LOGINSHARON’S POVThe night presses in around me like a living thing.The palace is quiet in the way only grief can make it. It was too quiet, too heavy, like even the walls are afraid to breathe. I stand by the tall arched window of our chambers, my reflection faint in the glass, candlelight trembling across my face. My hands rest on my stomach without thinking, fingers curling protectively as if the life inside me might hear my thoughts.Roland is dead.The words still feel unreal. I had imagined his death so many times. I had imagined it to be violent, deserved, cathartic, but not like this. Not slow. Not pathetic. Not lonely. He had been a monster, yes, but he had also been a man drowning in his own regrets. And somehow, against my will, I had seen that.I should feel relieved.Instead, I feel… hollow.I shouldn’t feel anything for him after he rejected me, so why do I feel so… sad. The door opens softly behind me. I don’t turn, because I know who it is.His presence fills the room be
SANDRA’S POVThe throne feels colder today.Not physically. No, the cushions are plush, the carvings polished to a mirror shine but cold in the way power settles when it is no longer new. When it stops thrilling and begins to itch. I sit with my spine straight, chin lifted, fingers resting lightly on the carved arms of the chair that now belongs to me, and watch the line of my people stretch across the great hall.They kneel one by one.Then they beg, then complain, then plead.And I listen.At first.The first petitioner is a farmer from the southern ridge, his hands rough, his clothes worn thin. He speaks of wolves encroaching on his land, of livestock lost, of children afraid to sleep.I tilt my head. “You want protection?”“Yes, Alpha,” he says quickly. “Just a patrol, perhaps—”“Burn the forest,” I reply.The words echo, sharp and final.The man blinks. “M-my lady?”“If the wolves are hiding there, remove the hiding place,” I say coolly. “Burn it to the ground.”“But that land fee
SANDRA’S POVPower is louder than I imagined.It hums through the halls, through the walls, through my bones. Every step I take echoes with it now. Every breath carries authority. Every pair of eyes lowers when I pass. Even the stones beneath my feet seem to remember who owns them.Me.I stand in the center of the grand receiving hall, arms crossed, staring at the gaudy tapestries that once bore the Jordan crest. Wolves, moons, and history woven together in dull browns and faded golds.“Ugly,” I mutter.With a sharp gesture, I turn to the line of servants standing stiffly against the wall. “All of this comes down. I want the colors changed to deep crimson and obsidian. Something that commands. And replace the chandeliers. They’re outdated.”One of the servants hesitates. Just a fraction of a second.I caught it.“Did you not hear me?” I ask coolly.“Y-yes, Alpha,” she stammers.“Good. Then move.”They scatter like frightened birds, and I allow myself a small smile.The palace is chang
SANDRA’S POVPower smells like incense and blood.That is the first thing that comes to mind as I stand before the tall mirror in the antechamber, watching maids scurry around me like frightened mice. Silk brushes against my skin, cold and expensive, stitched with the symbols of the Jordan pack. Gold threads glimmer under the torchlight, heavy and deliberate, everything about today is meant to announce me.Alpha.No. Queen.If not goddess.I lift my chin slightly, studying my reflection. My eyes are sharp, brighter than I remember them ever being. There is no grief in them. No guilt. Only hunger for more.“Careful!” I snap when one of the maids tugs too hard at the fastening on my sleeve. “Do you want to tear it?”“I—I’m sorry, Luna—” she stammers.I turn slowly, letting my gaze rake over her trembling form. “You are already failing. I will not be crowned looking like a rushed mess.”She bows frantically. “Please, forgive me.”I wave my hand. “Leave.”Her eyes widened. “But—”“I said
SHARON’S POVThe moment my feet crossed the threshold of the palace, my heart shattered and stitched itself back together all at once.“Daemon,” I breathed.He was in Kelly’s arms, wriggling and babbling, his chubby fingers fisting the fabric of Kelly’s shirt like he’d been afraid the world might steal him away again. The second his eyes found mine, his face lit up in a way that nearly brought me to my knees.“Mama!” he squealed. It was not perfect, not clearly, but enough.I dropped Daenerys from my hip into Morris’s waiting arms without a second thought and rushed forward. Kelly barely had time to react before I snatched my son from him and crushed him to my chest.“Oh, my baby,” I sobbed, kissing his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, every inch of him I could reach. “My sweet boy. I missed you. I missed you so much.”Daemon laughed, delighted, patting my face with sticky hands as if nothing terrible had happened at all. As if his mother hadn’t been dragged away in the night. As if hi
ROLAND’S POVI watched them leave from the balcony, my hands gripping the cold stone railing as if it were the only thing keeping me upright.And it was.Sharon looked back just once. And there was no regret or trepidation in her gaze, just pure relief.She was wrapped in Morris’s arms, Daenerys pressed safely between them, her small head tucked beneath his chin as if she had always belonged there. Morris moved like a man who had won a war, not just a battle. His shoulders squared, steps confident, his presence swallowing the night itself. His men surrounded them, a living wall of loyalty and victory, escorting what was mine away from me.And then, my chest burned.Not the dull ache I had grown used to, not the persistent cough I’d tried to ignore for months but a sharp, searing pain that ripped through my lungs like claws. I opened my mouth to breathe and instead tasted iron.Blood.I doubled over, coughing violently as red splattered against the stone floor. My knees buckled, and th







