LOGINNatalia’s POVHe didn’t hesitate.The moment I swung the rod toward him, his hand shot out and closed around my wrist like a vise. My arm wrenched sideways, and I felt the bones grind together under his grip, and the rod fell. It clattered somewhere on the stone floor, rolling away into the darkness
Andrei’s POVThe room was warm. The bed was soft and plush, the pillows made of feathers and velvet. Everything smelled familiar, the kind of scent that you recognize from a past life but can never put a finger on its source.Home.The woman was laying next to me, just as she always did. Amber hair
But I would do it, because the alternative was my children going through whatever came next, and that was not something I was willing to consider.I wasn’t certain yet. That was the only reason I was still trying so hard now. Because there was still a small part of me that thought that there must be
Natalia’s POVThey came for me after what felt like a full day. I say felt like because it really could have been any amount of time, or none at all. But someone did bring me some slop to eat at some point, so that had to have meant that at least a full cycle had passed.I was on my feet before the
Natalia’s POVWaking up the second time was so much worse than the first time.The first time I’d woken in this cell, at least I had had the brief mercy of not knowing where I was, even if it was over quickly.That feeling was gone now.I opened my eyes to the same black ceiling and knew exactly whe
Andrei’s POVThe interrogation chamber was in the lowest level of the castle, two floors below the cells.It was a practical room that I’d designed myself. It had a stone floor, stone walls, and a single drain in the center of the floor that served an obvious purpose. Just above the drain, a chair w
Celeste’s POVDavid returned to my bedroom—or perhaps I should call it my prison cell now—a few days afterwards. It was past midnight, as usual, and he was holding a tray in his hands. I hardly looked up from where I was sitting in front of the fireplace, too exhausted from lack of food to pay atten
Natalia’s POV“She’ll be fine with me, Alpha,” Alina said as we prepared to return to the Moonshadow estate. “I won’t let her out of my sight. You have my word.”The thought of having to have a bodyguard, even if it was someone I trusted like Alina, made my stomach churn. It felt like a step backwar
Natalia’s POVThe morning of the meeting dawned cold and rainy, which felt like an omen. The gray, gloomy sky did nothing to settle my anxiety, and as the winds picked up until they were rattling the windows, I feared the Alphas might not show at all.By the time the caravan arrived around noon, I w
Once the leaves were chewed into a sticky paste, I forced David’s mouth open and slipped them under his tongue. He sputtered and gagged, but I held his mouth shut, massaging his throat until I was certain the poultice went down.And then I waited.An eternity seemed to pass. For the longest time, I







