RAVEN’S POVI found my mother later in the garden. She was sitting in her usual chair, her fingers drumming on the armrest like she was trying to summon patience—but clearly failing. She didn’t look at me when I walked in, but I could feel the tension in the air the moment she realized I was there.“You wanted to speak to me?” she asked, gesturing me to sit down at the chair across from her. I declined the offer with a smile. “I will rather stand.” And that was because standing will make it easier for me to run when her angry motherhood is activated. Wosh, you do not want to see that side of her. “We need to talk.”She turned to face me now, her eyes narrowing. “About?”I took a breath. “I need you to step down from the council.”She blinked. Once. Then she paused, then blinked again. “Excuse me?”“You heard me, Mom.”She slowly stood up, her face hardening. “Raven, don’t play games with me. What the hell are you talking about?”“I’m serious. Things are getting worse, and Draven is
RAVEN’S POV. The next morning, my mind was still heavy. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I saw the night before—Damien and Draven meeting with in secret.Damien hated Draven. He’d made that clear more times than I could count. So what the hell were they talking about?I kept going over it again and again. Maybe I’d imagined it. Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like. But no matter how many times I replayed it in my head, it didn’t change what I saw. Damien bowed to Draven. That part kept looping in my mind like a curse.I didn’t sleep much. When I did close my eyes, all I saw were unanswered questions. I mean, I could at least make a little sense about the meeting in secret. Damien might have talked to Draven about helping with the war — even though that's a high level betrayal that I can't forget but still why do it in the shadows and the bow? That was some bigger shit. By morning, I gave up trying to rest and went to the garden for some air. It was quiet, the only sound coming fro
KAI’S POV. “Still think your brother is the little boy you left at home?” Zeke asked, raising an eyebrow at me.I slowly went down with a nod, holding my position for a while, before going back up. Push ups was is not my daily activity but it helped clear my mind. And right now, my mind was in a total mess. Thinking about the smallest thing was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He sighed. “This is so frustrating. How could Allen have planned this? I mean he has the Lycan Lord's blood flowing through his veins but c'mon, everyone knows that Allen is just vicious but not this smart.”I remained quiet, still going up and down. Sweat dripping off my face, my eyes fixed on the sand like it was some enemy— my nightmares. I have been having this strange dreams recently where everyone I care about died, and by everyone I meant Raven and in her arms was a child and some creepy woman who keeps reminding me that I'm a failure masked in beauty and fragrance.“Can you believe it?” Zeke'
RAVEN'S POVEverything felt like it was crashing down on me. The moment Damien said we were on our own, something inside me snapped. I didn’t know what to think or what to say. I just stood frozen in the same spot, my hands shaking, my heart racing in my chest like a drum that wouldn’t stop. We were fucked. He kept saying we would figure it out. That it would be fine. But it didn’t feel fine. Nothing about this was fine. We were the opposite of fine, we were screwed.“Raven, breathe,” Damien said softly, his hand brushing against my arm. “It’s not over. We’ve been through worse.”“No, we haven’t,” I snapped, stepping back. “This is worse. We are completely screwed, Damien. The Lycan Lord just cut us off from the rest of the world. No one’s going to help us. And the council—” I stopped, my throat tightening.As if summoned by my anger, the council had called for an emergency meeting not even an hour later. The mood in the council hall was as deadly as poison the moment I walked in.
RAVEN’S POVI stood by the balcony, my arms folded tight across my chest, trying to keep my thoughts from spiralling. The conversation with Kai kept replaying in my head, and I hated that it did. I didn’t want to believe Damien could do anything like what Kai suggested. Damien had always been there for me. He was the most upright and just man I have met. But yet— somehow Kai's words were enough to shake everything I believe or held about Damien. I hate myself for investigating my best friend because some psycho asked me to but don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t doing this because of Kai. Hell no, Kai was the number one person I couldn't trust. I was doing this because I wanted to prove Kai wrong and also there were too many unanswered questions floating around lately. Some things were not just adding up. I inhaled deeply running a hair through my long hair. I have been so busy lately that I forgot to cut my hair. I looked into the mirror, admiring my feminine look. I wasn't looking that
KAI’S POV. I stood under the cover of trees outside the palace, blending into the dark, patiently waiting for Raven to come. The last time we spoke was the day she was returning home from the war. And there was a lot she needed— we needed to catch up to. Raven moved through the shadows skillfully. Black cloak draped over her shoulders, boots soft against the dirt, her hair tied back but still wild like always. She looked around before walking toward me.“You’re late,” I whispered.“Blame the council,” she muttered, brushing a leaf off her shoulder. “They wouldn’t shut up about the fight or should I say the manslaughter your people did.”“I swear I did not know what my brother was planning,” I defended. “If I had known you would have been the first to know.”She raised a hand to silence me. “Save it for the person who wants to hear,” she said coldly. I inhaled deeply, nodding my head. Her anger was justified. I can still remember her face as she buried her dead. “You okay?” I aske