ログインHOPE'S POV.I did not sleep after remembering everything.Not properly.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him.Hunter.And everything I had lost.The war. The castle. The pain. The love I did not understand until it was gone.But what frightened me most… was not the past.It was the present.Because I had children.Children I had loved.Children I had raised.And now I suddenly knew—they were not just mine.They were ours. I remembered now when I gave birth. I had named the girl Amber after my late sister and the boy Alaric after his father. I had contemplated Hunter at first as that was the name I'd always known him by, but then I had reminded myself that his name wasn't really Hunter. His name was Alaric. And so I named our son after him when he was born.That truth sat inside my chest like something heavy I could not remove.Something that changed everything without asking permission.The morning came too quickly.Light pushed through the curtains of the small house.Too normal, t
HUNTER'S POV.I learned she was alive the same way I learned she was dead.Through a report.Through words on paper that were supposed to decide what I was allowed to feel.But this time—I did not believe them immediately.Because death is final.But Hope… she was never something the world could finish so easily.Not her.Never her.It came during a council meeting.I was not listening.I rarely listened fully anymore.Words passed through me like noise.Orders.Borders.Reinforcements.All of it meaningless.Then Garvin entered.He hesitated at the door.That alone made my attention sharpen.“My King,” he said carefully. “I have something for you, a later from one of the healers that work at the infirmary. He left before he quit his job and left the pack."I didn’t respond.He stepped forward and placed a sealed envelope on the table.I stared at it for a moment.I opened it and at first I frowned at the apology it's started with. One of our healers had requested permission to trans
HOPE'S POV.Time does not heal everything.It only teaches you how to live around the pain.That is what I learned after everything went dark.After the blood.After the running.After I stopped remembering who I used to be.I woke up in a small wooden house.Not a castle.Not a pack house.Just a quiet place with soft light coming through the window.For a long time, I didn’t know my name.That was the first thing that frightened me.Not the emptiness in my mind.But the fact that it felt normal.Like forgetting was something my body had already accepted.A woman entered the room that morning.“Good morning,” she said gently. “You’re awake again.”I looked at her.She smiled softly.“I’m Elise.”The name did not mean anything to me.But her voice felt safe.Behind her stood another woman.“Maya” she added with a small wave. They told me they were my friends.They told me I had been sick.That I had traveled far.That I had almost died.But I was safe now.That was all they said.They
HUNTER'S POV.Weeks have passed and the words still didn't sound any more believable to me than they did when I first heard it. Hope was gone. Dead. My mate. My queen. My love. I hadn't left the room in days. I didn't see any reason to. I struggled finding a reason to keep breathing. A part of me blamed myself for her death. If I hadn't left again, if I was here maybe this could have been avoided. Maybe I could have saved her and she would have still been here with me instead of in the grave. But I wasn't and I would never forgive myself for that.Seraphina came later that night.She entered the room quietly.“My King,” she said softly.I didn’t look at her.“Leave.”A pause.Then she stepped closer anyway.“I am sorry,” she said.That made me laugh once.Empty.Cold.“You are not,” I replied.Silence.She hesitated, then tried again.“I understand you're still grieving and you have every right to but it's been weeks, Alaric. We should discuss stability moving forward—”I finally look
HOPE'S POV.I didn’t remember falling.Only the ground rushing up to meet me.And then—Nothing.When I opened my eyes again, the world felt too bright.My body felt heavy, like it didn’t fully belong to me anymore.Voices moved around me.Blurred.Distant.“Her pulse is unstable.”“Bring more water.”“No—she’s losing too much strength.”I tried to move.Pain answered immediately.A hand pressed gently against my shoulder.“Don’t move.”That voice sounded familiar.I turned my head slightly.Derek stood near the edge of the room.Watching.He didn't look panicked or worried.He looked calm and controlledThat alone told me I was still inside his plan.My throat felt dry.“What… did you do?” I whispered.He didn’t answer right away.Instead, he spoke calmly.“You collapsed outside. You should be grateful someone brought you back in.”“Someone,” I repeated weakly.My chest tightened.“You mean you.”Derek said nothing.That was enough.The door opened and a healer stepped inside, and eld
HOPE'S POV.I should have known something was wrong the moment I saw the messenger.His hands were shaking too much.His eyes avoided mine too quickly.Like he was afraid I would see something I was not meant to see.And the seal on the letter—It wasn’t from the Castle so I knew it couldn't have been from the camp.It was from my old pack. Red Moon.From home.From Derek.And from my father.That alone should have made me stop reading.But I didn’t.THE LETTER:*Hope…Your father has been sick for some days now and his condition has worsened. The healers say he does not have much time left. He is asking for you. Only you. Please come home before it is too late.—Derek*I read it once.Then again.Then a third time.Each time, my chest felt tighter.Each time, my mind searched for the lie inside it.But grief doesn’t think clearly.It only feels.And what I felt was fear.I held the letter in my hands for a long time. Until finally I whispered,“I’m going.”My voice sounded small.No
HUNTER’S POV.I sat in the meeting room.The elders from the royal pack sat across from me.Three of them.Their expressions were calm… but not relaxed.Respectful… but firm.Like they had already decided how this conversation would go.“We need to discuss this matter further, my King,” one of them
HOPE'S POV.My eyes almost popped out of their sockets in shock.It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It wasn’t mutual. It was aggressive, demanding, desperate. My body froze for a second, shock rooting me to the spot.Then my hands shot up. I shoved him hard across the chest.“Don’t—ever—do that again!” I scr
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.When we finally pulled apart, it wasn’t by much. Just enough to breathe. My chest rose and fell too fast, my heart still racing like it was trying to catch up with everything that had just happened.I could still feel his lips on mine.Still feel his hand at the back of my neck.Still f







