FAZER LOGINWinora's POV
The mark on my collarbone burned as I pressed my palm against it, feeling the raised edges beneath my skin. The Moon Goddess's words still echoed in my skull but she didn't understand. Telling Fenrir the truth would get me killed. My wolf stirred weakly, sensing my panic. Hide it, she whispered. Now. I hadn't worn the vial. I'd been too weak, too lost in the visions to remember. Please don't notice. Please don't Fenrir stood there, rain soaked and wild eyed, his chest heaving. His presence filled the room like a storm dark as those unmatched eyes locked onto me. "Winora." I scrambled backward on the bed, my heart hammering. He's going to smell it and He's going to know. Moon goodness please help me. Nyko's called out from behind . "My king, you need to come to the garage. We found Xena's father. He's dead but he left a note." Fenrir's jaw tightened. "What does it say?" A pause. "'Ask the queen about her mother and why the Crimson Circle wants her dead.'" His eyes never left me as the mark pulsed beneath my hidden skin ~~~~~~~~ The garage smelled of blood and oil. Xena stood over her father's body, dry eyed and burning with fury. Fenrir crouched beside the corpse, reading the crumpled note. When he rose, his expression was carved from ice. "Your mother," he said, "was part of the Crimson Circle. She helped plan the Luna's murder." Xena's face twisted as she wiped her tears . " You're lying." "I don't lie." "My mother was loyal. She was never part of the crimson circle." "Your mother was a traitor." Fenrir's voice was a blade. "Your father knew but he stayed silent now he's dead." Xena's hands clenched. "Is that all you can say fenrir ? After my parents several years of loyalty to this pack now you are accusing them as traitors" "He chose his side." Fenrir turned away. "Take the body and Clean this up." Xena bowed as she furiously wiped her teary eyes . "If you say so, I will serve you." But I saw her eyes. She's planning something. That night, I couldn't sleep as I stared at the ceiling, Someone had been watching and Fenrir, who trusted no one was hunting the same truth I was and if he found out I have been keeping this secret from him he wouldn’t spare my life. Far away, in the shadows of the forest. Xena pressed a burner phone to her ear. "I did what you asked," she whispered. "The notes are placed. The bodies are staged." A voice on the other end cold, feminine but familiar. "Good. Now make sure the Lycan King never learns the truth." Xena's hand trembled. "And the girl?" A pause. "Kill her before the next full moon Or I'll kill you both." The line went dead as Xena stared at the phone, rage and fear warring in her chest. Forgive me, Father but I won't die for her and I will do everything in my power to avenge you. She disappeared into the dark.The first thing I did after Fenrir disappeared behind the council chamber doors was check whether the guard was still outside my room as I searched my belongings for the silver ring my mother had left me. It was gone. I checked beneath the mattress, inside my drawers, and even between the pages of the book I'd been reading before Fenrir came to my room the previous night. Someone had left the ring at the eastern gate. Someone had known enough about my mother to send a warning to the Alpha. And Fenrir had recognized the symbol engraved inside it. What frightened me most wasn't that a stranger knew about my past. It was that Fenrir knew something I didn't. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the pendant resting against my palm. The crescent moon and four tiny stars glimmered in the morning light. “Who were you, Mama?” I whispered. She had died when I was young, leaving me with more questions than memories. I'd spent years suffering under my step mother. Instead, here I
Winora’s POV“Are you going to disobey?” Fenrir’s voice brushed against my ear, low and threatening.I stood frozen between his arms, my back pressed against the wall, staring at the man who had somehow become both the source of my fear and the reason my heart refused to behave.His mismatched eyes held mine. Neither offered me a hint of the man who had almost kissed me before pushing me away as though I meant nothing to him. I hated that I remembered that moment.I hated that I still wondered what would have happened if he hadn't stopped Most of all, I hated that he could stand this close to me and still make me feel utterly unwanted.“Yes,” I whispered.His expression hardened. “What did you say?”“I said yes. I will disobey you.” For a moment, neither of us moved as fenrir slowly straightened.“You should be careful with your words, Winora.”“And you should be careful with your demands.” His jaw clenched. I knew I was pushing him. Every instinct screamed at me to lower my eyes, apo
Fenrir's POV The council chamber smelled of old parchment, burnt wood, and the suffocating weight of tradition. I stood at the head of the long oak table, fists planted on the surface, staring down six of the oldest, most insufferable lycans in the pack. "The bloodline must be secured," Elder Thorne rasped, his voice like gravel scraping against bone. "The ritual was a formality. The magic ensured the child would take. But the act itself, the physical union must be performed to solidify the bond between sire and surrogate. It is tradition. It is law." "The child is already conceived," I said flatly. "The surrogate is pregnant. The line is secure." "The line is half secure," Elder Morwen countered, her sharp eyes glittering. "The child grows, but the pack grows restless. They whisper that their Alpha refuses to claim his surrogate. That he is weak. That he cannot perform his most basic duty." My wolf stirred, a low growl rumbling in my chest. They dare question us? "The p
Fenrir's POVThe door slammed behind her, and I stood there like a fucking statue, towel wrapped around my waist, cock hard enough to cut glass, and my wolf howling in my skull like a lovesick pup.“You let her go” my wolf purred.Shut up.“She was right there. Her scent……goddess, her scent like rain on wildflowers…” I said shut up.I dragged a hand down my face, trying to will my body back under control but It didn't work. Nothing worked not when it came to her.Winora, Her name alone was a splinter under my skin. She'd barged into my chambers like she belonged there like I belonged to her and I'd nearly ruined everything. Nearly pinned her against the wall, dragged those sheets from her trembling hands and buried myself inside her until neither of us could remember our own names.“You were going to kiss her.” My wolf continued as my thoughts went spiral.I know. My wolf prowled beneath my skin, smug and insufferable. “Looks like someone's in love.”I snorted, grabbing the shirt f
The moment his eyes landed on me dark, unreadable, burning with something I couldn't name. I should have turned around and fled. Forgotten the sheets. Slept on the bare mattress. Anything but this but my feet were rooted to the floor. He just stood there, shirt still tangled around his arms, watching me like I was the one who'd done something wrong. Which….technically, I had. "The sheets," I managed, voice coming out embarrassingly breathless. "I just……,I left them here earlier. When I made your bed." He tilted his head. "You made my bed." It wasn't a question. "I….yes. The servants were busy and you'd just come back from the fight and” I was rambling. Stop rambling. "It doesn't matter. I'll just grab them and go." I moved toward the bed, refusing to look at him, refusing to acknowledge the heat crawling up my neck. The sheets were folded neatly at the foot of his bed of course they were, because I'd folded them myself and I grabbed them, clutching them to my chest like a s
"YOU DARE?" Xena's shriek echoed through the corridor like a war cry. I stopped walking, closing my eyes for half a second. Should've kept going. But it was too late. She was already in front of me, cheek still red from my slap, eyes blazing with humiliation and rage. "A rankless wolf," she hissed, jabbing her finger at my chest, "slapping me? Do you have any idea who I am?" I didn't flinch. "A pain in my ass?" The servants lingering in the hallway gasped. Xena's face twisted. "I am fenrir’s closest friend ," she snarled. "I have rank. I have blood. You're nothing but a…." "Rankless?" I cut her off, stepping closer. "I'm your Luna." Xena laughed. It was loud and mocking, echoing off the walls like she wanted everyone to hear. She threw her head back, clutching her chest like I'd told the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "Luna?" She wiped a fake tear from her eye. "Oh, that's rich. You? Luna?" She gestured at me, up and down. "You're not his real mate. You're nothing but a pla







