVThe palace had never been this bright.Golden banners fluttered across the courtyard, musicians tuned lutes and violins, and trays of sugared fruit glimmered beneath the sunlight. All of it, the music, the laughter, the illusion, was for Sofia.My daughter. My little girl who had someho
I bit my lip, torn. His words struck deep, but still the pull inside me burned. “The children need a father,” I whispered. “And once… once I did love him.”“Just because he helped bring these children into the world doesn’t mean he will be a good father to him. Think of how he has treated you for so
Nicholas’s POVThe name had escaped my lips before I could stop it. Esther.But the woman who turned was not her.Not the stubborn, pale-faced mate who haunted my nights. Not the one whose scent I could never forget, no matter how I tried.She was just a stranger—another patient, frail and wide-eyed
Esther’s POVThe sharp tang of antiseptic clung to the air, mixing with the faint sweetness of herbs. I hated hospitals. The smell always made me think of sterility, of loss, of waiting rooms filled with whispers of doom.But I had no choice.My hands pressed over my stomach as I sat on the edge of
My chest constricted with gratitude, though a part of me wondered if I was trading one danger for another kind of trap. But for now, the twins were safe. That was enough.Nicholas’s POVMy chambers had become a prison.Since the night she left, my life had unraveled in ways I hadn’t foreseen. I told







