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
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
Nicholas’s POVThe funeral had been my idea, or at least that was how I justified it.I had wanted to bring her body back, to bury her within my pack’s grounds, to lay her to rest where I could at least pretend to visit her.Werewolves were always buried quickly, not only as a sign of respect, but s
And for the first time, I wondered if I had truly destroyed the only thing that had ever been mine.Esther’s POVFrom the shadows of Kevin’s study, I watched Nicholas storm away. His broad shoulders were stiff, his fists clenched, but there had been no triumph in his face. Only anguish.The body was







