MasukSergio's POVI pulled back from Leandro, and I looked at the arena.The court was still there, the nobles were still in their seats, the guards were still standing at attention, and the healers were still hovering at the edges of the sand. And Ramiro was still chained to the iron gate, watching us with his dark, hateful eyes.I looked at Ramiro, and he looked back at me. His dark eyes were full of hatred, and his lips were still moving behind the gag, and I knew that if he could speak, he would be screaming. He was not defeated, and he was not broken. He was just waiting for his next chance.I looked away.The moment between Leandro and me had been real, but it had not stopped the world from turning. There was still a judgment to be delivered. There was still a sentence to be pronounced, and Leandro was still bleeding.I did not want to let go of him, and I did not want to watch him stand up and face the court when he could barely stand at all. But I knew that this was not my decision
Sergio's POVI pulled back from the kiss, and Leandro stood on his feet. We prepared to step out of the arena, but Leandro's body swayed. But I caught him before he fell.Leandro's weight sagged against me, and I felt his body tremble, and I felt his hand grip my shoulder like he was holding onto the only solid thing in the world. His face was pale, and his breathing was ragged, and the black blood from the wound in his side was still seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the sand."Leandro," I said, and I tightened my arms around him. "Leandro, you need to sit down.""I am fine," Leandro said, and his voice was hoarse. "I am fine.""You are not fine," I said. "You are bleeding, you are shaking, and you can barely stand.""I am fine," Leandro said again, and he tried to straighten up, but his legs buckled, and I had to catch him again.I felt the heat of his body through his torn shirt. I felt the wetness of his blood against my hands, and I felt the tremor that ran through h
Sergio's POVThe silence stretched like a held breath, and I heard my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. I heard Leandro's ragged breathing beside me, and I heard the distant howl of the wind outside the arena walls. But beyond that, there was nothing.No cheers. No shouts. No whispers. Just silence.The nobles were frozen in their seats, with their faces pale with shock. Some of them stared at Leandro with their mouths open. Others stared at Ramiro, who was still on the ground, gasping for air and clutching his broken arm. And some of them stared at me, like they were seeing me for the first time.I did not know what to make of it. I had expected anger, and I had expected outrage. I had expected the court to turn on Leandro for showing mercy to a traitor. But I had not expected this. I had not expected silence.Then a voice rose from the middle of the stands, and it cut through the stillness like a blade."Did the king just spare him?" the voice asked.The question hung there, unansw
Sergio's POV I had already seen the monster.I had seen Leandro lose control in the dark of my room, and I had seen him stop himself before he hurt me. I had seen the violence in his hands and the gentleness in his touch. I had seen him at his worst, and I had loved him anyway.I knew exactly who Leandro was, and I knew that Ramiro was wrong.Leandro's jaw tightened, and I saw his foot press down harder, and Ramiro's face began to turn purple.I knew what Leandro was thinking. I could feel it through the bond, like a surge of fury and pain and grief so overwhelming that it nearly knocked the breath out of me. Ramiro had taken everything from him. Ramiro had poisoned me, he had exiled Leticia, and he had spent years poisoning the court, and building his army, and plotting to destroy everything Leandro had ever loved.And now Ramiro was on the ground, defenseless, at Leandro's mercy.It would have been so easy with one movement. Just one moment of pressure, and Ramiro would be gone, an
Sergio's POVRamiro's claws came for my face, and I did not flinch.I did not close my eyes, and I did not turn away. I stood there in the sand, with my heart pounding against my ribs and my breath caught somewhere in my throat, and I watched death coming for me without a single tremor of fear.I had spent my whole life being afraid. I had been afraid of my father, and afraid of my stepmother. I have been afraid of the guards, the nobles, the court, and the endless parade of people who had looked at me like I was nothing worth saving. Fear had been my companion for so long that I had forgotten what it felt like to stand without it.But in that moment, in the cold sand of the arena, with Ramiro's silver claws slicing through the air toward me, I was not afraid.Because Leandro was behind me, and that was enough.Ramiro's claws were a breath away from my skin when the world shifted. One moment he was in front of me, and the next he was gone, ripped sideways by a force I did not see comin
Sergio's POVRamiro's claws descended, and I knew that Leandro was going to die. I knew that Ramiro was going to kill him, and I knew that I could not let that happen. I did not think, and I did not plan, I just moved.It was not a decision, it was pure and primal instinct. And it was the same instinct that had kept me alive through twelve years of captivity. My body moved before my mind could catch up, and by the time I understood what I was doing, I was already in motion.Dario's grip on my arm loosened for just a fraction of a second, and that was all I needed. I tore myself free from Dario's grasp and I ran.The sound of my own heartbeat filled my ears, drowning out the crowd and the shouting and the chaos. There was only one thing in the world that mattered, and he was kneeling in the sand with death standing over him."Sergio!" Dario shouted behind me. "Sergio, stop!"I did not stop. I could not stop when Leandro was kneeling in the sand, defenseless, and Ramiro was about to ki
Sergio's POVThe morning after Leandro stayed in my room, I woke to find him gone.The space beside me was still warm, and the indent of his body was still pressed into the mattress, and I could smell him on the pillows, like snow and smoke and something wild that I was starting to recognize. I la
The room had a fire, and that was the first thing I noticed when the guard shoved me through the doorway and closed the door behind me with a click that echoed in my ears like the sound of a cage locking shut.It was a real fire, with logs burning and flames dancing and heat pouring off it in waves
I had expected a monster, the kind of monster that lived in the stories my mother used to tell me before bed, with sharp teeth and claws and eyes that glowed in the dark, but when the doors of the throne room opened and Lycan king Leandro walked in, I realized that I had been wrong about everything
The snow burned my knees through the holes in my trousers, and I had been kneeling for what felt like hours, though time moved differently when you were waiting to die, and I had been waiting to die for as long as I could remember.The chains bit into my wrists, the metal so cold that it felt like







