Maddox POVThe scent of her is everywhere. It clings to the air, heavier than before, thick with Heat and the unmistakable sting of pain. I try to ignore it. Try to act like it’s background noise, like it’s nothing more than what it is for every Omega in this cursed place.But it isn’t.She’s seated not far from us, across the dining hall with the rest of the Omegas. I can’t see her face clearly, but I don’t need to. My wolf is clawing at me from the inside, howling with frustration and need. He feels her. Feels her pain. Feels the heat twisting through her and the bond that burns like an open wound between us because we haven’t mated. Because I claimed her and didn’t complete it.I sit forward slightly, pressing my elbows to the table, trying to focus on the food in front of me, but everything tastes wrong. My mouth is dry, and my skin feels too tight. The collar didn’t stop the bond from growing. Now that we’re in the same room, breathing the same air, it’s back in full force. Worse
Maddox POV“She’s fighting it, far more than any other omega would be capable of” Dagen says, arms crossed as he watches her from the corner of his eye. “But not for long. Her wolf is already pushing forward. That room’s about to turn feral if we don’t do something.”“She’d never let me close enough,” I repeat.Rael turns toward me, brow furrowed. “Then talk to her. You’re the reason she’s like this. You might be the only one who can stop it now.”I glance across the room again. Her breathing is shallow. Her hands won’t let go of the table. Every line of her body is drawn tight with restraint, and still, she stays silent. That stubborn, defiant streak of hers is the only thing keeping her upright right now, and it’s killing her.“Delay the trial,” Vane says suddenly. “Give her a few hours.”“No,” I say immediately. “We can’t. If we delay it now, we draw attention. We’ll lose the audience. We’ll lose the structure. Everyone will think she’s being favored.”“She is being favored,” Dagen
Veyra POVI hate this, I hate how good it feels to be touched and how quickly my body stops trembling as soon as Maddox pulls me closer to him. My wolf is still pressing hard against my ribs, she's whining and pacing, desperate for more than just the comfort of being held.She's clawing at me from the inside, pushing toward him with a hunger I don't want to acknowledge.The burn in the claim mark on my neck is beginning to ease slightly now. It's not vanished completely but it's dull enough that I can breathe again. My skin isn't searing anymore, and my bones no longer feel like they're grinding against each other from the pressure of the bond.I hate that his touch fixes it, I that part of me that needs this, like it's survival.He shifts me slightly in his grip, one arm wrapped firmly around my waist, his hand splayed across my ribs, holding me flush against his chest. His breath ghosts against my throat, warm and steady. Then his lips brush just beneath my ear. It isn’t a kiss. Not
Veyra POVI should pull away, but I don’t. My fingers curl against his shirt, clutching hard as if I’m bracing for another wave of Heat. His presence eases the edge of it, but it’s still burning, slow and punishing. I hate how much I need him near to stay upright.Maddox exhales against my throat, long and ragged. “We can’t keep doing this.”“You mean pretending we aren’t breaking?”“No. Pretending we aren’t bonded.”The silence that follows is full of things neither of us will say. I don’t move. Neither does he. We’re trapped in this moment, locked by the bond and the burn and the fact that, even now, I’d rather die in his arms than beg for mercy on my knees.But if he ever thinks that means I’ll forgive him, he’s wrong. This isn’t surrender. It’s survival.His hands move slowly along my body, stroking the curve of my waist, the dip of my spine, tracing lines of heat wherever he touches. It soothes the ache blooming under my skin, dulling the worst of the burn at my mark, but it also
Veyra POVAs I step into the main room, I see the women already. They are standing in a few lines and waiting. The tension is heavy and thicker than it was before.Rael stands in front of them, his voice is raised loud enough for everyone to hear it. "It will last until after the sun sets. Twenty-four hours, minimum. You must survive the entire night and day."My stomach sinks hard. Twenty-four hours? In this condition? I'm going to struggle. Maddox's smug look now makes sense. Refusing to be knotted is setting me up to fail. I won't agree though.Rael's eyes flick toward me briefly before the keeps talking. "You're wolves, which means you should be able to survive in the wild. You can help each other, sure, if you want to. But remember, we are watching, and if you rely on others too much, you'll be thrown out to the rogues."Thrown out, left to be used and killed. Sounds like every other trial right now.Dagen steps forward now, his expression flat. “There are traps set everywhere. Y
Rael POVI watch the screens, and I don’t miss the way Dagen tenses when the guard presses too close to Veyra. His whole body shifts forward slightly, his fists clenching tight enough that I hear his bones crack.“He’s to be moved,” Dagen growls, his voice low and sharp, and I chuckle under my breath.“What next? No guards near her at all?” I ask, keeping my tone light, even though I know this is serious. They’ve done far worse to the other Omegas, yet Veyra is still practically untouched because of Dagen. He is doing everything but carving a sign over her head saying ‘protected.’He doesn’t bother answering. His focus stays locked on the screen like he could kill the guard just by staring hard enough.“We shouldn’t have agreed,” Vane mutters, his arms folding across his chest as Maddox strides back into the room. “She’s going to die,” Vane says, looking straight at him.“Then she dies,” Maddox says with a shrug like it means nothing.“Now she’s gone, you can pretend you don’t care, h
