LOGINSERAPHINA I woke up unable to breathe properly. At first I thought it was another nightmare because my chest felt tight and my heartbeat was racing so hard it hurt, but then I realized I was fully awake. The room was dark except for the dying fire near the windows, and every breath I took felt wrong somehow shallow and strained, as though something inside me was pressing upward against my ribs.Vaelarion stirred beside me almost immediately. “Seraphina?”I pushed myself upright too quickly, gripping the sheets while I tried to steady my breathing. My entire body felt strange again, not just weak or sick, just… restless. The energy inside me had changed over the past few days, becoming more active, and tonight it felt almost alive. Vaelarion sat up beside me, his expression instantly alert when he saw my face. “What happened?”“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly, pressing a hand against my chest. “It feels different tonight.”His eyes narrowed slightly at that. He reached for my wris
CAELUM The items on the table spilled as I pounded my fist hard against the table. The generals standing around the war table went silent immediately as the wooden pieces marking our fallen forces scattered across the floor.We had suffered another loss and this was a humiliating threat. And worst of all, at the hands of a dying king. I stared at the torn map while rage burned slowly through my chest. Vaelarion should have been collapsing by now. Every report we gathered over the last few months confirmed the curse was eating him alive. Weakening him and slowing him down, so what had changed? Suddenly he returns to the battlefield stronger than before and tears through my army like nothing ever touched him. It just made no sense to me. “He is fighting more differently this time,” one of the generals said carefully.I looked at him sharply enough that he almost flinched. "What do you mean by different?"The general swallowed. “It's like he can suddenly see through our attacks and
VAELARIONMy chamber was starting to smell of blood and herbs. I was beginning to hate the smell so much. The rain outside brought a bit of calm to the chaos. It hammered against the palace windows while the fire burned low beside my desk, throwing long shadows across the chamber walls. My armor still sat where the servants had left it hours ago, streaked with dried blood from the battlefield.I stood near the window with one hand braced against the stone wall, staring out into the storm while the curse remained unnaturally quiet inside my skin.The moment the knock came, i knew who it was immediately. "The door is unlocked." I said. Cleyton pushed open the door and entered slowly carrying several old scrolls under one arm. His face looked worse than usual tonight, his jaw was tight enough that something immediately sharpened in my chest.“You found something,” I said.He closed the door carefully behind him. “I remembered something.”I watched him cross the room toward the table b
SERAPHINA That night when I got the message from a servant that Vaelarion had sent for me, the first thing I felt was fear. Why? I couldn’t explain. I had craved for his presence and his touch for weeks, now I was getting sought for, but I still had doubt that unsettled me deeply. The first thing I noticed when I entered his chamber was that Vaelarion wasn’t limping anymore.Usually after battle he carried exhaustion around him so heavily that even walking across a room looked painful. The curse had drained him slowly and cruelly, until every movement seemed forced through sheer will alone.Tonight he had blood on his armor and looked stronger than he had in months.I quietly went towards the edge of the bed and sat upright, watching in silence while he removed his gloves slowly near the fire. He kept staring at me despite the silence thatstretched between us while rain battered softly against the windows outside. Vaelarion finally looked away first and reached for the metal clas
SERAPHINA Why did I wake up and immediately start searching for Vaelarion. Instead, I was met by cold sheets. That stupid ache hit my chest immediately.The curtains were open slightly, enough for pale morning light to spill across the room and cut through the mess of blankets around me. I pushed myself upright too fast and the room tilted sharply. “God…” My hand flew to the bedpost before I could fall forward. The dizziness passed, but my stomach kept turning strangely afterward, unsettled in a way I was starting to hate.Everything about my body felt wrong, it was beginning to get too sensitive. I could hear soldiers shouting three floors below, their armor scraping stone as they walked past and their horses in the courtyard.I could hear someone crying somewhere outside the palace walls and I couldn’t even tell how far away they were anymore because every sound reached me too clearly now.I hated it....I hated all of it.The worst part was the quiet iInside my head.The voices
ISOLDEEver since Caelum cornered me near the training grounds, things had become worse. Knox no longer stayed quiet for long periods. His presence sat constantly at the edge of my thoughts now, as though the moment I let my guard down completely, he would take everything left of me.The memory of Caelum’s face returned unwillingly.The "help me." I blurted out loud still made my chest tighten. I hadn’t meant to say them aloud.At a moment I truly thought he could pull me out of this. Then Knox felt it and immediately, the pressure inside my mind nearly split me apart afterward.“Still thinking about him?”I grabbed my cloak from the chair beside the bed aggressively. “Shut up, Knox.”“You weaken yourself every time you do that.”“I don’t care.”“You know I can tell when you lie to me.” he said and my heart stuttered. I ignored him and left the room. I avoided the guards and servants until I finally crossed beyond the pack walls into the forest.The moment I stepped between the trees
SERAPHINA’S POVMy body felt like it had been drugged by a heavy substance... No, it felt as though I was missing parts of my limbs because I couldn’t feel them. I tried to move but not even my finger would budge. The texture of the bed wasn't helping, it seemed as though I was lying on top of a r
ISOLDE’S POVThe day Caelum was to embark on the journey to the Lycan Kingdom was drawing closer and I had not received feedback from the messages I had sent out to the rogues which was concerning. Each letter I sent out was costing me money without any results. It was time for me to take matters
SERAPHINAI couldn't shake the dream away, no matter how hard I tried, and it stayed with me even after I woke up and forced myself to sit up and breathe slowly. I still felt the impact. I even washed my face and told myself it was nothing more than something my tired mind had created, because it
ISOLDE"We haven't really had the time to pack yet. I do want us to leave tonight but don't you think we need some time to gather a few resources like edibles for our journey."I thought about what Rosa had said. She had a point, we don't know how far this hybrid was from us and we were to travel b







