ANMELDENAuthor’s Note: This chapter includes a difficult situation involving attempted assault. Please take care while reading and feel free to skip if this chapter is uncomfortable💜.Cora's POV Morning light filtered through the tall window, stretching across the floor in pale lines that reached the table where my breakfast tray sat. The bread had already gone stale, the fruit untouched. My wrists ached. The silver cuffs dug into my skin, the short chain between them limiting every movement. Damon’s idea of precaution. Apparently even a prisoner needed to be reminded constantly that she had no control over her own body. My wolf hated them. She paced beneath my skin, restless and irritated, her presence a constant pulse in my chest. I shifted on the edge of the bed and glanced toward the tray again. Bread. Fruit. A fork. I reached forward slowly, dragging the tray closer with awkward movements. The chain rattled softly as I lifted the fork. Cold metal pressed against my
Hannah's POV Sleep came late. The night had stretched long and uneasy, the darkness outside my window thick with silence. I had spent hours turning beneath the blankets, unable to settle, my thoughts drifting without direction. Every time I closed my eyes, a strange restlessness stirred in my chest ....... an unsettled pull that refused to let me rest. Eventually exhaustion won. But the moment sleep claimed me, the world changed. I was no longer in my room. Cold air brushed my face, sharp and clean, carrying the faint scent of stone and rusting steel. The sky above stretched wide and endless, streaked with pale clouds drifting across a fading sunset. Mountains surrounded me. They rose in enormous ridges, jagged peaks cutting into the sky like ancient teeth. Snow clung to the highest slopes, glowing faintly beneath the dying light. I stood on a narrow ridge overlooking a vast valley. Wind tugged at my hair, lifting the ends and whipping them across my face. The air was thinne
Cora's POV The tray sat untouched in front of me. Steam curled faintly from the bowl of oatmeal, already cooling in the quiet room. A slice of toast leaned against the side of the plate, and a glass of water reflected the pale morning light spilling through the tall window. I stared at the food like it had personally offended me. My hands were still bound. Silver cuffs wrapped around my wrists, chained just short enough that I could move them in front of me, but not far enough to be comfortable. Every small motion scraped the metal against my skin. Damon had insisted on keeping them on. For safety. The thought made my jaw tighten. Eating with bound hands was a miserable process. The spoon slipped between my fingers twice already, clattering against the tray with a dull sound that echoed far too loudly in the quiet room. My wolf stirred inside me, irritated. Not just by the restraints. By everything. This room. This city. The constant feeling of being watched. I forced
Eric's POV Morning arrived long before sunlight touched the Frostbite mountains. Cold air filled the training grounds, sharp enough to bite the lungs with every breath. Frost clung to the edges of the earth, crunching beneath boots and paws as warriors gathered across the field. I welcomed the cold. Pain kept my mind clear. Across the yard, dozens of wolves shifted between human and wolf form, practicing combat drills in rotating formations. Claws struck padded targets. Bodies slammed against reinforced posts. Commands echoed across the valley as instructors pushed every fighter harder. Preparation never stopped now. Not after Cora was taken. I moved through the drills without pause. Strike. Block. Turn. Again. Every motion carried intention. Muscle memory sharpened with repetition. The body learned what the mind demanded: faster reactions, stronger counters, relentless endurance. A heavy blow struck my shoulder from the side. I pivoted instantly, catching the attacking
Damon's POV The capital woke before the sun. From the balcony outside my office, I watched the valley stir into motion. The sky was still a deep slate blue, the mountains framing the horizon like jagged teeth, but the training fields below were already alive. Lines of rogues ran in formation across the packed earth. Warriors sparred in controlled circles, claws striking, bodies slamming into the ground with disciplined precision. Instructors barked commands from raised platforms while squads rotated through drills with mechanical efficiency. Years ago, rogues had been chaos. Packless wolves wandering the wilderness. Hungry. Angry. Lost. Now they moved like soldiers. Purpose reshaped wolves faster than fear ever could. I rested my hands on the steel railing and studied the valley below. Watchtowers stood along the surrounding cliffs, each one armed and manned by snipers. Patrol units moved along the interior roads. Supply vehicles rolled through the lower districts toward t
Hannah's POV It started slowly. At first, I barely noticed it. A flicker in the back of my mind, like a shadow passing over a flame. A sense of calm that washed over me when I was alone in the woods, alone in the quiet of Frostbite’s forested edges. It was fleeting, subtle.....so easy to ignore. But ignoring it only made it stronger. I felt it in my wolf first. A twitch of awareness, a low hum in my bones. My instincts prickled, warning me, whispering that something was coming. Something important. Something I could not yet name. And then I caught the scent. It was faint, ghostlike, almost imagined ...... but it was there. Damon. Not in the compound, not in the valley, not in any place I could see ...... but still, undeniably, present in the air. Like a shadow stretched across the mountains, reaching out in invisible threads. My wolf tensed, bristling against it, but not in fear. In curiosity. In… recognition. I shook my head, trying to push it away. It made no sense. He was f
Cora's POV The truth didn’t explode my world the way I thought it would. It didn’t come like fire or lightning or some dramatic shattering moment where everything fell apart at once. Instead, it settled into me slowly, like snow piling up overnight. Silent. Heavy. Impossible to ignore by morni
Cora’s POV The next morning, I almost didn’t go. I woke before dawn, staring at the ceiling, replaying last night over and over again. The laughter. The softness. The way the Queen looked at me like I was something fragile and precious all at once. It was easier fighting rogues. Emo
Cora’s POV The dining hall had never felt so large. It was ridiculous, really. I had eaten here a hundred times before. Laughed here. Fought here. Thrown bread at Hannah here. Sat across from Eric while he pretended not to watch me like I was the only person in the room. But tonight it felt li
Cora’s POV I didn’t call them anything the next morning. Not Your Majesty. Not Alpha. Not anything that felt too heavy. And they didn’t push. That was the strangest part. I woke earlier than usual, restless energy crawling under my skin. The sky was still pale blue when I slipped out of my







