LOGINThe afternoon sun filtered softly through the heavy curtains of the mountain house, casting long, warm lines of light across the floor. Elara sat on the plush sofa, her hands resting naturally over the noticeable swell of her stomach.The door to the sitting room clicked open, and Selena walked in. She carried a familiar leather medical bag, her face softening the moment she saw Elara."Look at you," Selena said gently, setting her bag on the side table. "Every time I visit, it feels like you've grown an inch overnight.""It feels that way too, Mother," Elara said, offering a small, tired smile as Selena knelt on the floor beside the sofa. "Riven is nearly losing his mind. I think he checks my pulse every twenty minutes while I'm sleeping.""I check it every twenty minutes because you're important to me, Elara... I check it because you’re carrying my entire world," Riven's deep, gravelly voice cut in from the next room.Riven stepped into the room from the adjoining study. His m
Lucan stared at Zara for a long moment, his face completely unreadable. He looked past her, catching the eye of the lead enforcer waiting by the double doors."Take them to the cells," Lucan commanded. "Keep them separated until I decide our next move."Zara’s eyes widened, her sarcastic attitude vanishing instantly. "The cells? Are you out of your mind, Lucan? We just handed you the exact key to destroying Riven, and you're throwing us in a dungeon?""You are prisoners," Morgana said, leaning back in her chair with a sharp smile. "You're traitors who fled your own pack. You don't get to walk into our territory and dictate terms.""We gave you a weapon!" Theron growled. He stepped in front of his daughter as the guards advanced, his chest heaving. "Without our information, you'd be sitting here waiting for your own wolves to cut your throat. We deserve asylum, not chains.""You'll get a cell until I verify your story," Lucan said, his voice flat. "Move them."The guards lunged
The air in Lucan's study smelled like so much burnt sage and insence, it was almost hard to breathe.Lucan paced the floor, staring down at the map on the table. The reports from the outer borders of their pack were getting worse every day."Two more patrols deserted before dawn," Lucan snapped, slamming his fist onto the wood. "If this keeps up, we won't even have enough wolves to guard the front gates."Morgana sat by the hearth, idly stirring a silver bowl of dark liquid. She didn't look up. "They didn't desert, Lucan. They doubted and then ran for their lives. There’s a difference.""Don't piss me off by reminding me, Morgana. The pack is already completely divided," Lucan said, his voice tight. "If you weren't using your magic to hold their minds together and force their loyalty to me, they would have turned on us weeks ago."Morgana finally looked up, her expression dry and thoroughly annoyed. "And it’s exhausting, Alpha... Do you think mind-controlling hundreds of rebelli
"How the fuck did they find out?"The whisper was low, but it held enough razor-sharp dominance to make the shadows along the stone floor warp and twist. Riven didn't move an inch, his posture terrifyingly rigid, but his silver eyes burned with a chaotic, lethal heat."The prison guards were careless," Dorian answered bluntly, keeping his voice down as he glanced back at the heavy bedroom door. "You completely vanished from the pack house and locked down this fortress. The guards on the dungeon rotation got careless and started idly gossiping outside the cells about why you were acting so crazy. Zara and her father overheard them."Riven’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked violently. "And the escape?""Her father still knew an old code from his time as Beta," Dorian muttered. "They used it during a shift change, took out three guards in the lower tunnels, and vanished before the alarms flagged the breach. They've already crossed into Lucan's territory."Riven closed his eyes,
When Elara blinked her eyes open, the spinning parlor was gone, replaced by the familiar dark wood ceiling of their bedroom at the mountain house.Sitting right at the edge of the mattress was Riven. He wasn't asleep. He was sitting completely rigid, his golden eyes staring down at her with an intensity so fierce it felt like a physical weight. He looked like he hadn't blinked in hours.The second she shifted, Elara braced her elbows against the sheets to sit up. "Riven...""Don't move," Riven ordered instantly, his hands immediately coming down on her shoulders to gently but firmly push her back into the pillows. "Lay back down, princess. Don't even think about standing up, tell me what you want and I'll get it for you"Elara rolled her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh against the mattress. The borderline crazy, overprotective Alpha streak was clearly still in full swing. He was treating her like she was made of fucking glass, but given how she had literally passed out in his arms
The heavy oak door swung open, and Riven walked into the parlor, bringing the scent of cedar and dark shadows with him. Dorian was right behind him.The second the door cleared, Willow abandoned the table and practically threw herself into Dorian's arms. The stoic beta caught her effortlessly, burying his face in her hair with a rare smile.Riven, however, stopped dead in his tracks.His golden Alpha eyes narrowed the second he stepped into the room. His nostrils flared, taking a deep, deliberate breath of the air, and his entire posture went completely rigid.Elara’s heart skipped a beat. She tried to look casual, but Riven was already closing the distance between them in three long strides."Your scent is different," Riven said, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly vibration. He leaned down, his jaw tight as he stared at her. "I noticed it this morning before I left for the borders, but it keeps shifting."Elara kept her face blank, shooting a desperate, wide-eyed look ove
“You cannot destroy a false bond while rejecting the true one.”The words echoed softly through Elara’s mind as she gasped, her eyes finally opening from her sleep. Elara could swear she just had a dream where she heard those words, but she could not remember anything about the dream, even though t
Elara thought she would finally rest. Her body was heavy, worn out from the ritual, from the long night, from the storm of revelations she still hadn’t sorted through. The mattress beneath her pulled her down like it wanted to keep her forever. Sleep came quick, too quick, before she even realized
Riven knew he could not really help her... not until they completed theor mate bond. And from the looks of things, Elara was still figuring out her feelings. Besides, this was magic. Black magic. And he had little or no knowledge in that area. It was obvious that Lucan was determined to remain as
Elara opened her mouth to argue, but Riven didn’t give her the chance. His arm stayed firm around her waist as he guided her out of the room. She was too weak to fight, too overwhelmed to speak, worst of all, the dizzying spells confused her more than anything else. Before long, the familiar haze







