MasukChapter 119: Empty Bottle CourageROWAN’S POV I slumped deeper into the worn leather chair and lifted the glass to my lips again. Whiskey burned down my throat but it did nothing to drown the hollow ache in my chest. Anya Selene Voss. Her name echoed in my head like a curse I could not shake. I had let her slip away, let that bastard Damien take her right from under my watch. Actually, no, I have her to him myself. I was the useless one here. Worthless, that was what I had become, a pathetic alpha drowning his failures while the world moved on without me. The bottle sat half empty on the table, its label peeling at the edges. I reached for it and poured another measure, the liquid sloshing loudly in the quiet room. Cassian’s plan had started to sound better with every drink. Use my blood to break the heart imprint, take her back after defeating Damien. No more waiting, no more weakness. It was a good idea, especially when I know she would happily follow me because she loves me.The
Chapter 118: Traces in the DawnANYA’S POV I woke with sunlight spilling across the sheets and my heart already tangled in knots. Damien lay beside me, still deep in sleep, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm that somehow anchored me. For a long moment I just watched him. The hard lines of his jaw had softened overnight, and that fierce scowl he wore like armor had melted away. He looked almost boyish, except for the jagged scar slicing from his temple down across his cheek. My fingers moved before I could stop them. I traced the raised line with the pad of my thumb, feeling the rough texture that my grandmother had carved into him years ago. Guilt twisted low in my belly. I knew the story, the way she had lashed out with her cursed blade during the war that brought the curse on him. He had hidden it so carefully behind that mask of control, but here it was, bare and vulnerable under my touch. His face twitched. Lines creased his forehead and his lips parted on a broken
Chapter 117: Stolen Blood CASSIAN’S POV A sharp knock on the tent pole tore through the heavy silence of pre-dawn, yanking me violently from sleep. My eyes snapped open as shadows instinctively surged to life around my fingers, dark tendrils twisting like living smoke, ready to crush windpipes or tear flesh at the slightest threat. For a moment, the world was nothing but instinct and power. Then the chill night air seeped in through the heavy fabric walls of my room, carrying the faint scent of pine, damp earth, and the dying smoke of campfires. Gray morning light filtered weakly through the seams, painting everything in muted tones. I sat up slowly, rubbing a hand over my face to banish the remnants of uneasy dreams, dreams of altars slick with blood and stars burning red in a fractured sky.“Enter,” I called, voice low and edged with warning.Kael pushed through the tent flap, his boots leaving trails of fresh dust on the woven rugs. His face was grim, jaw tight, clothes stained
Chapter 116: Venom in the Dark CASSANDRA’S POVThe dungeon cell smelled of damp stone and old blood. I sat with my back against the cold wall and my legs stretched out in front of me. Iron cuffs bit into my wrists but the nullstone around my neck did the real damage. It suppressed my power and left me feeling hollow. Still I smiled in the darkness. Everything moved exactly as I had planned.I had let them catch me. I could have run to the Shadow Clan straight after escaping Damien’s guards but I chose this cell instead. Let them think they had won. Let Damien waste time torturing me while the real game played out above ground. Rowan drowned in guilt and liquor. Cassian hunted me like prey. And Anya wore her new husband’s blood like a collar. Perfect.Another contraction rippled through my belly. I clenched my teeth and breathed through it. The baby kicked hard as if reminding me of the deadline. This child could not be born here. If it arrived right here in Damien’s dungeon, Cassian
Chapter 115: Burning Claim DAMIEN’S POVI stayed buried to the hilt inside her, my cock still thick and twitching with the final heavy spurts of my release. Anya’s greedy little cunt fluttered and clenched around me like it refused to let a single drop escape. Her legs were locked high around my waist, heels digging into my ass, while her nails carved raw, stinging lines down my back. Her chest heaved against mine, nipples hard as pebbles, sweat-slick skin sliding together with every ragged breath. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes were dark pools of pure sin. Lips kiss-bitten and glossy, she smiled like a woman who had just discovered her power over me.“Good,” she whispered, voice low and dripping with filthy promise. “Because I am nowhere near done with you.”Something primal snapped inside my chest. This was my Anya; the same fierce, stubborn woman who had fought me tooth and nail, who once looked at me with nothing but hatred and defiance. Now she was impaled on my coc
Chapter 114: Moonlit Surrender ANYA’S POV Sleep refused to come. I lay in the large bed with the sheets tangled around my legs and stared at the ceiling. The blood bond hummed steadily in my chest, warm and alive. Every beat reminded me of the man sitting just outside on the patio. Damien had not come to bed. Instead he sat shirtless at the small table with maps spread before him and a glass of wine in his hand. Moonlight painted his bare shoulders and back in silver. The muscles there shifted every time he leaned forward to study another line on the paper. I watched him for a long time. The way his dark hair fell across his forehead. The sharp line of his jaw. The faint scars that marked his skin. Something stirred low in my belly. Heat pooled between my thighs as I remembered how those hands had held me during the ceremony. How his mouth had claimed mine in front of everyone. I should hate him, I should remember every cruel thing he has done. But right now my body wants him. I s
Chapter 38: Shadows of the Past ANYA’S POV The grand hall looked exactly like I remembered it, only bigger and colder, with all those white roses spilling from every corner and silver lights floating above like fake stars. My heels clicked on the polished floor as Damien led me in with his arm s
Chapter 41: The Price of Poison DAMIEN’S POV I caught Anya before she hit the ground as her body went limp in my arms like all the fight drained out of her at once. Her head fell against my chest as her black hair spilled over my suit. I carried her like she weighed nothing, because indeed she di
Chapter 34: Broken Crown DAMIEN’S POV Her words hit me harder than any blade ever could:“I love you, Damien, I really do. But my heart still beats for him. I can’t help it.”I stood there in that doorway staring at her tear-streaked face and felt something inside me crack wide open. The room til
Chapter 31: An Incoming Disaster DAMIEN’S POV Morning light slipped through the heavy curtains and painted gold stripes across the sheets. Anya lay curled against my chest with her dark hair fanned over my arm and her breathing soft and slow. My marking stood proud on the curve of her neck, two p







