LOGINELENA'S POV, “During what?” I asked, not caring that I cut him off from finishing, or that my voice was loud. I had spent years making sure others were happy with what I was doing, and I wasn't the reason for any of their troubles. Now I wanted to be better than that, for myself, instead of being
ELENA'S POV, The meeting had resumed, but the room had never fully recovered after the entrance of Elias Silverlake. Something had shifted inside the room, almost as if the temperature had changed. It was something quiet and irreversible, the way a fire changes a space even after it's been conta
GEORGINA'S POV, The safe house was on the outer edge of the city, tucked behind a row of buildings that had been abandoned. It was exactly the kind of place that didn't exist on any map anyone important looked at—unremarkable, forgettable, useful. I had three of them positioned across the kingdom
GEORGINA'S POV, I had known Anil for long enough to understand that his greatest flaw was also the thing that had once made me want him, he actually believed in things. Not strategically, not as performance, but genuinely, the way people believe in things when no one has yet taught them how expensi
ELIAS'S POV, I had been in enough rooms like this one to recognize the architecture of a trap before anyone bothered to spring it. Karlson was the provocateur, that much was obvious within the first few minutes of watching him work. He had the particular gift of people who had spent decades inside
ELIAS'S POV, I was seven years old the first time I saw her. My father had taken me to one of those gatherings. The noble families dressed it up as celebrations but were really just exercises in demonstrating power—who stood where, who spoke first, who had the finest clothes and the most polished
There was no power, no titles, no status or pride. It was just a man, standing there with his walls down and his guilt showing. There was imperfection in him, that he always hid from the world, and I wanted to know if I was the only person he allowed to see that. “You don’t need to apologize,” I sa
RYAN'S POV,“There’s no we anymore,” Elena said, with tears streaming down her face. “And there never will be again.”It took every last bit of control I had in me not to transform into my wolf. I stood behind her, silently, waiting for her to ask me for help. It was her fight. I had no right to int
ELENA'S POV, The gentle morning light spilling through the balcony welcomed me, as I stepped out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for the day. I was tying the belt of my cotton dress when I noticed a small girl perched on the edge of my bed. She was swinging her legs carelessly while waiting
RYAN'S POV, I usually didn't linger around while Elena put Ollie to bed, but for some reason, I decided to stay that day. Like always, Elena was reading to Ollie before sleep and I could see that she had my daughter wrapped around the story. It was her narration—overly animated voices and loud dia







