Mag-log inHOPE’S POV.Garvin had stopped talking. He had refused to answer the question just as expected. But his words were still there, sitting heavy in the air like something that refused to leave."You didn’t end that war… you paused it."I felt it settle deeper the longer I stood there.Because now… things were starting to make sense.Not fully.Not clearly.But enough. Enough to give me concern. Enough to make me worry. Enough to make me fear even.My mind began moving quickly, pulling at everything that had happened since I stepped into this castle.The intruder.The poison.The body in the woods.Garvin’s warning.None of it felt separate anymore.None of it felt random. Everything felt like they were all connected.I inhaled slowly, my gaze dropping for a moment as I tried to piece it together.The sound in my room.The open window.The mud.The blood.That feeling I couldn’t shake…That I was not alone.My wolf stirred quietly.“It wasn’t random,” she said.“I know,” I replied.Becaus
HOPE’S POV.I stood where I was, watching the two of them—Hunter and Garvin—as the tension between them thickened into something almost visible.Hunter didn’t move for a second.Then slowly, he stepped forward.“Tell me something,” he said.His voice was calm.But I knew better.There was nothing calm about him right now.“No more half-truths. No more delays,” he continued, his eyes locked on Garvin. “I'm going to ask you a question, Garvin, and I want you to answer plainly.”Garvin didn’t answer immediately.Of course he didn’t.He just sat there, watching Hunter like he was measuring him again.Always measuring.Always calculating.I felt my wolf stir uneasily.“I think I'm starting not to like this man very much.” she murmured.“You and me both,” I replied silently.Hunter took another step closer.“You don’t get to come into my home, warn me about a war, and then decide what I deserve to know,” he said. “If there is something in my past that started this—then I need to hear it. An
HOPE’S POV.The silence in the room was not peaceful. Something had just shifted, and none of us could pretend otherwise.Garvin’s last words still lingered in the air, settling into the space between us in a way that made it hard to ignore."Your enemy is already inside these walls."I didn’t move.Neither did Hunter.But I didn’t need to look at him to know what he was thinking.I could feel it.The tension.The calculation.The anger he was trying to keep under control.And beneath all of that… something else.Something sharper.Awareness.Because we both knew one thing now.That wasn’t the end of it.There was more.There had to be.A man like Garvin did not come this far just to give us half-answers and warnings. Not when he knew exactly how much we needed what he knew.Not when he could see the position we were in.This… this was only the beginning.And he knew it.I slowly shifted my gaze to Hunter.He was already looking at Garvin.His expression had gone still again, but thi
HOPE’S POV.“I have my conditions.”The words settled into the room like something heavy dropping between us.For a moment, no one moved.I felt it immediately—the shift. The tension that had already been building now tightened further, like a rope being pulled too hard.Beside me, Hunter went still.I didn’t need to look at him to know what that meant. I could feel it in the air around him. This was the edge.The point where control could slip.My wolf stirred instantly.Hunter took a slow step forward.“You have conditions?” he repeated, his voice low and steady, but there was something beneath it now. Something dangerous. “You walk into my castle, dump all sorts of nonsense, refuse to answer my questions properly, and now you think you are in a position to make demands? Why? Because you still have your head on your shoulders?”Garvin didn’t move.He didn’t even look bothered.If anything, he looked… comfortable.Like this was exactly where he wanted things to be.“Yes,” he said ca
HOPE’S POV.“A war is coming.”Garvin's words replayed in my head.For a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong.The words did not fit into anything we had been talking about. They did not belong in this room, and yet they settled heavily into the space between us like something that had always been there, waiting to be said.“What?” I asked again before I could stop myself.Garvin did not answer immediately.Instead, he leaned back slightly in his chair, his gaze moving between Hunter and me like he was studying our reactions, like he wanted to see exactly how those words would land before he decided what to say next.I did not like that.Not one bit.Hunter went still beside me.Not the kind of stillness that came from calm.The kind that came from control.The kind that came from holding something back.“What war?” Hunter asked, his voice low and steady, but there was something sharp beneath it. “Who is coming?”Garvin’s lips curved slightly.“You are already behind,” he said calm
HOPE’S POV.I knew something was wrong before the doors even opened.It wasn’t a sound exactly. It was a feeling.Like the air on the other side of those doors was thicker than it should be.I stopped just short of the entrance, my steps slowing without me meaning to. The guard beside me didn’t say anything, but I could feel it too—the tension pressing outward, seeping through the wood like it couldn’t be contained inside.My wolf stirred immediately."Careful," she murmured. "Tension must be high in there by now."“I can feel it,” I replied silently.I drew in a slow breath, straightening slightly. Whatever was happening inside, I was about to walk straight into it.The guard stepped forward and pushed the doors open.I walked in.The first thing I noticed was Hunter.He was standing now, not sitting like I expected. His posture was stiff, controlled, but there was something in the way his shoulders were set that told me everything I needed to know.He was angry.Not loud. Not out of
HOPE'S POV.The night felt quieter than usual.Not peaceful. Just… still.I sat on the wooden bench just outside the house, my hands resting in my lap, fingers loosely intertwined. The air was cold against my skin, but I barely felt it. My mind had been too loud for hours now, drowning out everythi
HOPE’S POV.The moment Hunter stormed out on the elders, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.He didn’t just walk into the house—he stormed in.His movements were sharp, tense, filled with anger that hadn’t settled even a little since we left the elders outside. The door slammed shut behind us with
HOPE’S POV.Morning came too quickly.I woke slowly, something warm and steady wrapped around me. For a second, I didn’t move. I just stayed there, half-asleep, trying to understand why I felt… safe.Then I felt it.His arm around me.Hunter.Everything from last night came rushing back at once.Th
HOPE’S POV.By the time I came out of the bathroom, the room felt different.Quieter.Hunter was sitting on the bed. He looked up as soon as he saw me.And just like that…the tension came back.I walked over slowly.Neither of us spoke.Not at first.Then he reached for my hand.Slowly.Giving me






