Elara’s POVAndrew circled me, his movements slow, measured. His eyes tracked every shift of my stance, every twitch of my fingers. I know what he’s doing—waiting for me to strike first.I didn’t.Instead, I watch him right back, breathing steady, legs bent, weight balanced. The air between us humed with tension. It was always like this when we sparred—like the world narrowed down to just him and me, two forces testing the limits of what we can do.Ever since the day he saved me from turning into a monster, I've noticed that I was far better than I ever was.We never stopped training. And as we trained, I soaked up everything, becoming more and more the fighter I wanted to be If Deveruid or whoever Dorian sends again tries to kidnap me, they will be in for a shock. I was the same person they met earlier.I’m stronger now. Faster. The mark on my skin has changed something inside me, even though I still don’t understand how deep that change ran. But I felt it—power coiled beneath my sk
Andrew’s POVThe tension in the air was tight and suffocating. Everybody seemed to know about the upcoming Blood Moon.Even the kids that were known for mischief had all sombered up and we're now helping in anyway they could.Outside, the pack was preparing—training, sharpening weapons, reinforcing the borders. The warriors knew what was coming. The Blood Moon was only days away, and with it, Dorian’s inevitable attack.I watched from my office window as warriors sparred in the clearing, their movements sharp, disciplined. Even the younger wolves were being taught basic defense, just in case. No one would be spared if we lost this war.No one.Knowing who Dorian was, he would try to exterminate anyone that poses a threat against him or his rule. Including kids.Elara was out there too.I caught a glimpse of her as she dodged a strike from Lora, her body moving like liquid fire. She had changed—stronger, faster. But the mark on her arm was a constant reminder that darkness had once tri
Elara’s POVSomething was wrong.The moment I stepped into Andrew’s office, my entire body tensed. My gut twisted, that familiar, unshakable feeling of dread creeping up my spine. I had learned to trust that feeling.Ever since I was able to overcome the voice that was determined to push me down the dark path, being in tune with my instincts have been second nature to me.Just then, a knock came on the door. I paused wondering who it could be. “We're you expecting anyone?”“No.” Andrew replied. “But I could ask them to leave if you aren't comfortable with anyone.”I shook my head. “No, that won't be necessary.” I don't know who could be at the other end of the door. I can't allow whatever is bothering me to stop Andrew from carrying out his duties.Just then, the door was pushed open. “Hey what's keeping you guys. Someone from another pack is here to see you.”“What does he want?” Andrew asked.“He won't say. He said he wanted to speak to you in person.”“Where's this person anyway?”
Elara’s POVThe second Andrew’s fingers broke the seal on the letter, something shifted in the air.I felt right in my soul. My wolf was at antsy. She felt it too.It wasn’t obvious—not to anyone else—but I felt it like a cold breath against my skin. His aura, usually steady and commanding, flickered. Just for a second. But it was enough.As I stared at Andrew, I tried to figure out what exactly had happened to him after he took the letter.I sucked in a breath, my pulse pounding. “Andrew,” I said sharply. Trying to stop him from going any further.He didn’t react, only unfolded the letter and scanned its contents. It was if he didn't feel whatever just happened but I knew he did. I saw him flinch. His face remained unreadable, but I caught the slightest tension in his jaw.Michael and Lora exchanged glances, both of them clearly uneasy but they didn't say a word.I stepped closer. “Andrew,” I said again, lower this time. “Are you okay?”I stared at him but he failed to hold my gaze.
