Mag-log inZeth's POVAshton and Xander were both looking at me like I had just personally offended the Moon Goddess.Which, to be fair, I might have.Akim was still on my lap and Hessas son watched quietly.Ashton was on his knees on the floor, Xander's blanket barely doing its job around his waist. His white-blond hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. He had finally managed to be human again for more than a heartbeat and he was staring at me with those big, exhausted blue eyes. Xander was holding him. One arm around his back, the other hand glued to Ashton's cheek. He had laughed five seconds ago for the first time since Merrick died. And now his face had gone back to that tight, alpha-king look."What?" Ashton whispered, his voice hoarse and wrecked from not being used. "Zeth, what about my blood?"Right. His blood. I should have kept my mouth shut. That was my first mistake.I was looking at his back, just under his left shoulder blade, where the blue light wasn't behaving. The rest of th
Ashton's POVHe is not trapped by magic. He is trapped because he is protecting himself. Hessa's son's voice was still in the room even after he stopped speaking.His small hand was still on my head, between my blue eyes. Warm. Too warm for how cold I felt inside this fur.I stared at him. At those old eyes in a six-year-old face. He wasn't lying. I felt it like a knife sliding into exactly the right place. My wolf hadn't been taken. It hadn't been cursed away. It had hidden. Because I hid.I remembered all the years of hands on my shoulders in training that never led to anything. The whispers when I walked through the courtyard. Wolfless. Weak. Omega. I remembered the first time I looked in the mirror after a full moon and saw nothing change while everyone else bled and broke and came out with claws.I remembered the nights when uncle Corvan would hit me, tear my clothes off to have his way. He said I was useless and weak. Not Darian... That bastard used every opportunity he had to
Ashton's POVI was breathing hard.Not because I had run. I hadn't moved at all. But my chest was rising and falling like I had been dragged through that mountain again.Xander's arms were around me. Tight. One hand pressed against the back of my neck, buried in white fur that was still hot from the blue light. The other was holding my chest, keeping me upright against him."Ashton. Hey. Look at me."I tried. My blue eyes lifted to his. His face was so close I could see every line of worry between his brows.He was pale. His shirt had slipped off one shoulder when he caught me. His hair was messier now from holding me."You're burning up," he murmured, more to himself than to me. His palm pressed to the side of my neck. "Gods. You're actually burning."I made a small sound. Not words. I couldn't.Behind him, Zeth was on his knees. He had Akim in his arms. He must have picked him up the second I collapsed. Akim was awake now, his golden eyes wide, his little hands grabbing at Zeth's sh
Zeth’s POVAkim had been awake before sunrise.I knew because the little boy had spent the last hour grabbing at my shirt while I tried to feed him.“Slow down,” I muttered, pulling the bottle away when he nearly swallowed it whole. “You're not fighting a war now... My little prince.”His little hands waved at me. I sighed and gave the bottle back. “Of course. Forgive me, Your Highness.”Akim settled almost immediately. I leaned back against the chair and watched him drink. For the first time in days, nobody was screaming. Nobody was running through a corridor with a sword in their hand. Nobody was announcing another attack.It was almost strange. Almost peaceful.I looked down at Akim. “You're enjoying this, aren't you?”His golden eyes blinked up at me. I shook my head.“You have no idea how much trouble you've caused.”He made a small sound and continued drinking.“Exactly.”By the time he finished, he was already half asleep. I lifted him against my chest and carried him toward Xa
Ashton’s POVThe blue light around me suddenly flared. I stepped back, but my paws barely moved before I saw Xander walking toward me.“Xander.”My voice came out inside my head, but he kept coming. His eyes were fixed on me, worry written all over his face.“Ashton, what is happening?” he asked.The light grew brighter. I wanted to move toward him, but something inside me pulled tight. The room blurred around us, and Xander reached for me.The moment his hand touched my head, everything disappeared. The light swallowed us. I was standing in the mountain again. Not as a wolf.My hands were human. Thin, shaking. Chains burned my wrists.I knew this memory.Akim was crying in the black bowl. Brenda was laughing behind me. I was on my knees trying to crawl to him and my legs wouldn't move."Ashton," Xander whispered next to me.He was standing beside me in the memory, human too, but the memory-version of me couldn't see him. This Xander could only watch.He saw me fall. He saw when Void
Xander’s POVNoctaryn should have felt like home the moment we passed through the gates, but I couldn't find anything familiar in the place anymore.The courtyard was too quiet, and the usual movement of soldiers, servants, merchants, and palace workers had almost disappeared. The guards who remained stood at their posts, but most of them looked exhausted, with bandages wrapped around their arms and dried blood still visible on their armor.Nobody celebrated when they saw us. Nobody even smiled. They simply watched us enter as though they were still trying to understand how many of us had actually made it back.I couldn't blame them.Too many wolves had gone into that mountain. Too many had died there.I looked ahead and saw the palace rising beyond the courtyard, its tall walls untouched by the destruction that had taken place.Zeth rode beside me with Akim in his arms. The baby had been unusually quiet, sleeping against Zeth's chest while one tiny hand remained curled into the fabri







