로그인Scarlet’s POVThe room went cold the second the healer finished speaking.Kaeler drank quietly at my breast, his tiny fingers pressing into my skin. In Damien’s arms, Kaelor and Kaelia had stopped fussing, their soft breaths rising and falling against his scarred chest. But the peace that had settled over us just moments ago cracked down the middle.Damien didn't drop the pups. He just sat there on the bear pelt, his eyes fixed on the trembling old healer standing in the doorway.The silence dragged on until the wood in the brazier popped, throwing a spray of red sparks into the air."He refuses food?" Damien asked, his voice low, dry, and flat as stone."Yes, Alpha," the healer squeaked, keeping his head ducked so low his chin touched his collar. "He tore the linen right off his shoulder. The cut on his palm is bleeding again. He said... he said he owes no man his life, and he will speak to the Luna before nightfall or bleed out on the floorboards."I looked down at Kaeler’s dark hea
Scarlet’s POVDamien didn't let go of me for a long time. His face stayed buried in the curve of my neck, his rough beard scratching my skin, his chest heaving as if he had just run through fire to drag me back from the grave. And maybe he had. The cold dirt under my knees smelled of pine needles and damp earth, clean and mortal, without a trace of Theandor’s honey-scented rot."You're shaking," Damien rasped against my ear."I'm fine," I said, though my teeth were chattering so hard they clicked. "Just get me on a horse, Damien. I need to see them.""They're safe," he murmured, his hands sliding down to cup my waist, helping me stand on legs that felt like hollow reeds. "I left forty warriors on the third floor. Sasha hasn't slept an inch. The doors don't open until my hand turns the latch."Behind us, boots crunched on the gravel.The vanguard captain and two scouts were lifting Joel onto the wooden wagon that had brought our extra spears south. Joel’s head rolled back against the r
Scarlet’s POVThe silver gates blew apart.Splinters of white wood and twisted metal flew across the courtyard, cutting into the rose bushes. The archers on the steps stumbled, their boots skidding on the marble as a terrifying cloud of dust and black fur crashed into the garden.Damien didn't stop to growl.He moved like an avalanche. His massive black wolf hit the first three elven guards before their boots could even turn to run. Bones snapped with loud, wet cracks under his heavy paws. He caught an archer by the shoulder, tossing the man twenty feet into the air like an old rag doll, sending a shower of broken silver arrows clattering onto the flagstones.Behind him came the pack.Twenty heavy vanguard wolves poured through the shattered gate. They were huge, gray-furred beasts covered in dried mud and iron spikes, tearing into the pretty elven lines with pure northern fury.The garden turned into a slaughterhouse in five seconds."Kill the beast!" Maeve shrieked from the top of t
Scarlet’s POVThe silk rope burned against my gloves as I slid down the sheer marble wall.The drop was terrifyingly silent. Below us, the courtyard shadows stretched long and thin under the pale glow of the hanging lamps. I kept my boots pressed flat against the cold stone blocks, kicking lightly away from the buttress, counting each heartbeat until my heels sank into the damp grass of the lower terrace.A second later, Joel dropped beside me.He landed heavily on his right knee, his breath hitching in his throat as his left shoulder took the jar. His face was gray with agony, sweat dripping from his chin onto the lawn, but he didn't make a sound. He rolled onto his feet, drew his curved silver dagger, and motioned toward the rose hedge."Four minutes," he breathed, barely a whisper. "Move."We stayed low, crawling through the thick carpet of white briars. The thorns tore at the sleeves of my dark tunic, catching my hair, but the roses here didn't smell like wild briars; they smelled
Scarlet’s POVThe heavy door of the northern tower shut behind us with a loud, hollow thud.I spun around fast, grabbing the cold metal ring and yanking with all my weight. The wood didn't budge an inch. It was reinforced with silver bands and carved with faint, glowing elven runes that buzzed against my skin like angry wasps."Locked," I hissed, kicking the door with the heel of my boot. "She locked us in like dogs in a shed.""Save your boots, Scarlet," Joel said behind me, his voice rough and tired. "Those doors were carved from elder-birch. You couldn't kick through them with a battering ram."I turned around, leaning my back against the carved wood, drawing in a long breath to stop my chest from shaking.The chamber was large, round, and cold. A high arched window looked out over the black drop of the cliffside, showing the jagged mountain peaks cutting into the starry night sky. In the middle of the room sat a massive wooden bed covered in thick white furs and embroidered silver
Scarlet’s POVThe silence here was wrong. In our northern woods, life made noise. You heard owls calling in the pines, branches cracking under a buck's weight, the wind rustling dry leaves, or the distant howl of a border patrol. Here, there was only the soft, muffled thud of hooves on thick moss. Even the glowing birch leaves hung completely still, like thin painted glass.Joel rode half a length ahead, his good hand tight on the reins. His jaw clenched hard, his eyes darting between the pale trunks. Out here, a silver ring circled his dark pupils—his elven blood waking up. He didn't look like a prince coming home. He looked like a wild wolf led into an iron trap."Joel," I whispered, nudging my mare closer.He didn't turn his head. "Don't speak unless you must, Scarlet. The trees in Theandor have ears. Maeve’s whisper-weavers listen to every breath.""They're forcing a blood rite at dawn," I pressed, keeping my voice low. "If that priest cuts our wrists on their stone altar, the bon
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