Elara’s POVThe sound outside wasn’t normal.Normally if someone was moving about by this time, their movements were usually loud no matter how they tried to control their movements.It was too soft, too precise—like someone moving with intent. Someone trained in the art of sneaking around. A predator. But they didn't account for someone like me.My body reacted before my mind could catch up. I bolted out of bed, my claws extending instinctively, my breath shallow but controlled. My pulse hammered in my ears, but I forced myself to focus.I couldn't afford to be out of control in this moment. I needed to be very careful with whatever I was about to get myself into.Something was wrong. I could feel it deep in my bones, the same way I’d felt it when Andrew touched that cursed letter.I shoved my feet into my boots, grabbed the dagger under my pillow, and threw open my door. The hall was eerily quiet, but the air was thick with tension.Then I caught the scent—foreign, laced with somet
Elara’s POVAs if on cue, the shadows moved.Then the others appeared. It was shocking watching how people moved through the darkness.Dark figures spilled into the room, moving with deadly precision, with one target in mind. To get us killed if possible but the one they were obviously after was Andrew. There were too many of them, more than we had expected. It was obviously a trap. This was the bad feeling I had.It was coming to pass.We had been waiting for an attack, but not like this—not so deep inside our territory. They had bypassed the guards, and slipped through unseen.How?It was obvious there was someone working for them within our ranks, but who could it be? And why will they do such a thing?I needed answers but there was no need to be told that none was coming anytime soon. This was going to be a long night.No matter how much I wanted to get this over with, there was no telling when it was going to be over.My only hope is that we don't end up with more casualties tha
Andrew's POVThe moment Van Stone stepped forward, I knew we were in trouble. He was the kind of trouble that I liked to avoid unless I had no option.He moved with the kind of ease that only came with years of calculated violence—each step controlled, measured, like a predator that had already decided how this fight would end.And I wouldn't be surprised if he already did. But I was an alpha after all and he was a beta. No matter how strong he was I would always be a league above him.My grip tightened around my sword, but even that simple movement felt heavier than it should. The rune’s poison was still in my system, dulling my strength, slowing me down. I could hide it from the others, but against Van? He would notice. He already had.I'm sure he had a hand in it. To soften me up before the kill. Well bad news for him, because I'm not that easy to kill.His smirk deepened, eyes gleaming with something dangerously close to amusement. “You look unwell, Andrew.”My very thoughts. Any
Andrew's POVThe moment Van disappeared into the shadows, it seemed as if the chaos was over.The whole place that was like a war zone all at once became quiet. Too quiet.I felt it immediately—something was off.The assassins who had been pressing in, determined, unstoppable and precise, suddenly became docile. Their strikes lost their killing intent, movements no longer aiming to kill us but to get enough breathing space to escape.Then, without warning, they withdrew, all at once. One by one, they melted into the darkness, slipping out of the broken windows and doorway, vanishing as if they had never been there at all.I wanted to give chase and make sure everyone of the bastards were dead but I couldn't. I felt too weak to hold myself up.My blade was still raised. My body, still tense. My breaths came in ragged gasps, the poison twisting in my veins, turning my limbs heavy.Ever since I touched that letter given to me I haven't been myself. It still bugged me how my room came und
Andrew’s POVI threw on my shirt, barely managing to button it as Elara rushed into her jeans. Her hair was still messy, cheeks flushed from everything we just did, but the look in her eyes had changed. Worry had replaced pleasure. She knew me too well not to read the tension in my voice.She didn’t even ask what Greg had said again. She just grabbed her boots.“Do you think it’s Dorian?” she asked as she yanked them on.“I don’t know,” I muttered, heading toward the door. “But Greg sounded...off. And if it’s enough to make him call mid-morning like that, something’s wrong.”I opened the door, and the cold air slapped us like a warning. I reached for the keys to the Jeep, but before I could even hit the button, I heard familiar footsteps. Fast. Urgent.“Andrew!” Michael’s voice carried through the trees, Lora right behind him.“Thank goodness you guys are here.” I asked as we met halfway across the clearing.“We were relaxing close to the lake,” he said, breathing hard. “Got the sam
Andrew's POVThe moment I whispered those words into her ears I was greeted with goosebumps on her skin where my lips were and a shiver.I smiled at the effect that I was having on her. I can't believe I managed to survive so long without spending every waking moment beside her.With a hunger that rose deep from my stomach, I shifted and captured her mouth with mine eliciting a moan from her as she adjusted practically climbing into my lap.Without any much resistance, she opened her mouth to me as my tongue slipped into her and I groaned my delight as I enjoyed the taste of her.Her hand rested on my shoulder while the other wound around my neck drawing my head as she intensified the kiss almost making it bruising.But I loved it. Every single fucking moment. I nipped on her bottom lip and sucked it into mouth as she grinded against my hard on.“You're going to be the death of me Elara.” I muttered as I broke the kiss for a moment to catch my breath as I leaned my forehead against he
