Can you imagine finding out that your entire life has been a lie, and you were almost sold by your own father? What would you have done in Jocelyn’s shoes? Also, do you think Jocelyn’s mother made the right choice, handing her over to a stranger to save her… or was it too risky? Personally, I think a mother can do anything to protect her child🥺. That moment when Sarah said "You're blessed, cousin. Welcome home," did anyone else feel the comfort in that detail? 🥺 Which line from this chapter hit you the hardest? Was it the betrayal of her father? The unknown gift of her name? Her mother’s desperate search? Or the lovely promise of protection from her new family? 👀 Tell me in the comments! Next Chapter will take us back to the Nightfall Pack in Caspian's POV. Things are gradually heating up now🔥
~ CASPIAN ~I feel like I’m losing her all over again.The summit is over. Officially yet painfully over. The sun has already reached its zenith in the sky, the hot afternoon warming my skin outside the compound of the guesthouse.The compound is filled with cars of the delegates and their entourages getting ready to leave, some loading their trunks with luggage and everything else they came with, while the others are already rolling out through the gates after bidding their farewells, leaving to get back to their respective packs.More farewells are exchanged by those yet to leave. Hugs, firm handshakes, and more hugs and assurances that everything we discussed in the summit is going to be implemented for everyone's safety. Every leader who leaves carries the burden of Thanox’s shadow, but also the burning spark of hope that maybe—just maybe—we stand a winning chance if we all stand together.I try to take comfort in that, but my heart is in deep pain.One by one, the delegates leave
~ JOCELYN ~We need to work together, but I don’t know if my heart can continue handling being near Caspian.Four weeks have crawled by since Thanox shattered our world and threatened to come back. Four weeks since the screams, the blood, the funeral. Everything.Four weeks since I looked death in the face and felt fear rip into my bones like a parasite I can’t destroy.And yet… life hasn’t stopped.The Nightfall Pack has been busy repairing and healing from the destruction. More warriors have been sent to the borders for increased vigilance, and other packs have been notified to increase and tighten their security. Children here have been hushed into their school lessons again, though I can tell by their restless eyes every evening as they stroll by the guesthouse that they’ve forgotten how to feel safe.War can do that to people, especially to young minds that need protection from the evil of this world until they're ready to face the monsters themselves.And every day of these four
~ LYCENA ~“I want to become the most powerful she-wolf the world has ever seen.” The final words leave my lips with every drop of desire burning through my veins.I don’t care that Thanox is looking at me right now like I’m a foolish soul begging for things far beyond my reach. I don’t care that his throne is radiating death itself or that his smile is sharper than knives. I’ve already crossed the line.I’ve already betrayed everyone.Caspian. The Nightfall Pack. My so-called people.All of them.And I don’t fucking regret any shred of it.Thanox leans forward on his throne, resting his black pointy fingernails on his chin as if he’s studying me like an insect he might squash or keep as a pet. His eyes are still red and glowing with a hunger that sinks under my skin, crawling all over my spine like poisonous spiders.He is intimidating, but I force myself not to look away from his piercing gaze.“Ambition,” he finally breaks the silence with his teasing voice. “I like that. Ambition
~ LYCENA ~He's fucking right.I'm done being nothing and always looking over my shoulders. I’m done being anxious and pretending to be powerful.I need true power.And Nyx here is going to help me get it.“Nyx…” I pause, my heart thundering as I swallow hard before I continue. “The first time we met, you promised me connections that will make me more powerful and even start a pack of my own. Something about you is definitely strange, but I believed you. I'm tired of waiting around and begging for scraps. Now is the time for you to fulfill that promise to me.”A long pause follows.“Lycena,” Nyx's smile is audible in his voice, even behind the mask. “Are you sure that is what you want now?”“Yes,” my answer bursts out of me. “If Caspian wants Jocelyn, then let him drown in her blood. Let him choke on her ashes. I want her gone. I want her dead. I want true power more than enough to make her regret ever breathing in this world.”Another long pause settles between us as Nyx studies me f
~ LYCENA ~I storm into my room and bang the door shut. Instantly, a scream tears from my throat, a very loud scream I've been holding in since I figured out the whole scene I witnessed at the tower.Fuck!I need to hold my shit together, but I can't. My claws are ripping through my fingers. My fangs are growing out of control, piercing my lips. Blood drips onto my immaculate white dress. I can't stop the tears, and my throat turns sour as I keep screaming again and again.Yanking off my heels, I fling them across the room, breathing heavily with every scream that rips through my sour throat. My bed creaks with the force of my weight. I claw at the pillows. The sheets. At anything within reach until the bed becomes a tangled mess.But it's still not enough to suppress my anger.More. I need more destruction.I rise and march to the vanity table. Reaching there, the flower vase crashes to the floor with a single sweep of my hands. Some of the pieces cut into my toes when I kick the sha
~ JOCELYN ~ A long silence stretches between us. His words are still hanging in the air, burning my chest like a fire I can’t breathe through. I want to scream at him. I want to tell him that none of it matters, that the pain he caused me can’t be erased by tears and late confessions. And yet… I can’t move. I can't talk. I can't even look at anything else in the room. All I can do is stare at him. At the man who ripped me apart five years ago, the same man who is now standing here before me, broken, baring his heart as if it’s mine to shatter all over again. My fingers curl into fists at my sides, trembling with pain… and something else. Something I’ve been fighting against since the moment his blue eyes found mine at the funeral. That same something that has haunted me through the years no matter how hard I tried to kill it. Love. I hate that I still love him. I hate that I want to touch him, to feel him, to remember what it was like to be his light before everything went to dar