LOGINModric’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
Modric POVThe sound from the monitor became one long, terrible line.For one second, no one moved.Then the infirmary exploded into action.“Elara!” I shouted.“I know!” she snapped.She pushed me away from the bed and placed both hands over Mary Ann’s chest. One of the healers brought a small wooden box filled with medicine while another pulled the blanket away from her body. Elara began pressing hard against Mary Ann’s chest, counting under her breath as the other healer forced air into her lungs.Mary Ann did not move.Her face remained pale.Her lips looked almost blue.The bond between us weakened so quickly that I felt it like blood draining from my body. The warm pull that had followed me since the wedding became thin and distant. My wolf threw himself against my skin with a roar so violent that claws broke through the tips of my fingers.Mate is leaving.“No.”The word came out as a growl.Kylian caught my shoulders before I could climb onto the bed.“Modric, let them work.”
Modric’s POVThe pain struck before I reached my study.One second, I was walking beside Kylian, still angry from the argument with Mary Ann. The next, something tore through my chest so violently that my knees nearly gave out.I grabbed the wall.My wolf roared.Not anger.Terror.“Modric?” Kylian caught my arm. “What happened?”I could not answer.The bond between Mary Ann and me had always felt like heat beneath my skin. A constant pull I tried to ignore. Now it twisted like a rope being dragged through my ribs.Then her presence began to fade.“Mary Ann.”I ran.Kylian followed, shouting orders behind me, but I barely heard him. The corridor blurred. Servants jumped out of my path as I raced toward the Luna Wing.The guards outside her rooms straightened.“Did anyone enter?” I demanded.“No, Alpha.”“Open the door.”“It is locked.”Cold filled me.I slammed my shoulder against it.The wood shook but held.“Move.”Kylian stepped back as I kicked beside the lock. The door burst inwa







