LOGINJulian's POVThe weeks blurred together.I didn't know how long it had been since Lena fell into her coma. I didn't know how long it had been since my child died or how long it had been since I last left my study, bathed, last ate a proper meal. The days and nights had melted into one endless stretch of darkness, and I drifted through it like a ghost.The whiskey was my only companion now. The only thing that dulled the pain, that quieted the voices in my head, that kept me from drowning in the grief that threatened to consume me. I drank until I couldn't feel anything.I was a ghost of my former self. Unkempt. Reeking of alcohol. Wandering the empty halls of the pack house in the night, muttering Elara's name.The pack had given up on me.I saw it in their eyes when they passed me in the corridors,the pity, the contempt, the quiet disgust. They had once feared me, respected me, obeyed me. Now they looked at me like I was a broken thing, a pathetic shell of the Alpha I had once been. T
Julian's POVThe hospital corridor was cold and silent.I stood outside the maternity wing, my back against the wall, my hands clenched at my sides, and I listened to the sounds of my world falling apart. The healers' voices, low and urgent. The soft beeping of monitors. The muffled sobs of the nurses who had been with Lena through the night. And beneath it all, the silence,the terrible silence that told me everything I needed to know.My child was dead.The healers had told me an hour ago, their faces pale with exhaustion and grief. The labor had been too long, too difficult. The baby had been born premature, underweight, struggling to breathe. They had done everything they could,everything but it hadn't been enough. The child had slipped away before I could even hold it.And Lena was still alive, but barely. She had slipped into a coma after the birth, her body too weak to recover from the trauma. The healers didn't know if she would ever wake up. They didn't know if she would ever
Elara's POVThe victory celebration was muted.The pack had gathered in the great hall to honor the fallen and celebrate the survival of Blood Moon, but the usual songs and laughter were absent. The air was thick with grief and exhaustion, and the wolves who had fought beside us moved through the crowd with hollow eyes and bandaged wounds. They had won the battle. But they had lost friends, family, packmates. And they knew, as well as I did, that the war was far from over.I stood beside Kaelen at the head of the hall, my hand in his, and I watched the wolves of Blood Moon as they mourned their dead. I felt their grief pressing down on me, and I felt something else something I hadn't expected.Guilt.Lena was in labor. Her child,Julian's child might not survive. And I was standing here, in the safety of Blood Moon territory, celebrating a victory that had been bought with blood and pain and death. I had wanted Julian to suffer. I had wanted him to pay for everything he had done to me.
Elara's POVThe smoke cleared slowly, revealing a courtyard that looked like a battlefield from a nightmare.Bodies lay everywhere wolves from both packs, some dead, some wounded, some barely clinging to life. The cobblestones were slick with blood, and the air was thick with the smell of smoke. Our warriors moved through the carnage, tending to the wounded, gathering the dead, and securing the place. The enemy had retreated, dragging their wounded and their humiliated Alpha back across the southern border.But the victory felt hollow.I stood beside Kaelen, my hands still trembling, my power still humming beneath my skin. I had used more of it than I ever had before unleashed it in ways I hadn't known were possible and now I felt drained and empty and strangely fragile. The silver light had faded from my palms, but I could still feel it inside me"We won," I whispered. "We actually won.""We won this battle," Kaelen said, his voice grim. "But the war is far from over."I looked at hi
Elara's POVJulian's claws were inches from my throat when Kaelen hit him.The impact was explosive,a collision of two massive wolves that sent shockwaves through the frozen courtyard. Julian was knocked sideways, his attack aborted, his body crashing into a pile of broken barricades. Kaelen didn't stop. He lunged after him, his black fur bristling, his silver eyes blazing with a fury I had never seen before.They collided again?teeth and claws and snarls and the ground shook beneath them.I stood frozen, my hands still raised, my power still humming beneath my skin. I had never seen anything like it. Two Alphas, both powerful, both deadly, both fighting for supremacy. Julian was faster, more agile, his attacks vicious. But Kaelen was stronger, more relentless, his attacks brutalThey fought across the courtyard, crashing through barricades and scattering debris. Our warriors watched, their faces pale, their weapons raised but useless. The enemy wolves who had been frozen by my light
Elara's POVJulian had seen me alive, radiant, glowing with silver light and he had not been surprised. He had been furious.He had known."You're alive," he said, his voice cold and steady. " I knew you were hiding somewhere, licking your wounds, waiting for your chance to strike."I stared down at him from the battlements, my heart pounding, my hands still glowing with silver light. "You knew?""I felt it," Julian said. "The mate bond. It never broke. It never faded. I felt you every day,your fear, your pain, your anger. I felt you when you arrived in Blood Moon territory. I felt you when you retrieved the evidence. I felt you when you severed the bond just now."I felt the blood drain from my face. He had felt everything. Every moment of fear, every moment of hope, every moment of love. He had been inside my head, inside my heart, and I had never known."You monster," I whispered."I'm not the monster," Julian said. "You are. You're the one who betrayed me. You're the one who stole







