تسجيل الدخولMy voice tears through the clearing, raw and ragged, a sound of pure desperation.My father freezes, his head whipping toward me. Ravelle's head jerks toward me, her eyes widening in shock."Kei..." she says my name like she has seen someone rise from the dead, a ghost from a past life.My father slowly turns, the knife never leaving her throat. The expression on his face changes from confusion to disbelief, then to a dark, simmering anger. "Ravelle..." His eyes narrow. "You are not Kei but his mate ravelle?"I don't ignore the old bastard, my eyes fixed on Ravelle. She's bruised. Blood stains her clothes. Her breathing is uneven. There is exhaustion written across every line of her face. And yet she's alive. She looks at me with something I can't quite identify, a tangled mess of relief, fear, and a fragile, desperate hope.I take another step, my legs trembling so violently I can barely hide it. I grab the nearest tree for support, the rough bark biting into my palm. Ravelle's eyes
Something strange happens inside my chest. Even now. Even when she's about to walk into death... she thought about protecting me. She made sure someone remained behind. She didn't trust the pack blindly. She chose someone herself. I stare at him. "He trusts you.""Yes. And I'll protect that trust with my life." he says without a moment's hesitation.A bitter, painful smile touches my lips. Ravelle has always been better at seeing people's worth than I was. "Then take me to him."His expression changes. "Now?""Now.""You're barely standing.""I don't care.""You could collapse again.""Then carry me."The warrior hesitates, his duty warring with his orders. I step closer, my desperation stripping away every last vestige of my pride. "Please."The word tastes strange on my tongue, foreign and yet necessary. I have never been good at asking. But this isn't about pride anymore. It's about Ravelle. It's about everything.The warrior studies me for several seconds, his gaze assessing my r
Kei POVFor what feels like an eternity, there is nothing but darkness.Not sleep.Not peace.Just the suffocating, endless void of being trapped somewhere between consciousness and death, floating in a place where I can hear everything but touch nothing, speak nothing, be nothing.And then I hear her."Kei...please wake up."I try. God, I try. I force my eyes open, but they feel as though someone has poured molten lead over my eyelids. I can't move. I can't draw a proper breath. I can't even lift a finger to prove I'm still here."Kei, please..."Ravelle.Why does she sound like that? Why does she sound terrified?"You don't get to choose now if all times to sleep. You don't get to take the easy way out."I want to answer her. I want to scream her name and tell her I'm here, that I'm fighting. But my body refuses to obey, a prison I can't escape."You said you will safe your mother, so wake up and do it."Her voice cracks, the sound splintering through the darkness."Fight, you stubb
Because the moment Kei's final word leaves his mouth, something inside my chest erupts. It's not just a spark.My entire body jerks as a violent, scorching pulse tears through me, beginning somewhere deep beneath my ribs and spreading outward like lightning beneath my skin."What..." My voice comes out barely above a whisper.Another surge hits, so powerful it feels like it might tear me apart. I stagger. Kei's father says something, his voice a distant, meaningless buzz. The entire clearing disappears beneath a deafening roar that's coming from inside my own head. My ears ring. My vision blurs. My knees buckle. I grab my chest, clawing at the fabric of Kei's shirt. It feels as though someone has reached inside me and grabbed hold of my very soul and is trying to rip it free."Ahhh!"My surroundings begin to dissolve. The clearing. The people around me. Everything becomes distant, muffled, like I'm listening to the world from underwater. I look down. Kei's hands are disappearing. His
His wolf begins pushing toward the surface. I can see it in the subtle transformation of his face—the way his pupils narrow into slits, the way his jaw clenches until I think his teeth will crack."You arrogant little—""You lost to a child," I interrupt.His roar shakes the clearing. "Enough!"He angrily lets go of the chains he had used to bind Kei's mother, and he lunges at me. I barely have time to react before his fist catches my jaw. Pain explodes across my face, a starburst of light behind my eyes. I stagger sideways, but before I can recover, two rogues grab my arms, their grips like iron."Get your hands off me!" I struggle, but my strength isn't enough. Not without my wolf. Not without my power.His eyes are pure fury. "You think this is twenty years ago?" He grabs the front of my shirt. "You think I'm still the man that little boy embarrassed?"His fist crashes into my stomach. Air leaves my lungs in a whoosh. I double over, folding in on myself. He catches my hair and forc
The walk to Ashen Vale's eastern border feels longer than it should. With no wolf, no power, no wind whispering warnings into my ears, no earth answering my call, each step feels like a walk closer to my grave.Even though I am in Kei’s large frame, I feel no different from when I was in my own weak body. I feel painfully human. Vulnerable. Weak. I hate it.Still, I keep walking, my jaw set, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. The trees grow thicker, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers, blocking out the last of the fading light, and the sounds of the pack disappear behind me, the familiar noises of life and laughter replaced by an unnerving silence. Soon, only silence remains.The meeting place is exactly as expected: a wide clearing surrounded by towering pines with moonlight spilling across the empty ground. I arrive first. Of course I do. Punctuality is a curse, a symptom of a mind that can't stand to be late, even for its own execution.My fingers flex at my
The first scream splits the clearing before the whip ever lands, and I don’t flinch. I learned long ago not to.The woman is on her knees in the dirt, wrists bound behind her back, hair torn loose and matted with sweat and dust. Her mate stands behind her, chest puffed out, jaw locked in righteous
I pull out the omega uniform from under my bed—plain brown cloth, shapeless, loose, ugly, and absolutely perfect for hiding the red dress beneath it. No one looks twice at omegas. Not in a palace that employs hundreds.I braid my hair up, tuck it beneath a dull omega scarf, then close my eyes to co
The Lunar Virtue Conclave is unbearable even before the gossip begins—or the class itself.The hall hums the way it always does: too many voices layered on top of one another, laughter sharpened with envy, silk skirts whispering across polished stone floors.I sit near the back, posture perfect, ex
The throne room smells like power and old lies.Stone walls rise high and cold, carved with victories that were never won by women. The air hums with deep male voices—officials, elders, and war strategists—gathered for the morning assembly. My father sits on the obsidian throne at the far end, crow







