Mag-log inThen 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
“You’ve declined three years in a row,” he reminded me. “And each time, you’ve buried yourself deeper in guilt. You want your work to matter, Esther. You want people to see the healer you’ve become.”“I don’t need recognition,” I snapped, sharper than I intended. “I need safety.”“For your children,
Esther’s POVThe letter sat on my desk like a snake coiled in silence, daring me to touch it. My pulse had already stuttered once when I spotted the seal, its wax gleaming faintly in the early morning light. My name wasn’t on the front—not my real one, anyway. It never was. Instead, the elegant scri
Esther’s POVThe morning began like any other, but I senseed a tremor in the air long before the screams reached me.Carl was supposed to be at school. I had walked him there myself, holding his hand while he dragged his feet, grumbling about lessons. He had looked so much like Nicholas in that mome
It had been at a ball, the last we had attended before Emily’s death. I’d had it designed specifically for her, and I had even kept it with Esther’s modest tastes. She never did care for finery and always wanted practically.The dress even had pockets, something I’d asked them to do for her. Amanda







