Mag-log inBianca's POVTanya straightened slowly, brushing the dirt from her skirts, and looked down at me with something cold flickering behind her eyes.“And what,” she said, “makes you think I care one bit for your mate?”My blood turned to ice.“Hang him,” she said, turning back to the gallows. “I’ve changed my mind. A weeping woman won’t sway me from doing what’s necessary. Put the rope back on. Be quick about it.”“No!” I screamed, lunging forward, but the guards caught me, dragging me back. “No, please, no…”They lifted the noose toward Kyle’s neck. He didn’t fight this time. He just looked at me across the courtyard, calm and steady, like he was trying to give me something to hold onto. The rope touched his throat…The courtyard gate slammed open.A great black wolf tore through it, fast as a storm, and before anyone could so much as shout, he’d crossed the whole courtyard and leapt … claws flashing … and slashed clean through the rope above Kyle’s head.The rope fell away in two piece
Bianca's POV“Bring him out,” Tanya said.She stood at the head of the courtyard in a gown the color of old wine, with her chin high, her voice ringing clear across the gathered crowd. The same crowd that had hanged the spy two nights ago. The same hungry, frightened faces.“Bring out the traitor. I mean to make an example of him. This kingdom has grown soft on traitors, and softness is what brought the plague to our doors. No more.”A guard near her hesitated. “Ma’am … are you certain? He’s no ordinary man. That’s Kyle. One of the Alpha’s most trusted knights. Brynne himself raised him up. When the Alphas return…”Tanya turned and slapped him across the face. The crack echoed off the stone.“When the Alphas return,” she said coldly, “they will thank me for cleaning out the rot they left behind. Do not question me again. Bring him out. Now.”The guard touched his reddening cheek, bowed his head, and went.I stood at the edge of the courtyard with Adele’s hand clutched tight in mine,
Blade's POVWe ran until the world narrowed down to nothing but the next step, and the next, and the woman in my arms.I’d shifted back to two legs to carry her. A wolf couldn’t cradle her the way she needed, couldn’t keep her head from lolling, couldn’t feel for her breath the way I had to feel for it every few minutes to be sure it was still there. So I carried her in my arms instead, against my chest, and I ran on two legs through the broken country, Brynne ran beside me, neither of us spoke because neither of us had the breath to spare.She was so light. That was the thing that kept tearing at me. She’d never been heavy, but now she weighed almost nothing at all, like the plague had been hollowing her out from the inside, taking and taking until there was hardly anything left to carry. Her head rested against my shoulder. Her marked arm hung limp. And through the oath, I felt every shallow flutter of her heart, every thin sip of breath, and I felt how far apart they were spacin
Bianca's POVKyle was on his feet before I even heard them.One moment, he was beside me, warm against my side, the dawn coming up soft and gold. The next he’d surged up, his blade in his hand, his whole body had gone tense and still … and then they stepped out of the trees.Soldiers. A whole ring of them, closing in around the great rock from every side. There were a dozen at least, maybe more; their spears were lowered, swords drawn, fanning out to surround us where we had nowhere to run.I scrambled up with Adele clutched to my chest, my back against the cold stone.“You’re under arrest,” the lead soldier said. “By order of the palace. You’re to come back with us. Both of you.”“On what charges?” Kyle’s voice was hard, his blade up, his body between them and us. “We’ve done nothing wrong. Nothing.”“Nothing wrong.” The soldier laughed, short and ugly. “We hanged a spy last night who’d been feeding the enemy from inside our walls. And now here you are … another of the Alpha’s own m
Bianca's POVKyle had it planned by the time I got back to him.“We go tonight,” he said, low and fast, already pulling supplies from a chest in his quarters. “Before Tanya makes her move. There’s a service gate on the eastern wall … the one the kitchens use for deliveries. The guard on it tonight is a friend of mine. He’ll look the other way.” He pressed a bundle into my arms. Food, a waterskin, a spare cloak. “Wake the girl and wrap her up warmly and as quietly you can. We can’t risk anyone seeing us go.”My heart was pounding. “And if they catch us?”“Then we run.” He buckled a blade at his hip and looked at me, his eyes steady. “But they won’t. Not if we move now. Trust me, Bianca. I’ve gotten people out of worse places than this.”I went and woke Adele. “Are we going to find Mummy?” she whispered.My throat tightened. “We’re going somewhere safe, sweetheart. Somewhere Mummy can find us. But you have to be very quiet. Quieter than you’ve ever been. Can you do that for me?”She n
Bianca's POVI sat with Adele until she fell asleep.It took a while. She was restless that night, turning over and over, asking again and again when her mummy was coming home. I stroked her hair and told her soon, soon, even though I didn’t know if it was true. Eventually her breathing slowed and went deep, and the little wooden wolf slipped from her fingers onto the blanket. I tucked it back into her hand the way she liked, kissed her forehead, and crept out.I’d barely pulled the door shut behind me when I heard a commotion. The sound of angry raised voices, shouting, the heavy tramp of boots, all of it coming from the courtyard below. A ruckus loud enough to echo through the halls. My heart jumped. After Tanya’s threats, every loud sound felt like danger now.I hurried down toward it, pulling my shawl tight around my shoulders.The courtyard was full of people. Guards, servants, a knot of lords roused from their beds, all gathered in the torchlight around something I couldn’t s
Third Person POV Adele’s little wolf ears twitched. She had been sleeping deeply, curled up in her fluffy dark fur on the big bed. The warmth of her mother’s body had been there only moments ago. Now it was gone.She opened her eyes slowly. The room was still dark. Moonlight slipped through the c
Calla's POV I opened my eyes in the middle of the night. The suite was dark and quiet. Adele was still asleep beside me, curled up in her little wolf form. Her fluffy dark fur rose and fell with soft breaths. Her tail was tucked neatly around her body. She looked so peaceful. So safe.I watched
Blade's POV I stood in the dim light of my private chambers, the heavy oak door locked behind me. The pack house was quiet now, the chaos of the first trial’s end finally settling. But inside me, nothing was quiet. My body burned. My wolf clawed at my ribs, howling for one thing only.Calla.I pa
Calla's POV I walked slowly down the long corridor toward our suite. My body still ached from the frozen woods. My clothes were damp and torn in places. The hot spring had helped, but the tiredness sat deep in my bones. The loss of the first trial weighed on my chest like a stone. Tanya’s smug s







