LOGINLilaIt’s strange how the smallest sound, like the brush of quill to parchment, can fill a room with thoughts.The palace beyond our chambers is silent now, its pulse softened to the rhythm of domestic life. I can hear faint laughter drifting through the open balcony doors: the twins chasing each ot
DamonSomewhere below, laughter spills faintly through the gardens: high, bright, unguarded. The twins again, playing well-past their bedtime but I don’t have the heart to call them inside.I walk the long hall that leads from the council chamber to our private suite, the torches low, their flames s
Every tree leans toward the wind, every leaf trembles like it recognizes us.Ruby hums beneath my ribs, her joy is an endless echo. Faster, she urges. The world will wait for us to slow down later.So we run.Zane’s golden form stays just ahead, his stride long and sure, the light from the moon catc
LilaI could feel it in the stone beneath my bare feet, in the calm rhythm of the sentries’ hearts beyond the gates: the kingdom was in a time of peace.I slipped through the eastern corridor, skirts gathered in one hand, the cool floor pressing against my soles. When I reached the stables, I found
The crowd quieted instantly as she lifted her hands over the flame. The moon above flared brighter, its light spilling across her skin like liquid light.This was her kingdom. Our kingdom. I realized it had never really been mine alone.LilaThe fire crackled, alive and breathing. Its gold bled into
DamonThe air burned cold and clean beneath the full moon.From the dais, I could see the courtyard stretch endlessly below; lanterns hanging from the ramparts, petals scattered across stone, banners of every Pack rippling in the silver wind.Wolves, healers, and warriors stood shoulder to shoulder.
LilaOne minute I was standing in Damon’s receiving chamber, Ella’s perfume strangling my senses. The next, I was in the western hall, my pulse a dull thud in my ears.She’d been there.Not just in the palace, but with Damon. Alone. Smiling like she belonged, or was invited.The memory of her voice
AsherThe tavern smelled like old Rogues and fresh blood.It was the kind of place that never saw daylight, being wedged between crumbling stone deep in the less wealthy edge of the capital.No banners here. No royal colors. Just soot-stained wood, a haze of smoke from cheap cigars, and a bartender
I moved like a ghost through the room. Fitting, I thought, since I’d been compared to the ghost of Damon’s first mate since arriving.The hem of my cloak trailed over the rugs, my fingers loosening the ties at my throat without thought. I left it on the chair. Then my boots. Then everything that fel
DamonThe report in front of me blurred.I wasn’t tired—at least, not in the way that sleep could fix. But something shifted. A crack across the inside of my chest. Cold. Empty. A distant pulse of wrongness that made my hand still above the page.I hadn’t felt the bond like this in days. It had been







