Mag-log inCiara’s POVI watched Dax and Asher stare each other down like two storms waiting to decide which one would destroy the room first, and honestly, my head was beginning to ache.Dax’s golden eyes burned with lethal control, every muscle in his powerful frame locked tight as if one wrong word would make him snap. Asher, on the other hand, looked like chaos wearing a smirk, his head tilted, that dangerous glint in his crimson eyes, the corner of his mouth curved in a way that promised both violence and something far more unhinged, his smirk deepening like war, murder and family collapse was his idea of morning entertainment. I sat up straighter on the bed despite the lingering soreness in my body, my hand instinctively resting over the small swell of my stomach. The pup gave a tiny, restless flutter, as if sensing the tension in the room. My heart was pounding, but I forced myself to breathe.I sighed, then cleared my throat softly and both of them looked at me immediately.“Can we plea
Ciara’s POVDax let out a long, heavy sigh, the kind that sounded like it had been dragged out of somewhere far deeper than his chest, and for a while, he said nothing. He sat beside me on the bed with one hand still wrapped around mine, his face calm in that terrifying Blackthorne way, but his eyes were not calm at all. They were dark gold, too dark, filled with something colder than anger and heavier than disappointment. I had told him most of it and by the time I finished, the room felt smaller, quieter, like even the walls were afraid of what Dax might do with the truth.“So,” he said at last, his voice dangerously soft, “Jasper really did all that to you while I was away.”I nodded, unable to look away from him now even though every part of me wanted to hide. “Yeah.”His jaw flexed.“At first, I tried to understand him,” I admitted quietly, rubbing my thumb over the edge of the blanket. “I thought maybe he was angry about the pregnancy, and honestly, I couldn’t even fully blam
Ciara’s POVThe room became so tense that even breathing felt too loud.Dax moved closer to the bed slowly and controlled but that control only made him look more dangerous. He sat beside me without taking his eyes off my face, his dark gaze calm in a way that scared me more than anger would have. Inara was still standing with that small knife in her hand, awkwardly frozen between pretending she had not been ready to stab whoever entered and pretending she had not just heard me confess that Jasper sent me to Shadowfen as a spy. For a moment, nobody spoke. The silence grew, stretched, tightened around my throat until Dax finally leaned back slightly, his voice low and terrifyingly even.“A spy,” he said. “Really?”My lips parted, but nothing came out. How was I supposed to explain that? Where was I supposed to begin? With Jasper? With Valerio? With the little box he had given me before coming here? With the fact that I had entered Dax’s world carrying someone else’s orders while alre
Ciara’s pov. I took a breath wondering if perhaps there was still something that could harm me if I try to say the truth Inara must have noticed because he took my hand and squeezed it then said, "Don't worry about any attack, your baby daddy asked the best healers and whatever those people with weird senses of fashion are called to check you thoroughly, so you are safe, nothing can harm you or our baby." She explained and I nodded then rubbed my small swell I smiled and my eyes moved toward my bandaged finger before I forced myself to continue. “I... I had wanted to tell you that Valerio is alive.” For a second, she didn’t react and then her face went completely blank and my beating heart eased a bit because nothing painful happened to my body Inara blinked. Then she stared at me. “I’m sorry, what?” “Valerio is still alive.” She leaned back, eyes narrowing. “Ciara, babe, I love you, but are you sure that medicine didn’t drag you into one of those strange pregnant
Ciara’s POV I woke up to the bitter taste of medicine and Inara hovering over me with a spoon like an angry nurse who had been denied proper training but decided violence could replace education. For a few seconds, I only blinked at her, confused and weak, my body heavy against the pillows while the room slowly came back into focus. The curtains were half drawn, soft light spilled across the bed, and the faint scent of herbs and Shadowfen medicine clung to the air. My left hand had been wrapped carefully, thick white bandages covering the finger where the ring had nearly burned through my skin, and the moment I noticed it, everything came rushing back so fast my chest tightened. The balcony. Inara’s voice. Jasper’s name. Valerio was ali.. then pain, heat, smoke and screaming. “Inara…” My voice came out hoarse and dry, and her face immediately softened even though she tried to hide it behind that usual rude expression of hers. “What happened?” “You passed out after Asher
Dax’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