Elara's POVBy the time we all made it back to the cabin, it was well into the day. Bone tired, we all fell into position on a piece of furniture or the floor as we thought back to how the night had gone.I sat in the the couch with Andrew beside me. He drew me close to his side as he was scared that I would evaporate from his side.Michael and Lora took the other sofa in the room, practically sandwiched together. Greg chose the floor close to the wooden walls.“I can't believe we actually survived that.” Michael muttered as he looked between me and Greg.“Why will you say that?” I asked “I didn't know you had little faith in us.”“Oh c’mon, that's not I meant and you know it.” He replied giving me his full attention.I knew that wasn't what he meant. It was just that the look on his that still held disbelief just unsettled me and I wanted to tease him a bit.I sighed. “I know exactly what you mean.”“And?” He urged.“It was a miracle. What with the god rising and the way he was deter
Elara’s POVThe first breath I took was like drowning in light.Not air—light. Thick and sharp and everywhere. It filled my lungs, my veins, my mind.Then I came back.And everything hurt.My eyes snapped open. The world rushed in too fast. The ruins. The silence. The blood on my hands. The echo of Andrew’s voice still whispering my name.He was holding me.His arms were wrapped around me like he was afraid I’d disappear again.“Andrew,” I croaked. My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was softer—richer. Like something else had laced itself through me.He jerked back just enough to look at me, his face streaked with blood and ash and tears. His lips parted in a shaky breath.“You’re awake,” he whispered. “Elara, you’re awake—”“I’m okay.” I wasn’t. But I had to say it for him.He exhaled and pressed his forehead to mine. “You scared the hell out of me.”I touched his jaw. “You offered your life.”“I’d do it again.”He kissed me, quick and desperate. It wasn’t gentle. It was real.I clun
Lora’s POVThe world cracked.Not metaphorically. Not in the dreamy, nice and poetic way people say when things fall apart.I mean the altar—centuries old, cursed by blood and time—split down the middle with a sound like the earth itself had screamed.I flinched as shards of stone flew past my face. One grazed my cheek, warm blood sliding down before I could even register the sting. But I didn’t stop moving.“Elara!” I shouted, weaving between the broken stones and bodies. I saw her in Andrew’s arms, limp and deathly still, and something in me nearly shattered too.Not her. Please, not her. She was my best friend and the last thing I wanted was for her losing her life in this wretched place.Then Greg—no, the thing that had been Greg—turned toward me. His eyes weren’t his anymore. Red and empty. His smile too wide, very wrong and completely twisted.My heart pounded, fists clenched. The god had taken him. It had used him.But now?Now even that thing was looking like it wanted to devo
Andrew’s POVThe moment Elara expended her power trying to keep the god locked, it seemed like everything had stopped to focus on this particular moment. I stood screaming her name as she tried to do the impossible. But when I watched her falling, I couldn't take it anymore."Elara!" I tore through the red-glowing haze that had blanketed everything. My feet slammed hard into the ancient steps, sliding as I reached her. She was limp. Her skin had gone pale, almost gray, and her eyes fluttered like she was on the edge of leaving me. “Stay with me, dammit. Elara, breathe.”She didn’t respond. Her lips trembled, breath catching in shallow bursts.The air cracked above us—the sky splitting as the Blood Moon hit its peak. I looked up.And saw it.The gate was open. Not just some door or portal. This was ancient, raw, and alive. It was jagged light framed by black mist, spinning slowly in the heavens above the altar. And from it, something moved, a hand reached out.The forgotten god.Did
Elara's POVThe scream that tore from my throat didn’t feel like mine.It came from somewhere deeper—bone-deep, soul-deep. My back arched against the pulsing altar, and the red light crashing down from the Blood Moon carved through me like I was paper. Everything inside me felt like it was breaking apart. Shattered pieces of a girl who used to be Elara.Then I heard him."Elara!" Andrew’s voice cut through the chaos.I clung to it.The pain was still there, like I was being ripped from the inside out, but I clung to the sound of him. It grounded me. Reminded me of who I was. Of the nights we used to spend togetger as a couple. As mates. Of the way he whispered my name when no one else was listening.I blinked through the red haze and found him kneeling beside me, hands cupping my face. His eyes wide. Terrified. His thumb brushed the tears off my cheeks, and I leaned into the touch like it was the only thing keeping me alive."You’re still here," I choked out."I’m not going anywher
Andrew’s POVThe world went quiet.It shouldn’t have. There was chanting all around me, the sky roaring with thunder, cultists pacing like wolves ready to tear the altar apart. But all I could hear was the sound of her heart breaking.Elara’s eyes were locked on me—pleading, desperate, furious.And I’d faltered.Fates, I’d faltered.The girl beside her—the replacement—was glowing now. Not metaphorically. Literally. The altar pulsed under her knees, and I could feel the magic reaching for her like it had once reached for Elara.This was the moment.One path ended in her survival. The other? Salvation for the rest of the world.I didn’t move.My chest felt like it was splitting in half. The prophecy I didn't know much about seemed not to care who she was. It just needed a vessel. And now it had one.But she wasn’t Elara.“You said you loved her,” Michael’s voice tore through the tension, sharp and shaking. “So act like it.”I blinked.“She’s dying,” Dorian said again from behind me. Cal
Elara’s POVI couldn’t feel my hands.Not because of the chains—they’d long since numbed my wrists. It wasn’t even the dark magic humming through the stone under me, or the pulsing weight of that fake moon bleeding into the sky.It was the woman.Her.The one Dorian dragged in like an offering. The one who looked like me. I didn't know how he managed to do something this sick all on his own but it had my hackles rising.She stumbled, dirt in her hair, blood down one arm. Her eyes met mine—and I saw myself.I froze.My mouth went dry.No.No, no, no. I have to get to the bottom of this.“What is this?” I croaked. My voice was rough, scraped raw from screaming earlier. “Who is she?”Dorian smiled, cold and smooth. “Insurance,” he said. “A vessel the altar will accept willingly.”“She’s not me.” I pointed out trying to figure out exactly was going on.“She’s enough,” he said. “The Blood Moon doesn’t care for names. Only bloodlines. Only sacrifice.”Behind him, Harrow stood silent, arms f