Mag-log inI Vanessa's POVThe hallway air felt heavy enough to choke on.I stood under the harsh, amber glare of the wall sconce, the heavy silk of my emerald gown rustling against the granite floor as I stared straight into Abel's face. The tight, unnatural set of his jaw, the violent rise and fall of his broad chest beneath his military tunic, and the stark, sickly gray of his skin didn't look like exhaustion. They looked like a man who had just taken a knife to the gut and was trying not to bleed out on the floor.'He is hiding something,' my wolf muttered, her voice cold and pacing in the dark corners of my mind. 'He smells like cold sweat and old blood. Something broke inside that washroom.'"Abel," I said, my voice dropping into a sharp, demanding register as I took a half-step closer to him. "Do not lie to me. You look like you've just stared straight into the face of a corpse. What happened in there?"Abel’s amber-gold eyes flickered. A raw, jagged flash of devastation cut across his f
The Ghost in the MirrorAbel's POVThe air in the sterile, marble-tiled washroom felt like lead.My jaw was completely unhinged, hanging slack as I stared at the face standing under the flickering wall sconce. The heavy dark traveler's cloak pooled around her boots, but the face was unmistakable.Lisa.My chest seized. A violent, suffocating panic surged up my throat, warring instantly with an agonizing, phantom ache that I had spent years trying to cauterize with whiskey and war. It was the face of the woman who had walked down the aisle in a shroud of black velvet, ripped my heart out in front of the entire high council, and left me bleeding on the altar.She’s dead, my mind screamed, scrambling to make sense of the nightmare. She fled with Pedro to the outer territories years ago. She shouldn't be here.Before my human mind could process the impossibility of it, my wolf completely hijacked my body.He didn't care about the betrayal. He didn't care about the humiliation, the public
My hand met hers, and the moment our skin touched, a jolt of raw, electric heat surged straight up my arm, threatening to shatter every ounce of military discipline I possessed.I locked my jaw, fighting to mask the fierce, blinding spike of excitement that flared inside my chest. Beneath my skin, my wolf was pacing like a caged beast, practically vibrating with triumphant joy at having her hand back in ours. I forced my expression to remain flat, grim, and unreadable as I pulled her close, guiding her toward the center of the sweeping marble dance floor.The velvet of her emerald gown brushed against my trousers, and the wild, intoxicating scent of winter frost and deep forest pine instantly crowded out every other perfume in the room.As we moved in sync with the slow, rhythmic sweep of the string quartet, I kept my voice low, pitching it just beneath the frequency of the surrounding dancers."You shouldn't have come here, Vanessa," I muttered, my gaze locked onto hers. "Ronan is wa
(Abel's POV)The mahogany desk in my office was cluttered with reports, parchment border maps, and unsealed dispatches from the regional garrisons, but none of it mattered. I sat in my high-backed leather chair, staring blankly at the dark grain of the wood, the rhythmic ticking of the antique grandfather clock in the corner sounding like a countdown to execution.My mind was a chaotic storm, buzzing with a friction I couldn't quiet.First was the reality I had tried to bury under years of military duty, blood, and iron: Vanessa was my mate.The bond wasn't just a faint pull anymore; it was a living, burning tether anchored deep beneath my ribs. Every instinct in my chest screamed it, and my wolf,restless, furious, and pacing endlessly in the back of my consciousness—was practically foaming at the mouth with possessive certainty. He was right. He had been right from the moment I first saw her standing in the northern border camp six years ago. Vanessa Bloodthorne belonged to me by ev
The Golden TrapVanessa's POVMy heart didn't just hammer in my chest,it slammed against my ribs like a trapped beast trying to break bone.Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck, soaking into the collar of my sweater. In the dim, flickering light of the subterranean corridor, the blood-red glow of the binding circle seemed to bleed into the shadows around my boots.“If Vanessa tries to take him past the outer gates... his heart will stop beating instantly.”The words echoed inside my skull, sharp and metallic. A wave of nauseating vertigo rushed through me, but before I could let my knees buckle, my wolf stirred from the quiet depths of my mind. Her presence wasn't a senseless, frantic howl for blood; she rose like an ancient, cold sentinel, her voice ringing clear and steady in the back of my brain.'Breathe, Vanessa,' my wolf commanded, her tone heavy with lethal focus. 'Do not give into the panic. Panic is a scent he can catch. Retrace your steps. Now.'A faint, sharp scrapi
Whispers in the Gilded Cage(Vanessa's POV)The second morning at Wild Bloomers Park broke in a slow, suffocating fog.Gray, damp mist clung to the glass windows of the west wing, swallowing the pine ridges in a pale, quiet void. I hadn't slept a wink. I sat in the high-backed armchair near the fireplace, watching the soft rise and fall of Ethan’s small chest beneath the heavy velvet quilt.By seven o'clock, the fever from the blood anchor had completely receded, leaving his skin cool and smooth. His breathing was deep, undisturbed, and entirely peaceful. The anchor was stabilizing. His body was healing, even as my soul was being torn apart bit by bit."Mommy?"Ethan’s small, raspy voice broke through the quiet hum of the burning embers. He rubbed his eyes with his fists, kicking off the heavy blanket and sitting up against the carved mahogany headboard.I immediately forced a soft, warm smile onto my face, pushing down the bone-deep exhaustion and horror that had gripped me since dis







