LOGINWendy’s POVI didn't care about being quiet anymore. I sprinted down the hallway, my breath tearing at my lungs.I needed to find Kael. I needed to find the Alpha. I needed—I turned the corner toward the main stairwell and slammed into something solid."Whoa there, little mouse."I looked up, gasping.It wasn't a guard.It was Cecilia.She was standing in the middle of the hallway, blocking the path to the stairs. She was wearing the nightgown I had made for her, her hair loose around her shoulders.The bandage covered the left side of her face.But her right eye...It wasn't the wide, fearful eye of the girl I had been reading stories to.It was dead. Flat. Cold.And she was smiling."Where are you running to, Wendy?" she asked. Her voice was that low, husky thing I had heard in the room. The mask was gone."I... I..." I stepped back, my hands shaking. "I forgot... the thread. For your dress.Cecilia titled her head. It was a jerky, unnatural movement."The dress,"
I climbed the spiral stairs to the tower, my legs heavy.I reached the heavy oak door.My hand hovered over the iron latch.I pushed the handle down and stepped inside.The room was sweltering.Ares had fed the fire until it roared, the orange light dancing violently against the black stone walls.He was standing by the hearth, one arm braced against the mantel, staring into the flames. He looked like a statue carved from tension and violence.He heard the door close.I saw the muscles in his back bunch, a ripple of movement under the leather.But he didn’t turn."You're burning all the wood," I said quietly.Ares slowly turned his head.The firelight caught the scar on his face, twisting it into a grimace. His silver eyes were dark, almost black, the pupils blown wide.He looked at me—at my face, my hands, my body.He looked like a man who had been holding his breath for an hour."I like the heat," he rumbled. His voice was rough, like gravel grinding together."It's suffocating,"
The preparations for the Harvest Festival were in full swing. Servants scurried back and forth with garlands of dried winter berries and ribbons of deep crimson silk. It was chaotic, loud, and vibrant.And in the center of it all, sitting on a bench with his bad leg propped up on a velvet cushion, was Riel."No, no," he said gently, pointing to a banner two young Omegas were trying to hang above the hearth. "A little to the left. The Alpha's crest should be centered. It demands respect."The Omegas giggled, adjusting the fabric. Riel smiled at them—that soft, boyish smile that I remembered from summers spent chasing frogs in the creek. It was a smile that didn't look like it belonged on the face of a man who had been tortured."He seems… better," Wendy whispered, appearing at my elbow with a basket of linens.I nodded, leaning against the stone archway of the entrance. "He does. Elias says the infection is clearing. The fever broke last night.""He’s very polite," Wendy added,
Peace.It was a strange, fragile thing, lighter than air, and I carried it carefully, afraid that one wrong step would shatter it.Three days had passed since the confrontation in the solar. Three days since Ares had, with a jaw tight enough to snap bone, agreed to let the cage doors open.And in those three days, the sky hadn't fallen. The walls hadn't crumbled.In fact, the sun had come out.I stood on the balcony overlooking the lower training fields, a mug of hot tea warming my hands. Below, the morning drills were in full swing. The rhythmic thud-thud-thud of wooden staves against shields drifted up, a familiar, comforting percussion.But there was a new note in the symphony today.Down near the weapons rack, leaning heavily on a cane but standing upright, was Riel.He wasn't fighting. His leg was still heavily bandaged, stiff and useless for combat. But he wasn't isolating himself in the shadows, either. He was talking to Valerius.I leaned over the railing, straining
The walk from the Healer’s Wing to the Alpha’s solar felt like a march into enemy territory.I wasn't walking toward my mate; I was walking toward a warlord."I promise," I had told Cecilia.And I meant it. I would not let a scarred child and a broken man rot in rooms with barred windows just because my mate saw ghosts in every shadow.I pushed open the heavy oak doors of the solar without knocking.Ares was there, surrounded by his generals—Kael, Valerius, and three other Enforcers I didn’t know well.They were hunched over the main table, moving markers across a map of the northern border.The air in the room was thick with tension and the smell of alpha aggression.When I entered, the conversation died instantly.Five pairs of eyes snapped to me.Ares straightened slowly. He looked exhausted. The lines around his mouth were deep, his silver eyes duller than usual.He saw the set of my jaw, the way my hands were balled into fists at my sides."Leave us," he commanded, his gaze nev
I didn’t run. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me flee.I walked down the tower stairs with a measured, steady tread, even though my blood was boiling hot enough to melt the stone beneath my boots.Go.The word echoed in my skull, bouncing around with the memory of his back turning against me. He had dismissed me. Like a servant. Like a child who didn’t understand the grown-up talk of war.I slammed the heavy door of our chambers shut, the sound a satisfying, thunderous boom that shook the tapestries."Arrogant, controlling, impossible bastard," I hissed to the empty room.I paced. Eighteen steps to the window. Eighteen steps back. The rhythm that had kept me sane during my captivity now just fueled my rage.I wasn’t a captive anymore. I was the Luna. I had executed a traitor. I had earned my place at his side in blood and silver fire.And yet, the moment I disagreed with him, the moment I showed mercy to someone he hated, I was back in the box.I walked to the t







