INICIAR SESIÓNLucius's POV I stand on the balcony of my south-wing chambers, swirling a glass of dark red wine that is far more expensive than anything Gillian has in his cellar. Well, maybe I am exaggerating on that.Below me, the training grounds are a hive of activity of perhaps guards and enforcers training to prepare for war or something, but my mind is miles away, past the stone walls and into the neutral territories. Waiting for my beta to arrive with one of the Elders' daughters I have decided to keep in my company. “You look far too pleased with yourself, brother.”Well, by now, who won't know the voice. Seraphina. Her heels make a loud sound on the tiled floor as she matches toward me. She is surely going to boast up by having to get into my brother's panties while he is drunk. “And you, of course, look like a woman who has finally tasted the meat she's been hunting for ... .for months? Years?” I say, finally turning to face her. She is glowing, with her smug, cat-like curve of he
Gillian's POV “You had something with Seraphina and it's only right that you get a coronation done quickly!” The words of the Elders in council rings in my head as I head to my father's cage. I heard that he is getting better and his hands are slowly turning into a human back. Since Desiree’s taste of blood, he is already trying to control the beast in him and that's an improvement.I honestly think that with time, my father is going to get very very better. However, the elder council are the ones forcing the ritual for some damn reasons. I push off the thoughts of the ritual away. “Kael, what was Rhydian's feedback?” I ask, as we match off.“Rhydian's feedback? Alpha Gillian, is this what you are worried about now? What about the council words of getting married to Seraphina.”“That's none of my damn business, Kael. She forced herself on me and she should bear the consequences. What was Rhydian's feedback?”He clears his throat and adjusts his posture. “Well, I have good news wit
Desiree’s POV That smell of turpentine always brings it back, that moment in the loft two days ago when I truly thought my life was over. I lean my forehead against the cool glass of the gallery’s second-story window, watching the rain streak down over the cobblestones of the neutral territory. I honestly can still see the way someone had twisted in the corner of Lyra’s private studio, mimicking the shape of a beast, I can still feel the paralyzing, bone-deep cold of Ronan's voice telling me the tracker was already in the room. And I believed his lies. I let him get to me. My heart gives a small hitch just thinking about it. He had played me like a finely tuned instrument, turning my own paranoia into a stage for his amusement. For a long time after the “joke” was revealed, I had wanted to scream, to slap the smug grin off his perfectly chiseled face. But as Lyra came directly into her loft, I had walked off instantly to my room and for some reason, I realized that cruel joke ha
Gillian's POV My brain feels three sizes too large for my skull, throbbing silently with a sickening heat and a throat that tastes like whiskey. Hangover. I groan, the sound vibrating painfully in my chest. My memory is a blurred montage of anger glass,Karl's disappointed face, and a crushing, desperate ache in my heart. This is new. I have never gotten drunk, to the extent that I get a hangover the next morning but today, it is different. But then, I feel the weight. There is something warm pressed against my side. A soft breathing that isn't mine. My heart stops for one delusional second as I try to think about everything. The scent in the room is filled with musk of sex and something else, it scents familiar, but the fog in my head whispers that I did it. I found her and I brought her home. We had a nice time and now she's sleeping next to me in that comfort zone. “Desiree,” I croak, my voice a broken rasp. I turn, my arm reaching out instinctively to pull her closer, to t
Gillian’s POV “What's the newest information about the eastern borders? What did the patrol team say?” I ask Kael. “And any update about Desiree’s whereabouts?” I'm sitting in the armchair of my private chambers, my head is heavy with a dull throb pulsing behinf my eyes. The room smells of expensive tobacco, my own sweat, and a sharp scent of whiskey that I've been pouring down my throat since Elder Dickson left. "Gillian, put the glass down." Kael speak, ignoring the questions I have asked when he came into my space. "The patrol, Kael," I rasp, my voice sounding like it’s been dragged over gravel. I take another swallow, the burn going doing my chest in one gulp. "The body. Tell me it wasn't Macy."Kael sighs, stepping into my line of sight. He looks older than he did three hours ago. "The report is... inconclusive, Alpha. It was a woman. Mid-twenties. The trauma was extensive. It wasn't the child, but the clothes... they match the description of a servant who went missing from t
Desiree’s POV “Tell me, does the Alpha know you're playing Muse in the neutral zone, or should I be worried about the border patrol crossing my father's land tonight?”The air in the gallery is suddenly too thin to breathe with Ronan’s words filling the place. His mention of the Alpha, makes me hit a pause. I don't think or react. I just stand up, plant my palm against his chest and shove. He isn't expecting it, or perhaps he just didn't expect that I would react this way. He stumbles back a half-step, his brows arching in genuine surprise. “Stay away from me,” I warn with a hiss, the growl of my wolf vibrating at the base of my throat. A sign that he is trespassing. “I don't care whose lands these are or how well you know Lyra. You don't get to touch me, and you certainly don't get to speak to me like I'm a specimen under glass.”Lyra’s hand is on my shoulder in an instant, her grip firm, trying to calm my nerves down. “Ronan, that's enough. She's had a long journey. Don't be a v
Desiree's POV I have been here, in the dark and struggling not to wake up back to reality. Not to have any possibilities of meeting with Gillian and his family problem but look at me here. My eyes are slightly opened and I can hear muffles. Distant muffles from me indicate that I am alive and bac
Desiree's POV I'm groaning as I wake up, my legs feel weak, my head is banging really hard, I cannot fluster my eyelid open. What the fuck is going on here? What happened to me? Why am I so weak? Why am I feeling so much pain even in my bones?I have so many questions running in my already stress
Gillian’s POV I close my eyes, trying to restrain my anger as I hear footsteps. Can't mistake Desiree for her, Seraphina. Even in my private study room, her perfume still sinks into the room as she walks in. I can hear her heels clicking towards my side, irritation clinging to my body. Why don'
Desiree's POV “Darling!” I call, running up to Gillian amidst everyone in the room. I cling to Gillian's shoulder like he is the only solid thing in the room that keeps shifting under my feets. I can smell his scents in my lungs, dark cedar and smoke, something that makes him more unique, and fo







