FAZER 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
Esther’s POVI pushed my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose and kept my head down. I wanted no one to notice my face as I headed to the Packlands Hospital. With each step, my heart pounded against my ribcage, every beat faster and more erratic than the last.Inside the cold and sterilized hospital,
My heart raced, and I felt lightheaded. Nicholas smirked at me.“Good.”He kissed me, and I was shocked at the passion coming from him. It was like when we had been in his bed during the night, and he had fucked me until my eyes were practically rolling in my head.Where was this coming from now? Wh
Esther’s POVI had angered him now. And that was a bad thing.He was going to punish me for speaking as I had. He wasn’t going to allow me to insult him that way.My heart racing, I began to back away, but he followed me. He was too fast for me, and I couldn’t dodge to one side.My back hit the wall
“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







