LOGINFiona’s POVI moved like a wildfire trying to consume as many things as it could on its way before anyone tried stopping it. I wasn’t thinking, just acting as I hauled the saddle onto the mare’s back and cinched the girth with shaky hands. Mara, who was fussing endlessly, tangled herself in the reins as I checked the saddle again with my hands that wouldn’t stop shaking despite the deep breath I had taken.“Luna, please, you need to think about this,” she pleaded. “You can’t just ride out to confront Alpha Kael alone without any carefully laid out plan!”“I understand your worries, but I am not going alone.” I clipped the last strap into place, forcing my voice to be calm despite the storm in me that wanted to shred the entire place. “I’m taking a small group of warriors from my people. I’m done with Derek’s gentle parenting style toward Kael.”Cassie and four others from my people were ready for it. While trapped in the shackles of Kael’s ruthless judgment towards them, they’d been
Derek’s POV “I thought my silence these past few days would have made you think twice,” Fiona roared from across my chamber. “I thought it would have made you want Xira to pay.”“It did,” I said evenly, trying to keep my tone measured despite my patience running thin. “But we can't do anything about her yet. We need her.”“No, I don't,” she fired.Rubbing the bridge of my nose, “Don’t let your emotions rule you, Fiona. You know this more than anyone; that is why despite how she treated you on the training ground, you still…”I allowed my voice to trail off as I settled into one of the leather sofas with a soft groan. My legs throbbed painfully from the movement despite Zeal’s carefulness in leading me. Fiona didn't respond; instead, she paced the room like a caged wolf waiting for her captors to make a slip that she could strike with.“You knew,” she said all of a sudden with a low growl. I frowned slightly before going on to ask, “Knew what?” even though I already sensed where thi
Fiona’s POVThe air that reeked of sweat in the throne room in the pack house was suffocating as I stood frozen with my heart hammering against my ribs, staring at my former pack members kneeling before Derek’s throne. The children, chirping away noisily, clung to their mother’s tattered clothes, their faces gaunt and hollow with hunger. The old men and women in the crowd huddled together in one corner like wilted leaves, leaving the younglings at the front along with a few advanced ones. Out of the younglings that scrambled at Derek’s feet, I recognize Eva, my former personal maid. She was kneeling in the front row. Beside her was Cassie and a few omegas who used to help in the kitchen. Behind them was Old Thomas, the gardener who’d taught me how to prune moonroses without killing them back in my days in the Lunaria pack, and then Sera. Young, trembling Sera, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, was clutching a crying infant to her chest.The words that they chorused endless
Derek’s POV Xira’s words hadn’t stopped playing in my head like a broken recorder since she left the room. Her words were like a dagger, piercing my weakest point, with me not being able to do anything about it because somehow, she had a point. Fiona would never have agreed to my terms if Kael hadn’t been the heartless bastard he was, treating her like she was something disposable. That betrayal had driven her right into my hands, and I might have gotten carried away thinking I made it all happen so I have her completely to myself. But after Xira’s taunting speech, I couldn’t stop asking myself what will happen when Kael comes back to his senses after he has realized what he’s lost and comes running after her?What happens then? Would she fall back into his arms? I shrugged. The truth I hated to admit was that she might. Fiona had loved Kael—deeply, painfully, wholly—and that was one of the reasons I had her as my target for my scheme. Love like that doesn’t just vanish no matt
Fiona’s POV Mara hesitated, her eyes darting between my neck and my face. She was clearly torn between her duty to me as her Luna and my well-being, with her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her apron as if debating whether to push further or not. After what felt like an endless moment of her staring blankly at me, she nodded reluctantly. “Alright, Luna,” she said quietly, getting on her feet. “I’ll go get the ice now and a few medical supplies to clean the surface, as it doesn’t look good at all. But…” she hesitated again, looking at me with worry spread across her face.“If someone’s threatening you or…or assaulting you in whatever way, you need to tell the Alpha. He’ll definitely deal with the person accordingly and…and make sure you’re safe.”A faint smile played on my lips as I forced myself up as well. “No one’s threatening me, Mara. I told you, it was just a fall. I tripped. That’s all.”She gave a small, respectful nod. “If you say so, Luna,” she cooed before turning arou
Fiona’s POVA choked gasp escaped me as Xira’s hand closed tighter around my throat, my back slamming against the wall with a force that made the shelves creaked and the air in my lungs dry up completely.I clawed at her wrist, allowing my fingers to dig into her skin as I tried to fight for my freedom, but nothing I did mattered. Her strength was far beyond mine; it was undoubtedly twice that of the female warrior I’d fought days ago. My vision gradually blurred with dark spots dancing before my eyes as I continued trying to get her hands off me.So this is how it ends? Not by Kael’s betrayal, not by fate, but by a jealous wolf guarding what was never hers? “Stay away from Derek, do you hear that?” She warned through gritted teeth. I felt her breath, hot in my face, as hers was just an inch away. “He’s vulnerable right now and weak. I won’t let you take advantage of that to insert your life into his.”“I’m not; he wants this union as much as I do,” I wheezed, rolling my eyeballs ti