Rael POVI can’t help but watch her. She looks amazing, broken, dying, but still fighting.“She’s going to burn herself out before midnight,” Vane mutters beside me, but I don’t answer.Maybe she will. Maybe she’ll push herself so hard she collapses under the weight of it all. But part of me knows that’s not who Veyra is. She doesn’t fall easily, even when everything inside her is tearing itself apart.She straightens slowly, her face pale under the moonlight that’s filtering through the trees. For a second, she sways even more, and my hand tightens into a fist. She doesn’t drop though. She grits her teeth and moves forward again, slipping deeper into the woods, one foot after another.She’s stubborn. She’s dying. And she still refuses to quit.I sit back slightly, letting out a slow breath. If anyone thinks she’s going to crumble without a fight, they’re idiots. Even with the bonds burning her from the inside out, even with the heat shredding her focus and body, she’s still moving, s
Vane POVMaddox turns back to the screen, his whole body stiff. His hands flex like he doesn’t know whether to punch something or grab something. His wolf is fighting him hard, and it shows. It’s crawling under his skin, tearing at him, trying to drag him toward her.He hates it. Hates her for it. Hates himself for being weak enough to feel it.But I can feel it too. We all can.“She won’t make it,” Maddox mutters, but even he sounds like he doesn’t believe it anymore.Maybe she won’t. Maybe the Heat and the bond and the fucking rejection will tear her apart before the night is over. But looking at her on the screen, seeing the way she still moves even when every step looks like it shreds her open, I know the truth.She’s not giving up. Not even close.I shift in my chair, my jaw tight. The bond inside me pulls again, sharp and constant. It’s worse now, seeing her like this. It’s like a thread buried under my skin, tugging harder every second she keeps breathing.“If she does make it,
Dagen POVWe stay silent as the cameras follow her. Veyra moves carefully, not with the desperation the others show, but with a slow, calculated pace. She stops suddenly near a patch of dense undergrowth, crouching low.The camera zooms in automatically, and we see it. A boar, rooting around a fallen log, oblivious to the danger creeping closer.“She’s hunting?” Rael mutters, disbelief threading his voice.“She doesn’t have a choice," Vane says quietly. "If she wants to survive, she has to eat."We watch as Veyra moves closer, almost invisible against the thick shadows of the trees. Her wolf is close to the surface, not fully shifting, but enough that her movements are sharper, faster. When she strikes, it is fast and brutal. One sharp thrust with the sharpened branch she carries, straight into the boar’s neck.It thrashes once, twice, then goes still.She wastes no time. Dragging the body back toward a cave, she cuts it open with quick, brutal efficiency, taking thin slices of meat.
Dagen POVNothing much happened throughout the night. It was relatively quiet for Veyra anyway; three other Omegas are dead, two of them to the rogues and one of them to a trap. The others have gone to sleep but I've been watching all night. I don't want to care about her, I don't want to care if she lives or not, but I do. So the moment I laid down and tried to rest, my wolf didn't settle, so instead, I sat here all night and watched her fall apart piece by piece because of the bonds, rejection, everything. The sound of the door has me look up, and I see the maid carrying in the tray. She places it down before walking out. I'm not sure if I'm even hungry, what I do know is my wolf is unsettled. Maddox claiming she has made my wolf eager to be next, despite the fact it's not right. I pick at the food for what feels like forever before the others walk in and sit down. "Anything fun?" Rael looks to me and waits. "No, it was an uneventful night." My shoulders shrug slightly. "I won
Vane POVThe hours pass slow and heavy. None of us speak much after that. The screens glow in front of us, the only light in the darkened observation room. I try to keep my gaze moving between the different Omegas, watching them stumble through the forest, some trying to build shelters, others just curling up under trees and hoping the night spares them.But no matter how much I try to spread my focus, my eyes keep dragging back to her.Veyra.She’s still tucked into the little shelter she built, her body hidden behind the thick wall of branches and thorns she dragged into place. She’s smarter than the others. She chose a place off the main paths, dug in tight against the trees, hidden and protected by the thorns she wove around her.She’s been still for hours now, only moving when she adjusts the branches or shifts slightly to ease the stiffness in her body. I know she’s awake though. There’s a tension in her even when she lies still. A readiness.Dagen tenses suddenly beside me. His
