LOGINDANTE’S POVThe second that bathroom door clicked shut, my entire body lit up like someone flipped a switch. Victoria’s voice still echoed in my head. “Maybe we should make ours.” Make ours. A baby. Our baby. I was across the room before I even thought about it. The handle turned under my hand, the steam from the already-running shower slapped me in the face, and there she was—naked, red hair wet and sticking to her shoulders, water running down every curve I worshipped like a religion.She looked over her shoulder, biting that bottom lip, eyes shining with mischief and love and pure heat. I didn’t speak. Words were useless right now.Two steps and I had her.I grabbed her waist, spun her, and pressed her back against the cool tile wall. Her little gasp turned into the sexiest moan when my mouth found the spot right under her ear—my mark. I sucked hard, reminding her who she belonged to, who she chose, who she loved.“Dante…” My name on her lips broke the last thread of c
VICTORIA’S POVMy hands wouldn’t stop shaking.No matter how many times I told myself to breathe, no matter how many times I reminded myself that I survived worse things… my fingers trembled on my lap like I was a terrified child again.I hated it.Hated how weak it made me feel.Hated how much I needed Dante right now.The car was quiet except for the sound of the engine and my uneven breathing. Dante sat beside me, knee touching mine, calm as always — like the world could catch fire and he would still be in control.He noticed before I said anything.Of course he did.“Hey,” he murmured, reaching for my hands. “Look at me.”I tried. I really did. But my eyes were stuck on my shaking fingers.“Victoria,” he said again, gently.This time I forced my gaze up.His eyes softened the moment they met mine. Warm. Steady. Safe. The opposite of the storm inside my chest.“You’re trembling,” he said quietly, lifting my hands into his. “Calm down, sweetheart.”Sweetheart.I swallowed hard.Just
Dante's POV The first thing I felt when I woke up was warmth.Not sunlight.Not the comfortable heat coming from the blankets.Her.Victoria.Her body was tucked against mine, her head under my chin, her breath soft on my chest. The sun poured through the window behind us, turning her hair into this messy halo that made her look softer than she’d ever admit to being.A slow groan left my throat before I could stop it. My arms tightened around her automatically, pulling her closer.She shifted a little, sleepy and annoyed. “Dante…”I tightened my grip again.She sighed like I was the biggest problem she had ever faced. “You’re an Alpha,” she mumbled. “You’re not supposed to be lazy.”“I’m not lazy,” I said, voice thick with sleep. “I’m sick.”She lifted her head just enough to stare at me with that suspicious glare she always loved using on me. “You’re not sick.”“I am,” I insisted, pulling her tighter again. “I think… I think I’m dying.”She snorted. Actually snorted. “Oh please.”“I
VICTORIA’S POV“Before I kill you both,” she said softly, almost bored, “let’s get the Royal Heart, shall we?”My blood turned to ice.“What is your obsession with the Royal Heart? What do you want from him?”She laughed—loud, sharp, echoing off the wooden walls like something unholy.“You thought I lived for two hundred years and kept this beauty by luck?” she asked, her voice dripping with mockery.Dante groaned behind us, still suspended in the burning red chains. The glowing magic pulsed again, and he jerked with a raw, broken sound that tore into me like a blade.My mother’s laugh grew louder. Sinister. Wild.“No, darling,” she said. “I did it by stealing hearts. And not in the romantic way.”My stomach flipped.She pointed the black dagger at Dante without even looking at him. “I need his stupid heart for a spell. A very rare, very ancient spell. One that will make me forever young.”My heart hardened. I felt the anger tighten inside me like a fist.“You’re not getting it,” I sa
VICTORIA’S POVThe word slipped out of my mouth before I could even think.“What do you mean, mother?”She froze.Then she turned her head slowly—too slowly—like she wasn’t surprised at the question itself, only annoyed that I dared to ask it. Her lips curled into a smirk sharp enough to cut skin.“Don’t call me that.”Her voice wasn’t loud, but it hit me like a slap.She stepped closer, the thin hems of her long black dress brushing the floor like shadows come alive. “Do you know how torturous it was,” she hissed, “to hear you call me mother all these years?”My chest tightened. I felt Dante tense behind me, chained, weak, barely holding on.She laughed—low, cruel, amused. “Do I look like someone who can have a child?”My breath caught.“Your pathetic mother,” she continued, leaning in like she was sharing a secret, “was in the way. So I killed her.”The room spun.I didn’t move. I couldn’t.All I could do was stare at her, my throat tight, my heart beating too fast, too loud. Her wo
“No…” I whispered.Dante was on his knees in the middle of the cabin floor.His head hung low, black hair falling over his face. His hands—both of them—were raised above him, suspended in the air by thick bands of glowing red magic. It looked like molten lava, dripping and pulsing like it was alive. Every time the magic tightened, his muscles jerked. It must be painful.My vision blurred at the edges.“Mother—please don’t,” I breathed.She stood behind him.Waiting.Watching me.My mother’s expression was calm, almost bored, as if my heart wasn’t shattering right in front of her. Her long black cloak dragged across the wooden floor. Her eyes—cold, dark, endless—shined like she had already won.She lifted her chin slowly. “I knew you’d come.”I rushed toward Dante immediately, but she stepped into my path with a look so sharp it could slice skin.“Don’t.” Her voice cut through the air like a blade.I ignored her, moving right, trying to slip around.She moved with me.“Victoria,” she s







