LOGIN"It's you!" Vivian's voice cracked through the hushed hall, wax still smeared across her ruined gown. "It's you!"Every head in the hall turned toward Elena at once. Herod moved forward, annoyance plain on his face, but Issac's raised hand stopped him before he'd taken a second step.Elena simply smiled, amused. "Me? Please, do tell what exactly I've done. Because I certainly didn't push you."Vivian straightened, fury overriding whatever judgment she had left. Damian stepped forward quickly. "That's enough, Vivian.""No, Damian, can't you see it? She's trying to embarrass me—"His slap cut her off mid-sentence. "Enough, would you!"Elena began clapping, slow and deliberate, some strange, unfamiliar courage carrying her forward before she'd fully decided to move. "Well, Alpha Damian. Let's hear your glorious Luna's explanation." She turned toward Vivian, tilting her head. "You seem so certain I did something. How, exactly?"Vivian scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? The spell was meant to mak
The high table sat elevated above the rest of the hall, gold and silver settings gleaming beneath the chandeliers as the Luna Festival formally began. Issac and Herod sat at its center, kings flanking a long stretch of table reserved for royal mates and honored Lunas, Elena seated among them with Catherine close at her side."Are they the ones," Catherine asked quietly, leaning close, "who— the ones from the auction?"Elena simply nodded once, watching Damian and Vivian seated several tables down, subdued now, careful.Fury flared openly across Catherine's face. "Those monsters. We should make them—""Not yet, Catherine." Elena's voice stayed calm, almost gentle. "A quick revenge is mercy. They don't deserve mercy. I intend to destroy them slowly."Catherine studied her for a moment, then smiled, something fierce and approving in it. "Remind me never to make you my enemy."Their conversation was interrupted by a warm, confident voice. "Queen Elena. I hope you don't mind the intrusion.
A quick revenge won't suit either of you, Elena thought, watching Damian's stunned face across the hall. I'll make you lose everything. I'll bring you both so low you'll be begging on your knees, crying for mercy you don't deserve.Her Lycan's smile widened in the space behind her thoughts. The long road, then. I do love the long road.It was Vivian who rose first, chin lifted, ambition overriding whatever caution should have stopped her. "You do look familiar," she said, voice pitched for the room. "If you don't mind, may I know your name?"The temperature in the hall seemed to drop.Herod's aura flared, sharp and immediate — it was one insult for a Luna to call a Lycan Queen merely familiar, another entirely to demand her name while remaining seated in her presence. Issac let out a short, cold laugh."My king," he said, addressing Herod directly, "is this how your subjects behave? Not even the simple courtesy of addressing a queen properly." He shook his head slowly. "I wonder how t
The Wolf Capital gleamed like something built for a different century entirely than the one Elena had grown up in.Unlike the ancient stone and moonlit gardens of Issac's world, wolf society had never drawn a hard line between magic and machinery. Towers of glass and steel rose alongside spell-warded gates; enchanted lanterns floated beside electric ones; carriages shared the roads with sleek black vehicles humming on engines half-mechanical, half-woven through with old pack magic. The palace itself, where the Festival was held, stood forty stories of mirrored glass crowned with a single glowing sigil — the mark of House Silverfang.Alpha King Herod Silverfang had ruled for nearly seventy years, longer than any wolf monarch in recorded history, and his tastes shaped the capital as surely as his bloodline shaped its politics. He despised magic on principle — old, unpredictable, difficult to control — and had spent decades quietly replacing spell work with steel wherever the old guard w
Two weeks remained before the Luna Festival, but Issac had no intention of letting Elena arrive at the wolf kingdom as an unknown.Instead, he'd arranged something no Lycan court had seen in generations, a formal crowning, broadcast live through the old magical relay woven into every major hall across all three cities, all the online social medias and reporting stations, so that every noble, every soldier, every citizen with access to crystal feed, those only relaying on modern technology could witness the moment their king finally claimed his queen before the world.Catherine adjusted the fall of Elena's gown for the third time that morning, fussing with a devotion that made Elena's chest ache with something warm and unfamiliar."Stop fidgeting," Catherine scolded gently. "You look absolutely gorgeous my dear. Let people see it and worship it.""I'm not fidgeting," Elena said, fidgeting.Julian, leaning against the doorframe, smiled. "You'll be fine. Just remember — chin up, shoulder
The kiss deepened, their laughter still lingering between breaths as they leaned into one another, the sweetness of the moment almost at odds with the quiet words they exchanged, their plans for Damian’s slow, careful destruction whispered against each other’s lips like private promises. Neither of them noticed how much time had passed until a sharp knock suddenly cut through the garden.“My lady?”The servant’s hesitant voice came from beyond the garden gate.“The Alpha calls for you.”Vivian pulled away with a soft, irritated sigh, smoothing her hair back into place as her expression changed almost instantly, every trace of amusement disappearing beneath the composed, dutiful mask she wore whenever Damian was near. Roland said nothing, already stepping backward into the shadows, his movements practiced enough that within seconds he seemed to disappear into the garden itself.Vivian gave herself one last glance before leaving, then made her way toward Damian’s office.She found him t







