ログインSelena's POVThe pack house was chaos.Warriors ran through the halls. Guards shouted orders. Elders argued in corners. Everyone was scared.Cassius had escaped. He'd gone to Clawbane. He was raising an army against us.And I was standing in the middle of it all, feeling like the ground was about to swallow me whole.Ian appeared beside me. His face was hard. Controlled. But I saw his hands trembling."We need to move," he said. "Mason has three hundred warriors. Cassius has twenty. Combined, they'll outnumber us four to one.""Then we get more warriors.""From where?"I opened my mouth to answer. But before I could, someone else spoke."From me."I turned.Jacqueline stood in the doorway. Her face was pale. Her hands were shaking. But her eyes were steady."I have allies," she said. "People who owe me favors. People who hate Cassius as much as I do."Ian's eyes narrowed. "You tried to have Selena killed.""I tried to have her removed. There's a difference.""Not to me.""Fine." Jacqu
Cassius's POVThe dungeon was cold.I'd been here for two days now. The walls were damp. The bed was hard. The food was barely edible.But I wasn't worried.I sat in the corner, legs crossed, hands folded. Like I was waiting for a performance. Because I was.My brother was about to walk through that door. And when he did, I'd have the best seat in the house.The iron door groaned open.Ian stepped through. Alone. No guards. No witnesses."Cassius," he said."Brother." I smiled. "Come to gloat?""Come to watch you face justice.""Justice?" I laughed. "You think this is justice? Locking me in a cell while you sit on your throne?""You tried to kill me.""I tried to take what was mine."Ian crossed the room. Stopped in front of me. His hands were clenched at his sides. His eyes were burning."Eugene confessed," he said. "He told me everything. The poison. The plan. The assassination. It's all documented. All proven.""Eugene is a fool.""He's a witness.""He's a liar." I stood. Slow. Del
Selena's POVThe throne room had never felt so big.I stood in the center, surrounded by faces I didn't trust. Council members. Elders. Warriors. They stared at me like I was a wild animal that had wandered into their home.Maybe I was.Ian sat on his throne. His face was carved from stone. No emotion. No warmth. Just the mask of a ruler who couldn't show weakness.But I saw his hands. Clenched around the armrests. White-knuckled.He was afraid.For me.I straightened my spine. Lifted my chin. I'd survived ten years of slavery. I'd survived Melinda's whip and Mason's wandering hands. I'd survived Cassius's poison and his brother's schemes.I could survive a room full of judgmental stares."Bring in the prisoner," Ian said.His voice echoed through the hall.The doors opened. Guards dragged Eugene forward. He looked different than he had last night. Smaller. Paler. Like the weight of his betrayals had finally crushed him.He was thrown to his knees in front of the throne."Eugene," Ian
Ian's POVI watched him leave.Eugene slipped out of Selena's room just before dawn, his clothes rumpled, his eyes darting around like a cornered animal. He moved fast. Nervous. Guilty.My fingers curled into fists.Griffin was screaming inside me. Why is he coming out of her room? Why is he near our mate? What did he do to her?Calm down, I told him. We don't know what happened.We know he was in her room. Alone. At night.I pushed the rage down. Forced my body to stay still. To watch.Eugene disappeared around the corner. I waited until his footsteps faded. Then I moved.The walk to her chambers felt like walking through fire. Every step fed the flames. Every breath fueled the anger.I knocked on her door. Hard."Selena."Silence. Then footsteps. The door creaked open.She was in her nightgown. Hair messy. Eyes tired. She looked like she hadn't slept at all."Ian?" She blinked. "What are you—""Why was Eugene in your room?"Her face changed. Recognition. Guilt. "You saw him?""I saw
Selena's POVI couldn't sleep.The fire had burned low, casting long shadows across the walls. Ian was beside me, finally resting after hours of planning. His breathing was slow. Even.But I couldn't close my eyes.Every time I did, I saw them. The warriors with their silver blades. The cabin in the woods. Mason Clawbane's signature on that burned paper.He was coming.They were all coming.I slipped out of bed. Crept to the window. The moon was hidden behind clouds, and the pack house was dark. Silent.Too silent.Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. The same feeling I'd had the night before my pack fell. The same heaviness in the air. The same waiting.I turned from the window. Reached for my blade.And the door swung open.---Eugene stood in the doorway.His eyes were wild. His clothes were disheveled, his usually neat hair sticking up in all directions. He looked like a man on the edge of something terrible."Slave," he hissed. "We need to talk."I grabbed my blade.
Cassius's POVThe dungeon was cold. Damp. Everything I'd always despised.But I wasn't worried.I sat on the steel frame bed, legs crossed, hands folded. Like I was waiting for tea, not my execution.The guards outside were nervous. I could hear their heartbeats. Fast. Uneasy. They knew who I was. Knew what I was capable of.Good. Fear was useful.The iron door cranked open. My brother stepped through. Alone. No guards. No witnesses."Cassius," he said. Flat. Emotionless."Brother." I smiled. "Come to gloat?""Come to ask questions.""Ask away. I'm not going anywhere."Ian crossed the room. Stopped in front of me. His hands were loose at his sides, but I could see the tension in his shoulders. The rage he was trying to hide."Who else is working with you?" he asked."Working with me?""The assassins. The ones who attacked my chambers. They didn't come from nowhere."I tilted my head. "Assassins? I've been in this cell for hours. I don't know anything about assassins.""You're lying."







