LOGINKade’s povI set off for her parents’ house on the eastern border of the territory, Riven riding silently beside me in the vehicle. The drive was tense, the frost-covered countryside blurring past the windows. Riven hadn’t asked many questions, but I could feel his disapproval radiating off him. He had tried to talk me out of this twice already.When we arrived, the large family home looked unchanged, warm lights glowing in the windows despite the cold afternoon. Claire’s mother, Luna Elara, opened the door before I could knock. Her face hardened the moment she saw me.“Alpha Kade,” she said coldly, arms crossed. “You have some nerve showing up here.”“Elara, please,” I started, keeping my voice respectful but firm. “I need to see Claire. She hasn’t come home. She won’t answer my calls. I just want to talk to her.”Elara’s eyes narrowed, disappointment and anger flashing across her features. “Talk? After everything you’ve put her through? First you lied that you banished your previous
Kade’s POVThe pack house felt heavier than usual as I made my way through the quieter corridors the next morning. The trials had paused for a brief rest day, giving wolves time to recover and elders time to deliberate on the standings. My body still ached from yesterday’s bouts, but the herbs Aria had given me continued to work their quiet magic, keeping the fog at bay and my thoughts sharper than they had been in weeks.Yet something else gnawed at me.Riven.The way he had looked when he walked into the dining hall last night, shock, then something darker flashing across his face before he shut it down. The stiffness in his bow. The way he had barely met my eyes on the trials ground afterward. He had been off ever since Aria returned, and it wasn’t just concern for the pack. There was something personal there. Something I couldn’t quite place.I had considered confronting him directly. Pulling him aside and demanding answers. But Riven was loyal, sometimes to a fault, and pushing h
Riven’s POVThe trials ground had gone quiet. Most of the crowd had drifted away into the night, leaving only the low flicker of dying torches and the distant murmur of wolves heading back to their quarters. I should have gone straight to my own room, but my feet carried me toward the quieter wing of the pack house instead, the shadowed corridors where fewer eyes lingered.I needed to find her.The bond we had claimed months ago still burned hot in my chest, memories of stolen nights in the Cold Palace, her soft gasps against my neck, the way our wolves had locked together completely the last time I visited her before leaving to prepare for these trials. Olive, her loyal maid, had known everything and kept our secret with quiet smiles and careful warnings. “All is well, Beta,” she’d whispered the last time I slipped out. “She’s safe with you.”Now that safety felt shattered.I turned a corner near the lesser-used sitting room and stopped short.Aria stood there alone, arms wrapped aro
Riven’s POVThe night air outside the pack house hit me like a slap, cold and sharp, but it did nothing to cool the fire raging in my chest. I kept walking, boots crunching over frost-hardened ground, heading straight for the trials ground without looking back. Every step felt heavier than the last.My mate.Aria, my secret mate was wrapped in Kade’s arms like she belonged there. The scent of their recent intimacy still clung to both of them, thick and unmistakable. The low hum of a newly awakened wolf bond had been vibrating between them when I walked in. And the look on her face when our eyes met… pure shock mixed with guilt.How long had this been happening? Had she gone to him the moment she returned from the Cold Palace? Had the bond I thought was ours been overwritten in a single afternoon of desperation and poison-induced haze?My wolf paced and snarled inside me, demanding I turn around, storm back in, and drag her out of there. But I couldn’t. Not without destroying everythin
Kade’s POVDominic straightened his collar with deliberate calm, the mocking smile never leaving his face. He gave me one last lingering look, eyes bright with amusement, then pushed off the wall and walked toward the door without another word of challenge.“I’ll await your wish, Alpha Kade,” he called over his shoulder, voice smooth and laced with sarcasm. “Take all the time you need. We both know you have… other matters to settle first.”The door clicked shut behind him, leaving the dining hall feeling suddenly too large and too empty.I turned to Aria.She was still standing beside the table, the half-cut steak forgotten on her plate. Without thinking, I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms, one hand sliding to the small of her back while the other cupped the back of her head. She didn’t resist. Instead she leaned into me, her body fitting against mine with that same easy warmth from upstairs.“Stay away from him,” I murmured against her hair, voice low and ro
Kade’s POVThe silence that followed Claire’s outburst was deafening.All eyes at the table were now fixed on me, waiting. Aria sat perfectly still beside me, her presence a quiet anchor I hadn’t asked for but suddenly needed. Dominic watched with thinly veiled satisfaction, as if he’d just been handed a gift. The elders leaned forward slightly, their surprise shifting into sharp curiosity.I pushed my chair back and stood, keeping my voice calm but firm as I addressed Claire directly.“Claire, it’s not what you think,” I said, stepping toward her. “Aria was sent to the Cold Palace for… reasons that involved pack security. I never said she left voluntarily. Things were complicated. She returned today because—”Claire’s eyes flashed with raw hurt and anger. She raised a hand, cutting me off before I could finish.“How dare you lie to me Kade? You know what? Scratch that. We’re done!”Her voice cracked on the last word. Without waiting for another syllable from me, she spun on her heel
Kade’s POVSunlight streamed through the windows of our bedroom, warm and golden.I woke to the scent of jasmine and the feeling of Claire’s body pressed against mine, her leg draped over my hip, one arm curled across my chest.For the first time in months, I felt… peaceful.No guilt gnawing at my
Aria’s POVThe sun had barely risen when Elder Cassius arrived for my third lesson.I’d been awake for hours, studying the texts he’d left me the previous session—dense volumes on pack law, Luna responsibilities, and the intricate hierarchy that governed wolf society.My head ached from information
Aria’s POVThe knock came just after sunset, three sharp raps on the garden entrance, our signal.I was in the sitting room with Olive, going over her account from the market for the third time, trying to make sense of what she’d witnessed, when I heard it.My heart jumped.“It’s him,” I said, alre
Claire’s POVThe corridor leading to our chambers was thick with smoke even before I opened the door.I adjusted the thin silk mask covering my nose and mouth, fashionable enough to pass as an accessory, and practical enough to filter out the worst of the incense fumes.The door swung open silentl







