LOGINThe black smoke crawled across the grass like a thousand tiny spiders.
I watched in horror as Sarah’s stone body stood frozen, her fingers still reaching for a life she had just lost. The smoke didn't care about her greed or her pregnancy. It only cared about turning warm blood into cold rock.
"Run, Nyxara!" Riven’s voice was a ragged cough. He was trying to
The black smoke crawled across the grass like a thousand tiny spiders.I watched in horror as Sarah’s stone body stood frozen, her fingers still reaching for a life she had just lost. The smoke didn't care about her greed or her pregnancy. It only cared about turning warm blood into cold rock."Run, Nyxara!" Riven’s voice was a ragged cough. He was trying to crawl toward me, but his ash form was still broken from the Alliance’s chemicals.Draven stood behind the wall of smoke, his eyes wide and wild. He had lost his pack, his mate, and his dignity. Now, he was losing his mind. "If you won't be my Luna, you'll be my statue!" he shrieked. "I’ll keep you in my garden forever. You’ll never leave me again!"The smoke was inches from my boots. I c
The red laser dot danced on my stomach, a tiny eye of death."Riven, move!" I screamed, shoving him back.The first missile hit the ridge with a deafening boom. Rocks turned into dust, and the ground beneath us groaned. Sarah’s laughter echoed through the valley, amplified by the airship’s speakers. She wasn't just a maid. She was a monster who had been watching me bleed for years, waiting for the highest price."You always were too soft, Nyxara!" Sarah yelled. "You thought Draven was the one you should fear? He’s just a boy. The Alliance is a god!"Riven stood up, his eyes turning a deep, terrifying charcoal black. His skin began to crack, and instead of blood, glowing gray ash leaked from the wounds. This was the forbidden Ash Form, the power that had
The red laser dot danced on my stomach, a tiny eye of death."Riven, move!" I screamed, shoving him back.The first missile hit the ridge with a deafening boom. Rocks turned into dust, and the ground beneath us groaned. Sarah’s laughter echoed through the valley, amplified by the airship’s speakers. She wasn't just a maid. She was a monster who had been watching me bleed for years, waiting for the highest price."You always were too soft, Nyxara!" Sarah yelled. "You thought Draven was the one you should fear? He’s just a boy. The Alliance is a god!"Riven stood up, his eyes turning a deep, terrifying charcoal black. His skin began to crack, and instead of blood, glowing gray ash leaked from the wounds. This was the forbidden Ash Form, the power that had
The five Ancient Alphas didn't move like living wolves. They moved like statues come to life. Their white eyes stayed fixed on my stomach, their hunger so thick it felt like a heavy fog."Give us the heirs," the middle elder repeated. His voice inside my head felt like a hammer striking an anvil. "You are just a vessel, Nyxara. You do not have the right to keep what belongs to the world."Riven was trembling next to me. The wolfsbane was turning his veins black, but he refused to fall. He bared his teeth, a low, broken growl coming from his throat. "She is not a vessel. She is their mother. And I am their father."The elder wolf tilted his head. "A King of Ash and a broken Omega. You are nothing to the Council."They lunged all at once.
The ground didn't just crack; it vanished.A massive sinkhole opened beneath my feet, the soil turning into liquid mud. I screamed, reaching for Riven, but he was trapped under the glowing green net, his skin smoking from the poison."Riven!" I yelled as I slid into the darkness.I hit the bottom of the pit with a thud that rattled my teeth. It wasn't a natural cave. The walls were lined with cold, damp stones and carved with ancient symbols. Above me, the circle of moonlight was getting smaller.Lady Elena stepped to the edge of the pit, looking down at me. Gone was the soft, pampered woman I had served for years. Her eyes were yellow, glowing with a sickness that wasn't wolf-like. She held the crystal high, and it pulsed with a dark, oily light.
The silver arrow hung in the air, trembling against an invisible wall of violet light.Draven’s eyes went wide. He watched as the arrow, his "sure kill," snapped in half and fell into the mud. He looked at me, then at the glowing light around my stomach. He wasn't just angry anymore; he was terrified."What is this?" Draven screamed, his voice cracking. "What did that monster do to you?""He didn't do anything, Draven," I said. My voice sounded deeper, vibrating with a power that made the trees shiver. "He just stayed when you ran away. He protected what you tried to kill."Riven stepped out of the carriage behind me. His hands were still red and raw from the silver collar, but he didn't look weak. He looked like a king standing next to his queen. The hundred Ashen







