LOGINHOPE’S POV.Relief hit me first, in a sharp, powerful and overwhelming way.Hunter was here.Goddess. He really was. For one terrible moment, I thought I was actually going to die in these ruins surrounded by monsters, but he was here now. He found me. And even though a a part of me was still worried about Magnus' trap, I still couldn't help the relief that washed through me at the sight of him.But the relief barely lasted two seconds before something colder crawled down my spine.Because Hunter was just standing there, still, silent, watching.Moonlight filtered weakly through the broken ruins around him, casting shadows across his face, but even from this distance I could see something was wrong.Very wrong.The hunters surrounding me had stopped moving completely now. The same creatures that had chased me through underground tunnels like animals moments ago were suddenly backing away slowly, afraid.One of them actually whimpered low in its throat.My wolf went tense instantly.“
HOPE'S POV.I clenched my fists. “Hunter is still stronger than all of you.”The Kingbreaker looked amused for the first time. "Oh, Hunter?! Is that what the almighty King Alaric calls himself now?"I didn't respond. A part of me completely forgot that Hunter was not his real name. The Kingbreaker chuckled again, more amused this time. “You defend him very quickly, little lady.”My eyes narrowed. “He’s my mate. And don't call me that.”He shook his head. “That is exactly the problem. The bastard does not deserve any form of loyalty from anyone.”Anger flashed through me instantly. “You know nothing about him.”The Kingbreaker finally stopped walking and turned toward me fully.“You think you know him because he forgot himself,” he said calmly.The words hit harder than they should have.Because Hunter himself feared that possibility.I hated that.I hated hearing strangers speak about him like this.“You don't know anything.” I snapped.The Kingbreaker shrugged slightly. “Believe wha
HOPE’S POV.The hunters closed in around me slowly.Now that I could see them properly beneath the weak moonlight spilling into the tunnel entrance, the fear that hit me was far worse than before. They were not wolves. Not fully. Their bodies looked twisted between wolf and human, too large in some places, wrong in others. Their skin was covered in scars that looked old and brutal, and their glowing eyes stayed fixed on me with barely controlled hunger.One of them growled low in its throat, and my wolf recoiled instantly inside me.“They smell terrible,” she whispered.Every instinct inside me screamed danger.The massive man standing at the exit did not move at all. He simply looked at the creatures behind me before speaking calmly.“Stand down.”The effect was immediate.The creatures lowered themselves instantly, though several still growled quietly beneath their breath.Cold dread slid down my spine.They obeyed him.Even these things obeyed him.I tightened my grip on the stolen
HOPE'S POV.A distant bell suddenly echoed through the underground halls.The sound froze me immediately.Then voices erupted again somewhere farther behind me.“She crossed into the western tunnels!”“Move!”My eyes widened and I ran again.My lungs burned violently now, but I forced myself forward through another narrow corridor before suddenly skidding to a stop when my eyes landed on what was before me.Bars. Cells. Dozens of them.I stared in shock.People looked back at me from behind the iron doors.They look thin. Weak. Injured.Some barely looked alive.My stomach twisted painfully.One older man stepped closer to the bars slowly when he saw me.“You’re not one of them.”His voice sounded rough from disuse.I moved closer carefully.“What is this place?”The man laughed bitterly.“A grave.”Another prisoner lifted her head weakly from the floor.“You’re from Red Moon…”I froze.“How do you know that?”“You smell like their territory.”My frown deepened. That was strange. I ha
HOPE’S POV.The stone finally shifted beneath my hands.A sharp crack echoed through the small cell as part of the wall gave way, and for one brief second I froze in disbelief. My fingers were bleeding badly now from forcing the broken metal into the cracks over and over again, and sweat clung heavily to my skin despite the cold underground air.Outside the cell, shouting continued through the corridors.“They searched the eastern hall already!”“Check the lower tunnels!”“Magnus said they must not leave this place alive!”My pulse slammed violently against my ribs.I didn't even know who they were talking about. I didn't know what was going on, or what was causing the chaos.That somehow felt worse.I shoved harder against the loose stone and finally managed to pull it free completely. Dust exploded into the air immediately, making me cough as darkness revealed itself behind the wall.Not a tunnel exactly.More like an old crawlspace barely large enough for a person to squeeze throug
HOPE’S POV.Pain was the first thing I felt when I woke up.A sharp pounding sat behind my eyes, heavy enough to make my stomach twist the moment I tried to move. For a few seconds, I could not even open my eyes properly. My head felt too heavy, my body slow and weak like something was pressing down on me from every direction.Then the cold hit me, not normal cold.Stone cold. The kind that settles deep into your bones and stays there.My eyes finally opened slowly, and for a moment all I saw was darkness and weak light flickering somewhere beyond iron bars.Wait... Iron bars....?My heartbeat stopped for one terrifying second. Memory crashed into me immediately after that.The tunnels.The fake guard.The men attacking me.“Careful. Magnus wants her alive.” the words repeated in my head with cruel clarity. I pushed myself upright too quickly and pain exploded through my head hard enough to make me groan.“Easy,” my wolf muttered darkly inside me. “You were drugged.”I forced myself t
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
HOPE’S POV.The hotel felt too quiet.Every single time anyone looked my way, a part of me—the part that was still too sensitive and self-conscious from what happened—started to feel like they knew. If I saw two or more people talking, I felt like they were talking about me.Suddenly, everything fe
HUNTER'S POV.“Leave,” I said firmly.Seraphina didn’t move.Instead, she stepped closer again—too close this time.Before I could react, her hand reached out and grabbed my arm.I immediately pulled away.“Don’t touch me,” I said, my voice low.Her eyes widened slightly, like she didn’t expect tha
HUNTER'S POV.By the time I left the meeting hall, my head was still spinning.The elders’ words echoed in my mind, over and over again. Alpha King. Responsibility. Truth.None of it felt real.Or maybe it felt too real.I didn’t remember anything about being a king. I didn’t remember a palace, or







