LOGINPOV: Rowan
The King's declaration hung over the smoking ruins like a sentence from an executioner. The words seemed to physically suck the air out of the clearing, not a single warrior dared breathe, not an elder dared scrape their staff against the stone.
I stood frozen on the steps of the sacred platform, my sword half-drawn, my knuckles whi
POV: LyraNothing in the Blackwood valley had prepared me for the sheer, suffocating scale of Oakhaven.We crested the final ridge of the Frostfang pass just as the morning sun fractured through the gray mist, painting the valley below in cold shades of gold and iron.A massive defensive wall, easily sixty feet high and lined with hundreds of black iron banners bearing the silver wolf of the Ashveil dynasty, encircled the entire lower city. As our caravan approached the Great Obsidian Gate, the massive iron-banded timber groaned open on counterweights that shook the bedrock beneath our horses’ hooves.I pulled the King’s heavy wool cloak tighter around my shoulders, acutely conscious of the mud caking my boots a
POV: LyraThe pines of the Blackwood valley didn’t wave goodbye, they simply blurred into dark streaks of green and black as the horses carried us away from the only dirt I had ever known.I didn't turn around because I knew that if I looked back toward the smoking timber walls, I wouldn't see Rowan running after me, and I wouldn't see the pack repenting on their knees, I would only see my mother’s handmade blankets trampled into the mud outside my empty cottage, and the cold, proud arch of Selene’s painted eyebrows.So I kept my chin up, my back straight against the stiff leather of the saddle, and stared into the mist ahead.The white ceremonial gown I had put on with shaking, joyful fingers yest
POV: RowanThe King's declaration hung over the smoking ruins like a sentence from an executioner. The words seemed to physically suck the air out of the clearing, not a single warrior dared breathe, not an elder dared scrape their staff against the stone.I stood frozen on the steps of the sacred platform, my sword half-drawn, my knuckles white on the leather grip.Malrik didn't look back as he kept his massive left arm locked securely around Lyra’s waist, hauling her against his armored flank as though she were a porcelain chalice carved from the moon itself.Her white ceremonial dress, the one she had carefully washed and pressed by hand for tonight fluttered against his blackened plate mail.
POV: MalrikFor ten years, my world had smelled of nothing but sulfur, decaying iron, and ash.The necrotic rot coiled around my collarbone like frozen ivy, whispering madness day and night into the back of my mind.It was a poison forged by traitors, an incurable disease designed to turn the Lycan King into a blood-crazed beast before my thirty-second winter.Every breath I took was a calculated war against my own failing flesh.Until my hand touched her cheek, the moment the leather of my glove brushed the damp skin of this frail, tear-stained woman standing in the dirt, the world went dead silent.
POV: LyraI had spent my whole life believing the Blackwood Pack bowed to no one, then I watched Rowan drop his head to the ground, and I understood how wrong we all had been.The entire world fell silent, and even the terrifying sounds of screaming stopped, as I stood outside my broken cottage, staring toward the center of the village as a thick, choking smoke rose into the dark night sky, turning the bright, beautiful moon into a pale, sickly shadow.The ground beneath my feet trembled faintly with every heavy, measured step that echoed from the direction of the sacred courtyard.Something immensely powerful had arrived, something terrifying that made every single wolf in the valley tremble with raw fear, and my first thought was to turn and run into the dark woods, since I had no place in the Blackwood Pack anymore.Rowan had rejected me before every witness, the warriors had thrown my remaining belongings into the dirt like trash, and no one would even notice if I disappeared into
POV: RowanSomewhere beyond the bright celebration fires, a stranger had just spoken a name that would burn our world down before sunrise, and none of us had heard it yet.The moment Lyra disappeared into the dark crowd, something inside me broke, and my wolf paced wildly inside my mind, snarling with frantic urgency, "Go after her! Bring her back!"I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms and muttered aloud, "No."Then my wolf growled back angrily, "She is our mate! We belong to her," I forced myself to reply, "not anymore," even though the words tasted like bitter ash in my mouth as I said them.I forced myself to keep my eyes fixed on the remaining guests instead of looking down the dark path where Lyra had just vanished as I kept telling myself this was the right decision, it had to be.The political alliance with the Ashcroft Kingdom would make the Blackwood Pack stronger, wealthier, and safer than ever before, finally bringing a permanent end to the brutal border a







