MasukKYLA'S POV"Yes, it is, little wolf," he laughed, the sound a low, rumbling vibration that I felt deep in my chest. He looked down at me, and his eyes softened as he saw the tears beginning to track through the honey and dirt on my face. "Why are you crying? Are you hurt? Did I frighten you that much?" He hunched over so his face was closer to mine. I didn't answer with words. I couldn't. I threw my arms around his massive neck, burying my face in the thick fur of his shoulder. I clung to him as if he were the only solid thing in a world made of shifting sand."Because out of all the faces I've seen today," I sobbed into his fur, "yours is the one that makes me the happiest."I felt him stiffen beneath my touch. His breath hitched, and for a long moment, he didn't move. Then, slowly, his massive arms wrapped around me, holding me with a desperate kind of reverence."Do you really mean that, Kyla?" he asked, his voice sounding small despite its depth. "Even though I'm so... grotesque?
KYLA'S POVI floated in the center of the warm lake, my hair fanning out around me, the sweetness of the nectar coating my skin and filling my senses. It should have been peaceful. It should have been the sanctuary I needed to drown out the chaos of the day. But my mind was a storm of cerulean eyes and broken promises.Why did he have to come here? I thought, my chest tight with a frustration that felt like it was bruising my ribs. The King had managed to tilt the world on its axis just by standing on a ridge and looking at me.'You're being stubborn,' Gemma rumbled in the back of my mind. Her spirit was pacing within me with a restless, dissatisfied energy. 'He was about to tell you the truth back there. You saw it in his eyes. He was opening his heart, and you slammed the door in his face.'"He lied to me, Gemma," I whispered aloud, the sound of my own voice swallowed by the gentle splash of the golden waterfall. "He let me believe he was someone else. He let me fall for a ghost."'
LOWELL'S POV"Kyla..." I started, my voice breaking."Take your hands off my mate!"The roar came from behind us. I didn't even have to turn to know Cyrus was there. I felt the temperature of the ridge spike as my brother stormed up the path, his axe strapped to his back, his eyes glowing a predatory gold. He stepped between us, his shoulder shoving into mine as he placed himself firmly in front of Kyla.Cyrus turned to her, his expression a mix of possessive rage and worry. He reached out, grabbing her forearm to pull her away from me. "Come on, Kyla. You don't have to listen to this liar. We're going back to the fire."He tried to tug her toward the path, his grip firm and commanding. For a heartbeat, I thought she would go. I thought she would choose the brother who hadn't lied, the one who had been her shield when I was absent.But Kyla didn't move. Instead, she let out a sharp, guttural bark of laughter and yanked her arm out of Cyrus's grip with just as much force as she had use
LOWELL'S POVThe mountain air was thin, but it wasn't the altitude making my chest feel like it was being crushed by a vice. It was her.I stood on the jagged edge of the ridge, my silhouette stark against the bleeding colors of the sunset. Below, the glade was a tapestry of bioluminescent wings and flickering campfires, but my eyes were fixed on one thing only: Kyla. I watched her from a distance, my heart hammering against my ribs in a rhythm I hadn't felt in centuries. I had spent weeks mourning a ghost, living in a cold, hollow shell of a life, only to find her here... stronger, glowing with an ancient power, and looking at me with a hatred that burned hotter than dragonfire.I saw her finish her conversation with Sofia. I saw the way her shoulders squared, the way her chin lifted in that defiant tilt I remembered from the woods when we first met. She didn't walk toward the honey lake. Instead, she turned and began to make a beeline straight up the rocky incline toward me.My beas
KYLA'S POV"But what if I don't like the answers?""Kyla, you have to understand the Lykoudis family," Sofia pleaded, her voice dropping to a low, hurried tone, the kind people use when they're talking about ghosts. "It's all secrets and blood. It's been that way for centuries. Atlas is the King, but he's cursed. He carries the weight of a crown that's half-broken and a heart that's twice as heavy. Cyrus is the exile, but regardless of what everyone says, he still has a heart. I saw that today when I caught him looking at you. He's the one who was forced to live in the dirt and the dark while Atlas chose to leave the palace. And Derick, well, he's stuck in the middle of his two older brothers, trying to be the peacekeeper when there's no peace to be had."She stepped closer, her eyes searching mine. "Cyrus and Atlas are two halves of the same coin, Kyla. They are reflections of each other, and they both have a claim on you. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, but she sure as hell
KYLA'S POVThe adrenaline from the battle was still buzzing through my veins, but it had shifted from the fear of death to a white-hot, vibrating fury. Every time I blinked, I saw the two of them: Cyrus, the rogue who had stitched the pieces of my soul back together, and Atlas…no, the King, the man who had shattered my heart before I even knew his real name. The betrayal felt like a second burn, deeper and more permanent than the ones on my skin.Sofia was trying to make a break for it. I saw her out of the corner of my eye, shifting her weight, looking for a gap in the crowd of bustling centaurs and gossiping fairies. She was moving with the guilty haste of someone who knew the truth was about to catch up with her."HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, MISSY. I THINK WE HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT."She froze mid-step, her shoulders hunching up to her ears as if she could somehow disappear into her own skin. The bustling camp of centaurs and fairies faded into the background as I marched up to her, my