Vane POVMaddox turns back to the screen, his whole body stiff. His hands flex like he doesn’t know whether to punch something or grab something. His wolf is fighting him hard, and it shows. It’s crawling under his skin, tearing at him, trying to drag him toward her.He hates it. Hates her for it. Hates himself for being weak enough to feel it.But I can feel it too. We all can.“She won’t make it,” Maddox mutters, but even he sounds like he doesn’t believe it anymore.Maybe she won’t. Maybe the Heat and the bond and the fucking rejection will tear her apart before the night is over. But looking at her on the screen, seeing the way she still moves even when every step looks like it shreds her open, I know the truth.She’s not giving up. Not even close.I shift in my chair, my jaw tight. The bond inside me pulls again, sharp and constant. It’s worse now, seeing her like this. It’s like a thread buried under my skin, tugging harder every second she keeps breathing.“If she does make it,
Rael POVI can’t help but watch her. She looks amazing, broken, dying, but still fighting.“She’s going to burn herself out before midnight,” Vane mutters beside me, but I don’t answer.Maybe she will. Maybe she’ll push herself so hard she collapses under the weight of it all. But part of me knows that’s not who Veyra is. She doesn’t fall easily, even when everything inside her is tearing itself apart.She straightens slowly, her face pale under the moonlight that’s filtering through the trees. For a second, she sways even more, and my hand tightens into a fist. She doesn’t drop though. She grits her teeth and moves forward again, slipping deeper into the woods, one foot after another.She’s stubborn. She’s dying. And she still refuses to quit.I sit back slightly, letting out a slow breath. If anyone thinks she’s going to crumble without a fight, they’re idiots. Even with the bonds burning her from the inside out, even with the heat shredding her focus and body, she’s still moving, s
Rael POVI watch the screens, and I don’t miss the way Dagen tenses when the guard presses too close to Veyra. His whole body shifts forward slightly, his fists clenching tight enough that I hear his bones crack.“He’s to be moved,” Dagen growls, his voice low and sharp, and I chuckle under my breath.“What next? No guards near her at all?” I ask, keeping my tone light, even though I know this is serious. They’ve done far worse to the other Omegas, yet Veyra is still practically untouched because of Dagen. He is doing everything but carving a sign over her head saying ‘protected.’He doesn’t bother answering. His focus stays locked on the screen like he could kill the guard just by staring hard enough.“We shouldn’t have agreed,” Vane mutters, his arms folding across his chest as Maddox strides back into the room. “She’s going to die,” Vane says, looking straight at him.“Then she dies,” Maddox says with a shrug like it means nothing.“Now she’s gone, you can pretend you don’t care, h
Veyra POVAs I step into the main room, I see the women already. They are standing in a few lines and waiting. The tension is heavy and thicker than it was before.Rael stands in front of them, his voice is raised loud enough for everyone to hear it. "It will last until after the sun sets. Twenty-four hours, minimum. You must survive the entire night and day."My stomach sinks hard. Twenty-four hours? In this condition? I'm going to struggle. Maddox's smug look now makes sense. Refusing to be knotted is setting me up to fail. I won't agree though.Rael's eyes flick toward me briefly before the keeps talking. "You're wolves, which means you should be able to survive in the wild. You can help each other, sure, if you want to. But remember, we are watching, and if you rely on others too much, you'll be thrown out to the rogues."Thrown out, left to be used and killed. Sounds like every other trial right now.Dagen steps forward now, his expression flat. “There are traps set everywhere. Y
Veyra POVI should pull away, but I don’t. My fingers curl against his shirt, clutching hard as if I’m bracing for another wave of Heat. His presence eases the edge of it, but it’s still burning, slow and punishing. I hate how much I need him near to stay upright.Maddox exhales against my throat, long and ragged. “We can’t keep doing this.”“You mean pretending we aren’t breaking?”“No. Pretending we aren’t bonded.”The silence that follows is full of things neither of us will say. I don’t move. Neither does he. We’re trapped in this moment, locked by the bond and the burn and the fact that, even now, I’d rather die in his arms than beg for mercy on my knees.But if he ever thinks that means I’ll forgive him, he’s wrong. This isn’t surrender. It’s survival.His hands move slowly along my body, stroking the curve of my waist, the dip of my spine, tracing lines of heat wherever he touches. It soothes the ache blooming under my skin, dulling the worst of the burn at my mark, but it also
Veyra POVI hate this, I hate how good it feels to be touched and how quickly my body stops trembling as soon as Maddox pulls me closer to him. My wolf is still pressing hard against my ribs, she's whining and pacing, desperate for more than just the comfort of being held.She's clawing at me from the inside, pushing toward him with a hunger I don't want to acknowledge.The burn in the claim mark on my neck is beginning to ease slightly now. It's not vanished completely but it's dull enough that I can breathe again. My skin isn't searing anymore, and my bones no longer feel like they're grinding against each other from the pressure of the bond.I hate that his touch fixes it, I that part of me that needs this, like it's survival.He shifts me slightly in his grip, one arm wrapped firmly around my waist, his hand splayed across my ribs, holding me flush against his chest. His breath ghosts against my throat, warm and steady. Then his lips brush just beneath my ear. It isn’t a kiss. Not