로그인Then 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
“See that, Hill? She belongs to me, so she knows where her loyalties lie.”“Maybe she does, or maybe it’s something else,” Kevin had shot back.I felt Nicholas stiffen behind me.“What’s that supposed to mean?”“I can see the look in her eyes. She’s been hurt, and badly, by your pack.”Kevin had loo
Esther’s POVI had been about to stutter a response, but Kevin had gotten there first, giving Nicholas a disapproving frown.“Why are you scolding her? Don’t you have respect for a member of your pack?”Nicholas had clearly not liked this, and I had been scared that he was going to lose his temper.
Esther’s POVThe moment Nicholas stepped into the hallway, Amanda’s grip on my arm tightened until it ached. Her face was twisted with fury, but her voice came out with that sugary-sweet edge she used when she wanted him to see her as the perfect Luna-to-be.“How shameless can you be?” She stood wit
Amanda’s POVNicholas’s rejection still burned like acid in my veins. I could still see the way he looked at me last night. He had a cool, disinterested stare as if I were no more enticing than a piece of rotten meat.I had gone to his room in the perfect dress, my hair in loose waves that brushed m







