LOGINCeleste:I didn’t fight when she me. Not really. The tears had been necessary—measured, precise. enough to soften the edges of suspicion, not enough to look desperate. Desperation made people careless.I was never careless.“My lady… please I'm begging you. ” I had whispered, letting my voice break at the right places, letting my hands tremble just enough. Inside—I was already planning.The weekend. That was the timeline they had given me. A mercy, in their minds. Time to pack. Time to leave quietly. Time to disappear. How kind. How… convenient.The moment I stepped out of her chambers, the mask slipped. Not entirely. Just enough. My spine straightened. My breathing evened out. The trembling stopped like it had never existed.They thought they were removing me from the board. In truth—they had just given me space to move unseen.The cameras had already been handled. That had been the first step. A small disruption. A flicker in the system. Nothing obvious. Nothing traceable. Just eno
Maureen Laskovic“Are you sure about this?” I asked softly, my voice barely above a whisper.Vuk didn’t answer immediately.He simply nodded and carefully placed Adrian into my arms, adjusting my hold like he always did—steady, controlled, as if he didn’t trust the world not to break what we held between us.I looked down at him.So small.So warm.So impossibly perfect.A soft smile touched my lips as I leaned in slightly, breathing him in. There was something almost overwhelming about it—the faint sweetness of him, the quiet rhythm of his breathing, the way his tiny fingers curled instinctively against me.“He’s so cute,” I murmured, my voice softer now. Almost afraid to disturb the moment.“I know…” Vuk’s voice came from behind me, low and quiet. “He’s cute.”There was a pause.Then, more gently—“He looks like you.”My chest tightened at that.I swallowed, my eyes never leaving Adrian’s face.For a second, I braced myself.Waited for it.The fussing.The crying.The rejection I ha
Vuk Kael LaskovicYou could say I loved her, Maureen.But even that word felt too small for what lived inside my chest.Love was something people spoke about lightly, something they tossed around like it could be measured. What I felt for her had never been something so simple. It was deeper than devotion, heavier than loyalty, stronger than blood.If the heavens themselves ever decided to speak to me… they would not use thunder or prophecy.They would use her voice.She was my heaven.My eternity.My beginning and my end.And I had almost lost her.The thought alone felt like a blade twisting slowly through my ribs.“I’m sorry,” I whispered.The words came out fragile, barely stronger than breath as I stepped toward the bed.Maureen lay there against the pillows, pale but awake, her silver hair spread softly across the sheets like spilled moonlight. The room was quiet enough that I could hear the uneven rhythm of my own breathing.She didn’t answer.Not a word.Not even a shift of he
Celeste:168 hours.10,080 minutes.604,800 seconds. A week.That was how long it had been since Lady Livia fell.A week of surviving on stolen fragments of other people’s energy.A week of careful feeding—never too much from one person, never enough to draw attention.Just enough to keep myself stable.Just enough to keep my aura buried.The scent concealer rested lightly against my skin now, its magic dulling the faint darkness that still lingered around me.Perfect.This was the moment I had been waiting for.With Lady Livia still in the hospital, the household had become disorganized. The servants were stretched thin, the guards distracted.Which meant fewer eyes.Each morning I made sure my assigned chores slowly brought me closer to the Alpha’s mansion.A hallway one day.The inner courtyard the next.A stairwell the day after that.Closer.Closer.And today, it finally paid off.I was scrubbing the stone passage leading toward the inner wing when footsteps echoed from the stai
CelesteA soft moan slipped from my lips as the last thread of energy drained from the Omega maid.Three of them tonight.Pathetic little sparks of life, but enough to quiet the gnawing hollow inside my chest.The girl sagged against the wall, breathing unevenly, her eyelids fluttering as if she had simply grown tired. She would wake later with a headache and no memory of why.Omegas rarely noticed when pieces of themselves were taken.I wiped my hands slowly, savoring the warmth spreading through my veins.It wasn’t much.But it was enough to keep the darkness in me quiet… for now.Then Lady Livia’s voice rang from downstairs.“Celeste!”Sharp. Loud. Irritating.My jaw tightened.Of course.The moment I had a sliver of peace, she found a way to shatter it.“Celeste!” she called again, louder this time.My fingers curled slightly.That woman had a voice that could peel skin.I rose from the bunk with a sigh and walked toward the staircase.By the time I reached the hallway, Lady Livia
Maureen LaskovicTwo days.Forty-eight hours since I slept.To someone else, that might have been the worst part. The aching head. The burning eyes. The exhaustion dragging through every bone in my body.But to me, that wasn’t the worst of it.Watching someone else tend to my babies was.That was the real punishment.I stood beside the long velvet chair near the hearth, my arms folded tightly around myself as if that might hold me together.Vuk sat in the chair.One baby rested in the crook of his arm while he carefully tilted the small glass bottle toward their mouth.The milk inside it—My milk.Extracted earlier that morning.The baby suckled quietly, small sounds filling the room.Soft.Content.The kind of peaceful sounds that should have come when I held them.My throat tightened.I swallowed hard and forced myself to keep watching.Beside Vuk, the other two babies lay in the padded cradle we had dragged closer to him.They stirred occasionally.Little white heads shifting.Tiny
NyxaraI couldn’t do this the normal way.Not with Voss’s files hanging over my head like a guillotine. Not with Lira sleeping on my couch, counting on me to fix this without both of us ending up dead or worse.I needed leverage. Real leverage. Something that would make even the elders pause before
Maureen Laurent:The dining hall was a cathedral of southern excess—crystal chandeliers dripping light like molten gold, white marble floors veined with green, the long table groaning under platters of roasted pheasant, glazed fruits, and delicate pastries that smelled like childhood summers I no l
_Vuk Kael LaskovićThe war room felt colder than usual, even with the hellfire veins pulsing behind the black glass walls.I was leaned back in the obsidian throne, flipping through a thick stack of border reports and land deeds on the holo-pad in front of me. The sweater Maureen made was hidden un
– Maureen LaurentI woke to silence and the faint ache of a body thoroughly claimed.The black furs were tangled around my legs, still warm from where he’d been, but the space beside me was empty. Cold, even. Vuk was gone.A soft sigh escaped me — half frustration, half lingering shyness. My thighs







