MasukScarlet’s POVThe purple lightning split the damp vault air, moving so fast it smelled of burnt copper before it even hit.My Instinct took over. My wolf was still too exhausted to lend me her strength, but the dark witch magic boiling in my veins did not need a beast.I dropped low, skidding across the wet limestone floor. The lightning slammed into the stone wall right behind my head, blowing out a shower of sharp granite fragments that stung my bare shoulders.Before the first warlock could conjure a second volley, I surged upward.The heat from my daggers radiated against my knuckles, the blue flames going wild. I didn't fight like an elegant court lady, and I didn't fight like a trained swordsman. I fought like a feral mother protecing her kids.I rammed the right dagger straight up through the opening beneath the warlock’s steel gorget.The white-hot silver sliced through flesh and gristle like warm lard. The blue fire followed the blade, sinking deep into his throat, boiling hi
Scarlet’s POVThe stone floor felt like ice beneath my knees, but the heat coming off Joel’s skin was hot enough to scorch wood."Stay with me," I ordered, my voice trembling as I hauled his good arm over my shoulder, dragging his dead weight toward the dry straw pallet. "Joel! Look at me! Don't you dare close your eyes!"He choked out a wet cough, spattering dark, foul-smelling blood over the front of my silk gown. The wound running from his ear down into his shoulder wasn't a clean sword cut; it was rotting from the inside out. Black veins crawled across his neck like spiderwebs, pulsing with the sickly purple glow of something that was similar to witch-craft."The abyss..." Joel murmured, his eyelids fluttering, his body shivering violently against mine. "The ground split like dry wood, Scarlet. He went down swinging his broadsword... taking three of their high lords with him. He was screaming your name until the rock closed shut.""Be quiet," I hissed, tears spilling fast down my
Scarlet’s POVThe courtyard turned into a madhouse the second the scout choked out his last breath.Wolves were screaming, dropping training daggers, and rushing toward the inner keep. The elders, who had been sitting comfortably watching Joel and Damien tear each other apart, were now stumbling over their own long robes, squealing like stuck pigs as they scrambled for the iron cellar gates."The children," I whispered. My stomach dropped through the floorboards.I turned on my heel, ready to bolt toward the nursery, but a large, blood-smeared hand clamped around my wrist.Damien.His chest was still heaving, bloody froth dripping from his split lip, but the murderous haze in his eyes had snapped shut. The Alpha in him—the warrior who had kept this pack alive through two border wars—was back."They won't touch the keep," Damien growled, his voice rough as gravel. He looked past me, his gaze locking directly onto Joel, who was wiping blood from his chin with the back of his bruised arm
Scarlet's POVDamien lunged again, but this time he didn't throw a straight punch. He feinted left, dropped his shoulder, and drove his entire massive frame into Joel's midsection, tackling him hard into the dirt.The impact sounded like two boulders crashing together. A cloud of fine brown sand exploded into the air as the two bodies rolled across the ground, trading brutal, short-range blows.Damien pinned Joel's left shoulder, his fangs elongating, driving a heavy punch into Joel's cheekbone. Joel's head snapped to the side, blood spraying across the sand, but he brought his knee up hard between Damien's thighs, catching him in the groin with enough force to make Damien groan and loosen his grip.Joel twisted like an eel, slipping out from underneath the larger man. He scrambled to his feet, but Damien caught him by the ankle, yanking violently. Joel slammed face-first back onto the sand.Before Joel could turn, Damien was on his back.Damien locked his massive forearm around Joel'
Scarlet’s POVThe sun was bleeding orange across the western ridge, painting the high stone walls of the courtyard in long, dark shadows.A crowd had formed around the training ring. Hundreds of wolves stood shoulder to shoulder—warriors, council elders, kitchen maids, trackers. Nobody dared to talk above a ragged whisper. The tension in the air was so thick you could smell the bile and cold sweat rising off the onlookers.A death challenge between an Alpha and his highest commander whom he had entrusted the position and myself to before leaving to fight Morgathis. This wasn't an everyday affair. It was ancient pack law. Blood wash blood."Luna, please... drink this," Sasha pleaded behind me, holding out a clay cup of warm tea steeped with mint and bitter roots. Her small hands shook so hard the brown liquid sloshed over the rim, staining the stone bench where I sat. She had learned to be loyal since that day. And she has also saw me in my lowest moments too, understanding why I did w
Scarlet’s POVThe great hall was cold enough to freeze water.Nobody lit the giant stone hearths. Nobody offered Damien wine or bread to break his fast. The elders sat around the long oak table like a bunch of nervous vultures, their hands hidden in their embroidered sleeves, not a single one daring to raise their chin.Damien sat at the head of the table. In his proper seat.He hadn't cleaned up. The dry mud was still caked into the dark hair on his chest, and dried black blood ringed the raw wounds where the collar had bitten into his throat. Two palace healers had tried to approach him with clean cloths and silver-leaf salves, but he hadn't even looked at them; he just let out a low, vibrating growl that sent them running back to the kitchens.Beside me, on the left side of the table, Joel sat upright. He hadn't unbuckled his sword. He hadn't ducked his head once since we walked through those heavy double doors."Start talking," Damien said.He didn't yell. That was the worst part.
Damien’s POVIt had been days since she left, and still, I’d heard nothing.Not another letter. Not even a reassurance that she was going to really come back—I’m left with just memories of her. My head spun as I wrestled with what to do next. That was when the guards’ voices boomed from the palace
Scarlet’s POV “Damien, what are you doing?” I gasped, fear laced in my voice. My breath hitched, as my chest rose and fell with sharp urgency. But… damn it. Why do I feel so wet beneath? What’s wrong with me? I’ve never been this close to a man. Never felt this exposed…this fragile. I placed
Damien’s POVI don’t know if it was instinct, but something deep inside me whispered that something was wrong.Even though she tried so hard to conceal it, everything was brought to light tonight. All through the night, as I took Scarlet again and again, she kept calling my name—and another.A nam
Scarlet’s POVI blinked, forcing myself back into the moment, steadying my breath as I looked up at Damien.He was still watching me, the soldiers standing rigidly behind him, guiding us forward.None of it was real.None of it had ever been real.I had only been standing there—watching Joel being







