LOGINAdrian’s POVI stared down at her for what felt like forever.For a moment, everything else…the chanting, the crackling magic, the furious roars shaking the courtyard…fell into a dull, distant hum.She was wrapped in my robe now, swallowed by it. The fabric draped over her small frame, sleeves too long, collar slipping slightly off one shoulder. Her hair was a mess. Her face…My jaw tightened as I imagined what she must have gone through trying to escape that bastard.There was a dark smear across her cheek. Dirt. Soot. There was something else stuck to her scent. I didn’t need to look twice to know what it was.Blood.Dried.Did that bastard hurt her?The faint metallic scent lingered in the air, sharp against my senses.Something inside me snapped taut.She ran through hell to get here.And she made it.To me.My gaze softened, just slightly as I squeezed her shoulder while she tried to catch her breath after transforming.I was indeed worried for nothing. I thought this one would b
Kira’s POVI gulped inside.Slowly.Very, very slowly.Leah turned her head around.And I screamed so loud inside her that I was pretty sure birds dropped dead somewhere in the kingdom.It came out as a howl through her…but I was screaming!Standing behind me was not a man.Not a beast.Not anything that should have been allowed to exist.He was tall.No…tall was too weak a word. Long?The scrawny horror towered so high I had to crane my neck all the way back just to find his face. His head nearly brushed the stone arch above us, neck bent at an unnatural angle like he had grown too much for the world to contain him.His limbs were long and thin like dead tree branches.His fingers dragged against the floor.His skin hung loose over jutting bones, gray and stretched tight in some places, sagging in others. Veins pulsed black beneath it.And his face…Dear Goddess of the seas.His eyes were too deep. Too dark.His mouth split far too wide, filled with jagged teeth that looked borrowed
Kira’s POVWhat if I don’t make it out of here? What if he traps me inside this hollow tunnel forever?“Faster Leah, faster!” I screamed at her in my head.The tunnel blurred around us as Leah sprinted faster.Stone walls flashed by in streaks of shadow, the air slicing against Leah’s face as she ran with everything she had. Her paws slammed against the uneven ground so fast it sounded like thunder trapped in a narrow grave.Behind us, that thing was getting closer.I didn’t need to look back to know it.I could feel it.That foul stench of rot and old blood kept surging stronger, like each breath it took landed at the back of my neck.“Leah!” I shouted in my head. “Sprint faster! He’s right behind us!”‘Can’t you see that I’m doing my best? I’m literally running from a creature that has lived for Goddess knows how long!’ Leah snapped back between ragged breaths. ‘I am trying!’Another roar tore through the corridor.“You cannot escape me!”The walls trembled with the force of it.“Yo
Kira’s POVNot human? Is this real?‘I smell black magic,’ Leah pushed on. ‘Ancient black magic. It is choking this place. We need to leave now!’Cold swept over me so suddenly my teeth nearly chattered. What?So I’ve been talking to a non-human thingy?Every hair on my body rose instantly like my body was reacting to something foreign, and my hands went numb immediately.Slowly, I turned back toward the thing in front of me.And suddenly, the girl was gone.In her place stood something tall and twisted.Its limbs were too long with shoulders too broad and odd.Its pale skin stretched tight over sharp bones like it had borrowed a human shape and worn it badly.Its fingers ended in black claws with a mouth that split too wide.And its eyes…Dear God.Its eyes were endless pits of darkness.Smoke curled from its body like shadows leaking from skin.I couldn’t breathe.I couldn’t move.I couldn’t even scream. I just stood there like a statue.The creature tilted its head and smiled with
Kira’s POVOkay.Let’s try this again.I opened one eye carefully, like maybe if I did it gently enough reality would also be gentle back.Dark stone ceiling.Rough walls.Cold air.Unfamiliar surroundings.I shut my eyes immediately.Nope.I opened it again slowly this time…praying silently that this was just a dream.But no! Still there.I shut it harder this time, as if commitment might help.By the third attempt, I accepted two things.One, I was awake.Two, I was in some damp, cave-looking nightmare that smelled like mold, death, and bad decisions.I slowly sat up and instantly regretted it when pain throbbed at the back of my head.“Wonderful,” I muttered. “Concussion in a medieval cave. Love that for me.”“You are awake.”I nearly screamed. No. I screamed. But I nearly peed on myself.What the hell?The voice came from directly in front of me.I jerked my head up and found a girl crouched a few feet away, staring at me with such intense devotion that my soul immediately tried t
Adrain’s POVCaroline broke first.Not with truth.With more performance.She collapsed dramatically to the floor, sobbing so hard her shoulders shook, hands clasped together like some saint dragged into a sinner’s court.Her eyes went wide as saucers, darting around like a cornered animal. But I didn’t miss how she looked away quickly when her eyes landed on Margaret.“My king, please!” she cried. “I’m innocent. I have done nothing wrong! I am only a poor woman trying to protect my child…our child!”Tears streamed down her face.Too fast.Too perfectly timed.She crawled a little on her knees, reaching toward me before the guards yanked her back.“I have always respected the crown! I would never deceive you, your majesty! Never!”Her voice cracked prettily.She looked around the room like she expected sympathy.Pathetic.I said nothing.I just watched, giving her more chances to say the truth…trying to keep my wolf down so we don’t end up snapping her in half.I watched the tremble i
Kira’s POVJust as Miranda opened her mouth…probably to scream for security again or defend herself, a deep, commanding voice boomed from the corner of the lobby.“What’s going on here?”I whipped around, and my heart slammed into my ribs so hard I almost staggered.There they were.Frederick and E
Kira's POV I am about to lead Victoria into chaos.I couldn’t hold back anymore. The sight of Miranda…my treacherous fake sister…pressed against the wall, her lips devouring Victoria’s mate like he was hers to claim, lit a fuse straight to my core. Victoria’s body vibrated beside me as we moved…m
Kira’s POVHe pulled me closer, guiding me toward the open helicopter door. “How are you feeling this morning, princess?” he asked, voice raised over the noise, all gentle concern.I ignored him. Full cold-shoulder mode activated.He didn’t push. Just helped me in, buckled my seatbelt for me like I
Kira's POV I couldn’t stop grinning as we stepped out into the lobby, Miranda’s frantic escape playing on repeat in my head. She hadn’t recognized me…not even a flicker…but I’d planted something. A seed of doubt. Good. Let it grow. Let it choke her.Victoria glanced at me sideways as we wandered t







