LOGINThe first scream comes from outside. I drop the spoon. For a second, I sit perfectly still, listening. Then another shout cuts through the morning, followed by the unmistakable clash of metal. Storm lifts her head inside me. That's not training. I push away from the table and hurry towards the window. The courtyard has changed. Soldiers are running towards the northern wall, stable hands are dragging horses out, and two guards are carrying a wounded wolf between them. There's blood on his shirt. Corvin appears in the doorway. "Stay here." I turn around. "What's happening?" "An incident at the northern watch." "That sounds wonderfully vague." He doesn't answer. He's already fastening the belt around his waist, a dagger secured against his hip. "Corvin." He stops. "Is it them?" "One of your mates has been spotted," he says. "Draven." My stomach tightens. "Where are the others?" "That's what my scout was supposed to find out." "Was?" Corvin looks towards the courtyar
I take another bite, mostly to avoid looking at him for too long. There is something deeply irritating about a man who looks like Corvin Blackmere and has the audacity seat there looking peaceful and calm. Honestly, the Moon Goddess has favorites, and apparently, she isn’t even trying to hide it. I glance up at him. He’s watching me. “Do you always stare at people while they eat?” I ask. “Only when they look like they’re planning my murder.” I nearly choke on my food. Corvin reaches for his glass, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “You kidnapped me,” I remind him. “And fed you.” “After kidnapping me.” “Would you prefer I had left you in the cart? Or maybe on the battlefield” I stare at him. “You’re very annoying.” “I’ve been told.” “By women, I presume.” “Mostly men, actually.” I roll my eyes before I can stop myself It’s small, barely noticeable, but it’s the first genuine reaction I’ve managed since the battle. The moment I realize it, I stop it He’s ha
Don’t get me wrong Alpha Corvin is fine.Like… if the sun and the moon had a very ill-advised one-night thing and produced a walking distraction kind of fine.Golden-brown skin that caught the light like it belonged there. Jet-black hair usually tied back, except when it fell loose in a way that felt intentional even when it wasn’t. Icy blue eyes that missed nothing. And his body, unfair. Built like someone who trained not to impress but because violence was a language he spoke fluently.Yes. I am very aware I have three absurdly attractive mates.I am also very aware that I am currently upset with them, half-betrayed, half-furious, and honestly… not even that angry that I got kidnapped again.At least it wasn’t Caius. Nor is it Selene or Liana.At least no one was screaming curse in my face.I could use a break from all of that.“Miss.”The voice pulls me from my thoughts.I turn from the window.The wolf standing just inside the doorway is young, barely over eight full moons. Too yo
My voice comes out cracked. “Where… are you taking me?” The reins tighten. The wolf in front glances back finally, eyes flicking over me with something like caution. “North road first. Then east.” That tells me everything. Away from my pack. Away from my mates. Away from anyone who might hear me scream. The bond is still there, I know it is. I can feel the absence like a missing limb. It aches. It pulls. It burns when I focus on it too hard. Draven, I try again, desperation bleeding through the thought. Nothing answers. My vision swims. The cart hits a rut and I gasp, chains biting deeper into my wrists. I look down then, really look, and my stomach drops. Iron cuffs etched with runes encircle my wrists and ankles, linked by thick chains bolted straight into the cart floor. Old magic. Not meant to kill. Meant to contain the “beast.” that I am But the presence beside the road is different. Not Caius. I would feel that bastard a mile away before I see him. A shadow falls
I howl—and the sound is swallowed whole by the chaos.Nothing answers it.No rally. No surge. No sudden shift in fortune.The war does not pause for declarations or destinies.It keeps coming.A horn blares from the south wall, sharp and frantic, cut short by a scream.Then another sound follows—wood splintering, stone cracking, iron screaming as it tears loose.“The south is breached!” someone yells. “They’re through—!”The words barely leave his mouth before bodies start pouring in.Not scouts. Not a small force.An army.They flood the field like a living tide wolves in unfamiliar colors, some already shifted, others changing as they run. Alphas. Betas. Even omegas driven forward with fear burning louder than loyalty.I feel it then.The fear.Not mine ours.It presses into my chest through the bond, raw and jagged. Wolves are dying too fast. Familiar scents wink out one by one like stars being crushed from the sky.Amelia grabs my shoulder again, blood slick on her hands. “Rain—li
I step out of the passage and the night hits me like a wall. Smoke. Blood. Heat. The battlefield stretches wide before the keep torches guttering, earth torn up by claws and boots, bodies already littering the ground. Wolves clash in every direction, shapes blurring as they shift mid-fight, metal ringing, bones snapping. The air hums with fear and fury so thick it tastes like iron. And then something changes. No one announces me. No voice cries my name. But a few heads turn. Not all at once. Not dramatically. It’s subtler than that like a pressure drop. Like the world inhaling. I feel it ripple outward from my chest. Luna. The word doesn’t sound in my head, but it settles into my bones all the same. I spot Amelia first. She’s knee deep into the chaos, hair loose, face streaked with blood that isn’t all hers. She fights like she always has—fast, precise, brutal when she needs to be. She breaks a wolf’s arm with a twist and a stomp, then shoves him aside and moves on without
Liana’s POV The scent of sweat and dirt still clung to the air long after the morning session had ended. I could still hear the sound of it—Rain’s fists slamming into the mat, the crowd’s shocked gasps when she’d sent Selene sprawling like a rag doll. Pathetic. I crossed the courtyard, my hee
I pushed through the library doors, the cold stone corridor swallowing the sound of my boots as they struck the floor. My pulse was still wild, my breath coming hard—half anger, half ache. Storm’s laughter echoed in my mind like bells in a storm, bright and unbothered.“You handled that beautifully
“You lost all right over her when you decided she was a slave, so mate or not Nobody will be spoken like this under my roof.” Draven drawled.“She is still my daughter, and as far as I can see, she hasn’t been marked yet so three of you have no over her either.”“Enough!” I shouted. “I am not some
Maris didn’t move at first. Her eyes darted from my face to the blood smeared along my hem, then down to my bare, dirt-streaked feet. “Rain…” she whispered, stepping closer. “Where are you coming from?” Her voice was low, almost careful. I said nothing. My fingers trembled as I reached to unlace







