Julie Marven – The EndEvery inch of my body ached… but this pain… it wasn’t normal.It was different—heavier than anything I had ever felt before.The air wouldn’t come, and that metallic taste flooded my mouth in a suffocating wave.My lungs burned like they were on fire, and each attempt to breathe was worse than the last.I blinked, trying to force my vision to focus.Dust and the sharp scent of blood hung in the air, making everything harder. But I could see it…The war—the battle that had felt endless—was finally over.At least for now.That monster… that vile creature, Alex Madson, lay on the ground, unmoving.And for a moment, I thought the dizziness was just exhaustion.But it wasn’t.The pain flared, unbearable.The air simply wouldn’t come.And then I felt it… something warm spilling through my fur, unstoppable.My body felt heavy, almost paralyzed—and I knew what had happened.I was dying.Voices echoed around me, distant, as if I were underwater.They rushed toward me—sol
Matthew DawolfJust seeing him—smelling him—was enough to turn my stomach.That old mutt… Alex Madson.The cancer rotting my kingdom from the inside out.The worm who plotted against me… against her… against everything that’s mine.Every time my eyes locked on that scarred, gray carcass, my entire body screamed for one thing—to split him open and hang his corpse at the palace gates as a warning to every other traitor.But my wolf…Always him.“No.”His voice poured over me like a bucket of ice water, trying to snuff out the fire burning in my chest.“You want him alive. He’s the thread that leads to the rest of the rats. Kill him now, and the plague hides deeper.”I hated admitting it, but he was right.Still… holding back was like gripping a blade made of fire.I lunged, twisting my sword, aiming for the gaps in his guard. I’ll admit—more than once, I aimed to kill. But he knew exactly what he was doing. Always dodging at the last heartbeat, moving like a stubborn shadow.Tired, woun
Alex MadsonThat... couldn't be happening.No, it couldn't be real.My eyes were betraying me. They had to be betraying me.Because there, right in front of me, coming toward me, was him.Matthew Dawolf.Alive... awake... and with a damn sword in his hand. For a moment, a brief moment...I backed away.I took two steps back, like a cornered animal.Out of pure instinct, of course.Because my eyes, as they wandered through that village that now looked more like a battlefield, finally realized what I didn't want to see before.I no longer had the advantage.My soldiers...Those cowardly worms bearing my family's coat of arms... were falling.And those who remained... hesitated.They knew.They saw.This was not the same Matthew as before.And even I...With years of war behind me, with scars that told stories of pain and survival...I felt it.The weight of that damn alpha's return.Damn it.How had he woken up?How had he awakened like this?Damn it...I cursed every one of those usel
Julie Marven — I won't leave anyone behindWhen I told Michelle and Megan to run, part of me wanted to run after them.I wanted to follow them and protect them until the end.But... I knew.I knew someone had to stay.Someone had to stop them from continuing.And that someone... was me.I fought with everything I had left.Claws cutting into the soldiers' skin, teeth grinding, screams lost in the chaos.Even with my body screaming for rest, even with my mind begging for peace...I kept going.I forced myself to resist.To fight.To not give in.And even with more of them appearing, even when I thought I couldn't do it, I kept going.After I was sure that no one else was following them, after the last arrows were deflected and the last soldier fell bleeding at my feet... I went back.Because... I couldn't leave anyone else behind.I thought of Marilyn.That kind, firm, but direct lady.That woman who, until a few days ago, was a stranger...But now she seemed like a mother.I thought a
Matthew Dawolf—The True Face of the Plague.With every step my horse took on the ground covered in blood, soot, and bodies, my anger only grew.My eyes still scanned that corrupt village—my people... my allies. Now reduced to dust and despair. All those depressing and devastating scenes, everything getting worse every time I looked.It wasn't war; it was worse than that.It was a massacre.And the bastards who caused it... were still standing right in front of me.Alex Madson's soldiers.Wearing his family crest as if it were a blessing, as if it gave them power, when in fact it was nothing more than a rotten curse.My men had already begun the counterattack, but when the enemy soldiers saw me...When their eyes met mine...Fear set in.This wasn't part of their plan, I realized. They didn't expect me to be alive. Much less there.But now... I was.I jumped off my horse with my sword already in my hands, not giving the enemy time to even breathe.I advanced.I struck the first one so
Matthew DawolfThe troops were ready.The horses were lined up.The swords were sharpened.But I was still there... sitting with those damn papers in my hands.Edward's reports.Pages and pages of rot, camouflaged by years. Familiar names, faces that swore allegiance to me, hiding their true intentions behind polished smiles and respectful greetings. Traitors. Cowards. Insects.My fingers crumpled the edges of the report.If I squeezed a little harder, the paper would turn to dust."They breathed under your roof. Under your leadership. And you allowed it," whispered my wolf, venomously inside my head.I growled softly, throwing one of the sheets into the burning fireplace, watching the fire lick the lies printed there.Until my eyes fell on a name.Amari's WoodEdward's words described the place as a ghost of civilization. The houses were falling apart, the crops were dry, and the tax system was so absurd that it took even water from the children's mouths. A banished nobleman ruled th