Veyra’s POVThe gate looms ahead, tall and braced with thick steel, but I don't slow down. My blood pounds in my ears, fury roaring through my limbs like wildfire. I feel my bones shift before I even reach it. My skin ripples, muscles contorting, and in the blink of an eye I'm no longer on two feet.My paws hit the ground hard, my claws carving into the dirt as I sprint. The clothes I wore falls away behind me like discarded skin. My wolf is unleashed and she doesn't hesitate. She's rage and justice and fire. She knows what I saw, and she knows what must be done.I leap through the open gate, barely aware of the guards shouting behind me. Their voices fade the moment my nose catches Caelan’s scent. It coils around the trees like a trail of smoke, thick and pungent with blood and heat. I run faster, my breath sharp in my lungs, my body flying through underbrush and broken roots.Then I hear it.A scream. Shrill and ragged and close.I veer sharply to the left, paws tearing up the earth
Veyra’s POVI stare at the screen, my hands tightening in my lap. Of all the rogues they could have chosen, they picked the ones least suited for this. Caelan and Aeron may not be cruel, but they’re wild, barely tethered even on their best days. They’re also the two who seemed most focused on pleasing me, always doing everything they could to gain my attention. That doesn’t make them safe, especially not in this kind of test.The horn blares, sharp and shrill, and the feed cuts to the Omegas rushing through the treeline. The countdown flashes in the corner of the screen, ticking down from sixty, and the rogues begin to pace, muscles coiled and impatient.They’re starting from opposite ends of the arena. The Omegas are meant to run toward where the rogues began. If this goes the way I hope, they’ll meet somewhere in the middle, and the rogues will scent them, claim them, maybe even protect them. But if it doesn’t go well... I close my eyes and exhale slowly.It has to go well.The brut
Veyra POVI shove him off me, stepping back and holding my head high. The clothes cling to my skin, but I don’t care how I look. I only care that I feel the fury twisting in my chest finally breaking loose.“You don’t have rights over me. None of you do,” I say, my voice sharp and cutting. “If I want to let every rogue in this territory claim me, I can. And if I choose to, I will.”Dagen’s brow furrows. “Veyra, be reasonable.”I let out a breathless laugh. “Reasonable? Were any of you ever reasonable with me?” My gaze sweeps over each of them. “If you’re standing there thinking that me coming back means you get to use my body again, that you have some claim, you’re wrong.”“No one’s thinking that,” Vane says, his voice calm but tense.“Then you’re all doing a damn good job acting like it,” I fire back. “Just because I went into heat, just because my body responded, doesn’t mean I wanted it to happen. I won't ask to be knotted by you. I wonn’t beg for any of it. I'll survive without it
Veyra POVThe moment Maddox kisses me, I forget everything, my wolf takes over, and I lean into him more, dragging him closer like I can’t get enough of him. I’m meant to be angry, getting answers and demanding change, yet the moment that Maddox kissed me, everything went, and my heat exploded.I was controlling it, I was ignoring it, even being close to them, I managed to lock it down, but I wasn’t ready for how it would feel if one of them touched me. Now, I’m struggling to get my mind back in a place where I can fight this.Pulling back, I gasp, my eyes trying to focus as I try to remind myself of what I’m here for, and why. The chance disappears as I feel someone step up behind me, and grab my hip, before kissing my shoulder, as Maddox claims my mouth again.I melt into them, needing more, and unable to stop myself. The feel of Maddox’s fingers brushing my skin as he unfastens my trousers has me tremble. His hand pushes inside, and I don’t get a chance to brace myself before his f
Maddox POVShe's in heat.I can smell it, thick and sweet, curling through the air like smoke, and I have no idea how the others are standing here talking like it doesn’t affect them. Because it’s hitting me like a storm. My wolf is pacing beneath my skin, wild and restless. She was gone. Days passed without a word, without a trace. And now she’s back.And she’s in heat."Just agree," she says, her voice sharp and tired. "Then I can go back to the rogues. To my home."I scoff, unable to hold it back.Her home? No. That place isn’t her home. She doesn’t belong there. She belongs here, with us."Veyra," Rael says, stepping forward, his tone careful. "As a rogue myself, I can tell you right now, living with them isn’t what you want. It’s not what you need."She turns to face him, and her eyes flash with betrayal."How could you turn on your brothers?" she demands. "How could you stand with these three and treat the rest of them like animals?"Rael’s face twists. The pain is immediate and
Dagen POVI didn’t have a choice. I had to tell her the truth and that it was Lyra.Now we’re going to have to explain everything, how Maddox agreed to the plan at first but changed his mind, how he was drugged so they could move forward without him. She deserves to know all of it.I glance from her to the rogues. They’re still on edge, still watching us like any wrong movement might be their excuse to finish what they started."Can they leave?" I ask, keeping my tone calm.Her eyes narrow, and she takes a slow step forward. "Why? They won’t act without my order, Dagen. So what’s the issue with them being here?""Because we need to talk," I answer, choosing my words carefully. "And it’s hard to do that when your army is standing behind you, waiting to tear us apart over one wrong sentence."She doesn’t respond right away. I can see the hesitation in her eyes. She’s weighing the risk, considering whether she trusts us even a little."Look, you want change. Fine. So do we," Rael says, s