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
Tully shut his mouth.I let the silence stretch. The guards along the wall straightened unconsciously, their eyes glittering with the thrill of watching a predator bare its teeth.Then, without raising my voice, I pronounced, “Elder Tully, you are removed from the council, effective immediately.”Ga
The council chamber reeked of fear disguised as protocol.It always smelled faintly of parchment and polished stone, but this morning there was something sour under the incense. There was a tremor of adrenaline masked as decorum. Sunlight lanced through the tall stained-glass windows of the Blood Mo
I also sent a coded request to the lab’s night techs, instructing them to prioritize her toxin analysis. If she failed, it would not be for lack of resources.Norman prowled under my skin. You’re helping her. Admit it.“She’s helping the pack,” I muttered. “That’s all.”But I wasn’t blind to the gos
Esther’s POVThe first poison arrow struck at dawn.I’d been on my way back from the hospital wing, still bleary from another night of research, when a guard came stumbling through the main doors with black veins crawling up his neck. The poison smelled metallic, like burned iron, and his breathing







