MasukThe heavy oak doors to the Great Hall were closed tight against the howling northerly winds, but within, the chill had melted away entirely.Fat logs of spiced birch and dried pine burned in the hearths at each end of the hall, sending up a sweet smoke mingled with roasted venison and the sweet, tangy scent of blackberry mead. The tension that had filled the hall an hour earlier had broken and become the heady atmosphere of northern celebration. Servants dashed between the long trestle tables, bearing great platters piled high with roasted boar, trenchers of dark rye bread, and flagons of frothing, honeyed ale.The bards took their stations on the landing above the dais hearth.The harsh rhythms of the warhorns were gone. Instead, silver-strung lutes, bone flutes, and deep skin drums beat out the warm rolling rhythms of the northern reel, setting every foot in the hall stomping in time.Beside the dais hearth, on a bed of layered white sheepskins, Mother and Mother Elara sat cross-l
Aria’s POVThe scream burst from my throat as Kael ripped the sheepskin bundle from Mother’s grasp, backing away to the side service door with the maniacal look of a cornered beast.The Great Hall was plunged into a cacophony of screams and the clash of armor and drawn swords. Northern huskarls were rushing from the colonnade, and across the dais, the image of Draven began to blur with the golden light of the transformation as the massive obsidian wolf was preparing to tear to pieces the southern Alpha.“Stop!” I screamed. A single strike from Draven could make Kael twitch, and the panicked reaction of an Alpha could hurt Leo.I am a Nullifier.I didn’t need to chase the man into the snow. I didn’t need to bleed in the darkness once more.Hold, Draven! I projected through the newly established soul-tether, the mental connection burning hot along with the bite on my neck. Don’t strike!I stepped to the edge of the dais, standing firmly on the northern flagstones.I closed my eyes for
Aria’s POVThe silver circlet of the North glinted coldly and heavily on the velvet cushion beside the dais, reflecting the flickering shadows of a thousand candles.I stood by the throne in the Great Hall of the Obsidian Keep, my back stiff and my chin high. My heavy twilight-blue gown fluttered around my ankles, my neck and shoulders encased in the white fur of the snow fox. My fresh mating mark lay against the hollow of my throat, glowing crimson and practically steaming with the dominant scent of cedar, iron, and pine.Beside me, Draven stood in his unarmored black leather, his powerful chest rising and falling with every breath. He didn’t conceal his wolf’s aura. It billowed off his broad shoulders in thick waves, rolling across the stone floor and making every visiting elder, Alpha, and chieftain instinctively duck their gazes.To my left, Mother held Leo.My ten-month-old baby was nestled in his white sheepskin blanket, holding onto his carved wooden stag toy while his golden-b
The reverberations of the horn were still sounding around the room when I seized her lips.Now there would be no more waiting, no more holding back. The beast and the king were one and raging in a way that Aria accepted without hesitation. Her nails dug into my scalp as I pinned her to the stone wall with a powerful hold. Her back touched the mantelpiece; I could feel the hard wood digging into her as she gasped.Mine. Finally, all mine.The wolf inside my ribcage gave a deafening, predatory roar. The beast didn't ask for permission. He didn't pace. With a quick movement, I pulled her gown upwards, revealing more and more of her thighs. My fingers met the silk of her stockings, which made a rustling noise. Already, she was shaking from anticipation and need. The scent of her aroused body was coming through, making my beast happy. “Draven…!” Her voice was breaking with my name as I picked her up with ease. My one hand held her in a powerful grasp by her bottom; the other hand rested
Draven’s POVFor thirty years, my chest had been an iron tomb.Within this cage, there had been only silence, rotten shadows, and the ghostly screams of five centuries of crimes committed by the ancestors. I had ruled the Northern pack as a man-king with a fractured soul, leading troops and quashing rebellions while waiting for the dark poison within my bones to eventually drive me mad and make me kill my people.Now, my ribcage was vibrating with every breath I took like a plucked war bow.The wolf was awake.He was not some sort of parasitic creature trying to kill me. He was an apex sovereign, pacing in the depths of my ribs with lethal, devastating power. With every breath I took, the taste of pine needles, cedar smoke, and melting snow from two leagues south of the mountain pass flooded my senses. The whole world opened before me, dividing into a multitude of sharp, bright currents, each and every one of them directed straight to the woman standing before me in the solar.Mate.M
Valemont Keep Two Days LaterKael’s POVThe smell in the private solar was that of burned ashes and cold limestone.These three days I hadn’t allowed any servant to touch the hearth. The rain beat hard upon the stained glass panes and spread ugly, gray shadows all across the flagstones.Cornered inside the dust sheet was the carved cradle of birchwood.Empty.I stomped my boots along the cold stone floor, my fingers trembling as they touched the edge of the smooth wood. The only remaining traces of my son were the lavender oil and the warm milk smell still clinging to the piece of furniture.He would soon be a year old.For ten months, I had enjoyed Leo's laughter; they resounded across these walls, and now the memory of the baby’s fat little hands reaching for mine felt like a fresh wound ripped wide open.I had let Aria depart with him.After he was kidnapped in my keep, it was the only thing I could have done, plus the plausible explanations.And I believed that been with him woul







