INICIAR SESIÓNMary Ann’s POVI did not move closer to the bouquet.The white flowers rested outside my door as though they belonged there, fresh and carefully arranged, tied with a silver ribbon. Under different circumstances, I might have found them beautiful. Instead, all I could see were the dark green leaves around the petals and the empty space where a message should have been.My guard stepped in front of me and raised one hand.“Stay back, Luna.”“I was not planning to touch them.”He glanced down the corridor and called for the second guard stationed near the entrance of the Luna Wing. Within moments, both men had blocked the passage while another servant was sent to find Kylian. I remained several steps away, my heart beating too quickly.It felt foolish to be afraid of flowers.But tea had nearly killed me.Honey cakes had sent elders to the infirmary.A platform had collapsed seconds after I stepped away from it.Nothing ordinary felt harmless anymore.The flowers could be poisoned. The
Mary Ann’s POVBy the end of the week, Elara allowed me to return to light duties.She had used the word light several times, as though repeating it would make me obey. I promised I would not stay in the council library past midnight, skip meals, inspect unstable platforms, or enter crowded kitchens without guards. Elara did not look convinced, but she finally stopped threatening to lock me inside the infirmary.The weakness had not completely left my body. Some mornings, my legs still felt heavy when I first stood. Sudden movements made my chest ache, and the smell of honey could turn my stomach before I understood why. I hated those reactions. They reminded me that someone had managed to enter my room and place death inside an ordinary cup of tea.Still, I refused to remain hidden.Ironclaw needed its Luna, and I needed something to do besides lie in bed and wonder who wanted me dead.My new routine began at breakfast.Before the poisoning, Modric rarely ate at the pack house. If he
Modric’s POV“Why do you act as though you hate me and then do things like this?”Mary Ann’s question stopped me before I could stand fully.I remained on one knee in front of her, my hand still resting lightly against her ankle. Her second shoe sat beside the first, neatly placed near the bed. The room had gone quiet around us. Greta had moved toward the medicine table, pretending not to listen, but I knew she heard every word.Mary Ann looked down at me with tired eyes. She was still pale from the poison, and weakness softened her usual strength, but the question in her face was clear. She was not accusing me this time. She was asking because she truly did not understand.The worst part was that I did understand.I acted as though I hated her because hatred was simple.Hatred allowed me to keep my distance.Hatred protected the life I had chosen with Velvera.Hatred stopped me from admitting that I had noticed Mary Ann long before the alliance, long before the wedding, and long befo
Mary Ann’s POVElara refused to release me until late afternoon.By then, the worst of the weakness had passed, but my body still felt as though it belonged to someone else. My arms were heavy, my legs unsteady, and every deep breath left a dull ache beneath my ribs. Elara explained that the pain came from the poison and from the healers forcing my heart to beat again. I tried not to think too deeply about that part. The idea that my heart had stopped still felt unreal, like something that had happened to another woman while I watched from a distance.“You will rest for at least three days,” Elara said as she adjusted the shawl around my shoulders. “No council meetings, no festival work, and no walking around the pack house without someone beside you.”“The festival is already ruined,” I replied.“It was attacked. That is not the same as ruined.”I looked toward the window. The banners were still visible in the distance, though the festival grounds were empty now. The cheers, music an
Modric’s POVBy noon, the woman in the green cloak had become the most hunted person in Ironclaw.Kylian questioned everyone who had been near the dessert tents. He spoke with cooks, guards, musicians, children, elders, and even the merchants who had set up stalls near the courtyard. Several people remembered seeing a woman in dark green, but their stories did not match. One servant claimed she was tall. A Mooncrest guest said she was short. A child remembered auburn hair beneath the hood, while an elderly warrior insisted the woman had black hair. No one had seen her face clearly. It was beginning to look less like poor memory and more like deliberate confusion.“She may have changed cloaks,” Kylian said as he stood across from my desk. “Or she had help creating false sightings.”I looked down at the statements spread before me. Every page gave us another description and no real answer. “Someone wanted witnesses to remember the cloak instead of the woman wearing it.”“That is what I
Mary Ann’s POV“Why are you here?”The question left my lips before I could stop it. My voice sounded weak, almost broken, and even that small effort sent pain through my chest.Modric sat beside the bed with one hand wrapped around mine. He looked nothing like the cold, controlled Alpha who usually faced me with sharp eyes and sharper words. His shirt was wrinkled, there was dried blood across one cuff, and dark shadows rested beneath his eyes. His hair was messy, as though he had dragged his fingers through it too many times. He looked exhausted.For a moment, he did not answer.He only stared at me as if he had been waiting for my eyes to open.Then his expression closed.“You were poisoned,” he said.I tried to sit up.Pain moved through my body immediately, and I gasped.Modric stood so quickly that the chair scraped across the floor.“Do not move.”His hand pressed lightly against my shoulder, guiding me back onto the pillow.I was too weak to argue properly, but irritation stil







