Mag-log in[Isolde’s POV]The dark plum wine tasted like sour ash on my tongue.I sat in a high-backed velvet chair near the roaring fireplace of my private bedroom. My fingernails tapped a hard, fast rhythm against the stem of my crystal goblet. The fire popped and snapped, throwing tiny orange sparks against the black iron grate. I watched them hit the cold stone hearth and die out, one by one.I hated waiting.It had been nearly an hour since I slipped a small glass vial of nightshade venom into the palm of my newest guard. It was a simple task. Go down to the hidden lower wing, find the rat my husband dragged into this castle, and silence her forever. But to make sure the job was done cleanly, I had also sent my best shadow. A man trained to drop from the ceiling and slit a throat without making a single sound.The heavy wooden door to my bedroom clicked open. The noise was so quiet a normal human would have missed it, but my ears caught the faint scrape of the metal latch.I did not turn ar
[Elian’s POV]Waking up felt like dragging my body through a lake of thick, freezing mud.My eyelids were heavy, glued together by sheer exhaustion. The first thing that registered in my mind was the overwhelming, sharp smell of crushed bitter herbs, burnt sage, and the metallic tang of dried blood. The second thing was the dull, heavy throbbing radiating through every single nerve in my body.The sharp, blinding agony from the night before was gone, replaced by a deep, suffocating ache. My chest was wrapped so tightly in thick linen bandages that taking a full breath felt impossible. My left hand rested on top of the heavy fur blankets, completely immobilized by layers of stiff gauze. It pulsed with a steady, low burn, as if a hot coal had been stitched directly beneath my skin.I turned my head slowly on the soft pillow."Cillian," I rasped. My throat was entirely dry, the word coming out as a broken, pathetic whisper.I reached out with my uninjured right hand, searching the massive
[Cillian’s POV]"WHO IS IT?!"The echo of my roar rattled the heavy oak doors of the bedchamber. I leaned over the Elder Seer, my shadow swallowing his frail body completely. My chest heaved with rough, frantic breaths. My claws flexed, scraping harsh lines into the palms of my own hands.The old man did not answer. He was locked in a violent seizure on the marble floor. His spine arched so sharply that his joints popped. A thick line of dark blood spilled from his nose, running past his pale lips and dripping onto the white bandages wrapped around Elian’s chest.The pressure in the room built to a crushing, suffocating weight. My ears popped. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. The air tasted heavy, like rusted iron and harsh winter lightning.Suddenly, the glass lanterns mounted on the stone walls exploded.Shards of glass rained down across the thick rugs. The candles snuffed out in a single heartbeat, plunging the room into a deep, heavy gloom lit only by the pale
Kaelen P.O.VI bowed my head, turned on my heel, and walked out of the room. The glass vial burned like a white-hot coal in my palm. If Isolde knew the truth, she would realize she had just handed a loaded weapon to a man who wanted to use it more than taking his next breath.I descended the spiraling stone staircases, sinking deeper and deeper into the fortified underbelly of Oakhaven. The air grew damp and freezing. The torches were spaced far apart, casting long, wavering shadows across the slick stones.Two heavily armored Eastern guards stood at attention outside a reinforced oak door at the end of the hall. I didn't slow my stride. I held up the heavy gold seal of Queen Isolde."The Queen demands a perimeter sweep of the upper levels," I lied smoothly, projecting the arrogant authority of a royal favorite. "I am taking over this post. Move."The guards didn't question the seal. They bowed their heads, their armor clanking in the quiet corridor, and marched past me toward the sta
[Kaelen’s POV]Morning broke over the Eastern Kingdom with a suffocating, freezing gray haze that pressed heavily against the frost-covered glass of my quarters.I had not slept a single second. I had spent the entire night sitting in the pitch black, my mind spinning like a trapped, rabid wolf chewing off its own leg to escape a steel snare. My muscles were completely locked, my jaw aching violently from how tightly I had kept my teeth clamped together. My inner beast was entirely feral, thrashing against my ribs, demanding that I draw my sword and carve my way through the castle until I Killed the Northern Queen.But I couldn't. The Blood Tether bound my hands completely.A sharp, demanding rap at my wooden door shattered the tense silence of the morning."The Queen summons you," a muffled guard’s voice barked from the corridor. "Immediately."I slowly pushed myself up from the edge of the lumpy cot. I rolled my broad shoulders, the heavy steel plates of my Eastern armor grinding to
Elian’s head rested against my chest. He wasn't crying anymore. The pain had pushed him past tears into a terrifying, silent shock. His small body vibrated with a continuous, rattling shiver. His breaths were shallow, wet hitches that barely moved his ribs. Every time a new wave of phantom agony ripped through his spine, his delicate fingers dug into my forearms like bird talons, seeking an anchor in a storm he couldn't even see.I was entirely, completely paralyzed.I was the Warlord of the North. I commanded legions of hardened Lycans. I had torn rival Alphas limb from limb with my bare hands, bathed in the blood of usurpers, and conquered mountain ranges. Yet here I was, kneeling on the floor of my own impenetrable fortress, entirely incapable of stopping an invisible blade from carving my mate into pieces.The heavy oak doors at the end of the bedchamber groaned open.The frantic, panicked whispers of the healers instantly died. The entire room went completely, suffocatingly still
I didn't know if I was dying, but the world burned down around me.The castle became a dizzy, spinning blur of grey stone and flickering torchlight. I was held tight against a chest so broad and hard it felt like being pressed against a boulder. The heat coming off Cillian's body felt like pure hea
I couldn't look up, but I felt it. The whole feeling of the training yard disappeared. The air emptied out, replaced by a heavy, scary force that made every single Alpha in the yard fall to their knees without meaning to.Every Alpha except Torin. He was too busy wanting to hurt someone."Lick my b
I was not given food or water.A few hours after Cillian left me in the dark, the iron door shrieked open again. Two massive Beta guards dragged me out by the chains, my bare feet scraping against the freezing stone. The sudden influx of torchlight felt like daggers in my eyes. My head was pounding
The first thing I felt was cold. A heavy, damp chill seeped straight into my bones, sucking the life right out of me.Where was I? I tried to move, and a sharp, metallic clink echoed through the darkness. My breath caught. I pulled my arms toward my chest, stopping short as heavy iron chains bit







