เข้าสู่ระบบDax’s POVAsher stood near the table, staring down at the ring like it was something alive and poisonous, while I sat beside Ciara’s bed with one hand wrapped around hers. She was still unconscious and that alone was enough to make something violent keep moving beneath my skin, clawing and snarling, demanding blood,a name or someone to tear apart until this fear left my chest. I kept my face calm because Inara was sitting on the other side of the bed looking pale and shaken, her eyes fixed on Ciara like she was afraid blinking would make her disappear, but inside, I was anything but calm. My woman was lying too still beneath the blankets, her breathing steady only because healers had me forced stabilizing Current through her body, and if not for Asher ripping that cursed thing from her finger with Alpha power, I might have been sitting beside a corpse instead of my mate.The ring sat on the table where Asher had dropped it earlier after burning his palm to remove it. It looked har
Ciara’s pov.My eyes burned and I hated it because crying would not solve this, but how was I supposed to process that my father might not have been my father, that the man who had controlled my life, sold my marriage, caged me and possibly ordered Inara’s death might have been wearing a place that didn’t belong to him?“Did you find when the swap happened?” I asked, forcing the words out.Inara shook her head. “No. That part was buried too well. But I found enough to know the current head is an imposter or something close enough to one, and the Dagon family you grew up in is no longer what it used to be. Someone hollowed it out from inside and left the name standing because names have power. People obey the Dagon name. Banks open for it. Men kill for it. Families marry into it. If you control the face at the top, you control everything beneath.”A cold shiver ran down my spine. That made sense in the worst possible way. The Dagon empire was too large to attack openly, too old and dee
Ciara’s POVI stared at inara waiting for answers, the morning breeze drifted across the balcony, moving through her red-streaked hair and cooling the coffee steam between us, but the air suddenly felt heavier and darker, as if the beautiful sitting area outside my room had turned into a war room. I sat across from her with my hand resting over my stomach, watching her face carefully while she stared at the laptop like it had personally offended her, and when she finally spoke, her voice was lower than before.“When you asked me to investigate Valerio’s death, I did,” she said, tapping one nail against the side of the coffee cup. “And I didn’t just do the normal surface-level search where you check old police reports, family announcements and official statements. I went deep, Ciara. Old Dagon archives. Private money trails. Security logs from the week before his death. Deleted communications. Border movement records. Everything that should’ve been buried under ten layers of expensiv
Ciara’s POV“Divorce Jasper.”That was the first thing Inara said after taking one dramatic sip from her hot coffee, and honestly, I should have expected it because this woman had been awake for barely a few days and had already decided to resume her full-time job as my loudest emotional terrorist. We were sitting on the wide balcony outside my room, though calling it a balcony almost felt disrespectful because it was bigger than most sitting rooms in the human realm. The glass doors behind us stood open, letting the cool Shadowfen breeze drift inside while the morning light spilled across the polished floor and the soft outdoor couches. Below us, the estate stretched into dark gardens and glowing pathways while distant guards moved like shadows between the trees, but Inara, wrapped in a thick robe with her red-streaked hair tied messily behind her head, looked far too comfortable for someone who had been hunted, stabbed,rescued and dragged into wolf territory.I slowly lowered my
Ciara’s povSomewhere far away, a familiar voice kept calling my name but I didn't want to move.My body felt heavy and warm, wrapped in a strange comfort that made opening my eyes feel like the hardest task in the world. I buried my face deeper into the pillow and groaned softly.“Five more minutes...”A quiet chuckle answered me and then I felt warm lips brush against mine.My eyes immediately snapped open and I found Dax hovering above me.For a second, I simply stared at him and then I frowned cause something was wrong.Dax was smiling, but it wasn't really a smile. There was something heavy sitting behind it, it was dark and exhausted. His eyes looked tired, almost haunted, and that alone was enough to wake me completely. I yawned and slowly pushed myself upright, rubbing my eyes before looking at him again."What's wrong?"Instead of answering, he tilted his head slightly."How are you feeling, love?"I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, but suddenly crimson eyes flashed a
Ciara’s POVHot.That was the first thing I felt.Not warm or the soft sleepy warmth of another body beside mine, but heat that's heavy and suffocating, pressing against my skin like I had fallen asleep beside a furnace. It crawled over my shoulder, down my back and into the tangled sheets beneath me until my body stirred before my mind fully woke. For one confused second, I thought maybe morning had come and the sun was pouring too strongly through the curtains, but the room was dim, the air thick and strange, and the heat was coming from beside me.My eyes opened slowly at first, then fully when a low growl vibrated through the mattress.I turned my head and froze.Dax lay beside me, bare chest rising and falling too fast, his skin flushed with a dangerous heat that made the air above him almost shimmer. Sweat clung to his throat and shoulders while his jaw clenched hard even in sleep, and his hands were fisted in the sheets like he was holding himself back from tearing something







