Indira's POVThe hallway outside Titan’s office was quiet, but I could hear their voices through the slightly open door. I shouldn’t have been there. I knew that. Titan hated eavesdroppers, and if he caught me, there would be trouble. But something in his tone made me stop instead of walking past.“…Kira’s parents were killed during the attack,” James was saying.The words froze me.For a moment, I thought maybe I had misheard. But the silence that followed was heavy. I was not just hearing things. This was real.I pressed my back against the wall, my heart suddenly racing. My father. And his wife, my step mum, was dead?I had never been close to him. Not after what he did. Not after his betrayal of marrying another woman. Not after he replaced my mother like she was nothing. I hated him for marrying another woman, for starting another life as if I didn’t matter. I told myself I didn’t care if I never saw him again.But hearing it now… hearing that he was gone… something inside me cra
Zoya's POV Recovery had never felt this suffocating.My body was healed, the bruises on my body had faded and the pain was gone, but the four walls of this room I was stuck in had become another kind of wound. Every day was the same, I woke up, stared at the ceiling, counted the hours, and listened to the sound of my own thoughts clawing at me.Thomas called it house arrest. I called it a cage.He had been furious after my last stunt. Furious and disappointed was his favorite word lately and he was unwilling to hear a single reason I had for doing what I did. He kept repeating how reckless it was to abduct Kari and orchestrate and tack against the wilder pack border town and how it put his position at risk, how it painted the BlackRiver pack in the worst possible light.Now the werewolf council was breathing down his neck, summoning him to explain himself because they thought the attack on the Wilder pack was his doing.But the thing was that I don’t regret any of my actions, but
Kari’s POVThe room felt too small for my thoughts.I stood by the window, arms crossed, my mind spinning with the news Elias had just given me. The BlackRiver pack’s Alpha was smart — too smart — and the people he had planted in our border town were spreading chaos faster than wildfire. I wasn’t going to just sit back and watch.I turned sharply toward Elias. “Look deeper. I don’t care how long it takes — I want everything we have on him and more. I want to know what time he wakes up, what he eats, who he talks to, every shadow he walks through. Everything.”Elias didn’t flinch at my tone. His dark eyes flickered with understanding. “You want me to dig where it’s dangerous?”“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “If it’s dangerous, it means we’re getting close.”His lips pressed into a thin line, but he gave a short nod and left without another word.I turned to Viktor, who had been leaning against the far wall with his arms folded, his expression unreadable. “I need you to contact the m
Zoya's POV I could still smell the blood, my blood.It clung to my skin no matter how many times I washed it off. It was faint now, but every breath I take reminds me of tonight, reminds me of them.Kira and Viktor.I gripped the edge of my pillow and squeezed until my knuckles ached. The wound in my side throbs under the bandage, the pain sharper when I think about how they got away. I had them. I had them.And then Viktor…My ex-mate. The person who betrayed me like no other.The man I once thought would protect me from the whole world. Instead, he chose her. Chose to fight me for her.My jaw tightened. I had spent years imagining the moment I would stand in front of him again, how his eyes would widen, how his heart would falter when he saw me alive after everything. I’d dreamed of watching him break under the weight of his guilt. I wanted him to feel every ounce of pain he had left me drowning in.But it didn’t happen that way.When he saw me, he looked shocked, yes… but not bro
Zoya's POV I could still smell the blood, my blood.It clung to my skin no matter how many times I washed it off. It was faint now, but every breath I take reminds me of tonight, reminds me of them.Kira and Viktor.I gripped the edge of my pillow and squeezed until my knuckles ached. The wound in my side throbs under the bandage, the pain sharper when I think about how they got away. I had them. I had them.And then Viktor…My ex-mate. The person who betrayed me like no other.The man I once thought would protect me from the whole world. Instead, he chose her. Chose to fight me for her.My jaw tightened. I had spent years imagining the moment I would stand in front of him again, how his eyes would widen, how his heart would falter when he saw me alive after everything. I’d dreamed of watching him break under the weight of his guilt. I wanted him to feel every ounce of pain he had left me drowning in.But it didn’t happen that way.When he saw me, he looked shocked, yes… but not bro
Kari's POVAll I wanted was to feel something different.Something I could hold on to.Something that wasn’t just duty, strategy, or pain.Something that made me remember I was still human… still alive.Viktor might think I was tipsy. Maybe I was. But the truth was, I needed that thin layer of courage to finally push past the invisible wall he had kept between us.It had been there ever since my parents died. He was there for me in every way a protector could be, but when it came to us, he always held back. Like I was too fragile. Like I might break if he touched me the wrong way.I’d tried giving him hints. Looks. Brushing my fingers against his hand. Staying too close for too long. But every time, he would retreat.Part of me had started to wonder if maybe… he just didn’t want me that way.But then… something shifted. I saw the moment his control snapped. The flicker in his eyes. The sudden tightness in his jaw.And the giddy heat that bloomed in my stomach told me exactly what was