Masuk"Don't touch me! Get back!"I backed away from Sarah, my hand covering my mouth as another surge of that oily, black liquid burned its way up my throat. It wasn't just blood. It was thick, it smelled like sulfur, and it was moving on the floor like it had a mind of its own. My wolf, the fierce creature that had just helped me take down Damon, was screaming in a way I’d never heard. It wasn't a roar of victory. It was a high-pitched, agonizing wail of a creature being eaten from the inside out."Alpha, you're bleeding," Sarah cried, her face white with terror. She tried to step forward with a cloth, but I slammed my hand against the desk to stay upright."It's the mark," I gasped, the words feeling like shards of glass. "Damon... that bastard. He didn't just fight me. He tied his life to a rot."I looked down at my hands. The veins in my wrists were turning a bruised, sickly purple. This was the final revenge of a man who knew he couldn't win fairly. Damon had used black magic, the kin
"Does this look like the face of a thief to you, or the face of your rightful Alpha?"My voice didn't shake. It cut through the cold night air, amplified by the stone walls of the courtyard. I stood on the edge of the high balcony, the moonlight catching the silver of my father’s dagger. Below me, hundreds of wolves froze. Their breath came in white clouds, their eyes reflecting the torchlight. At the center of them all was Damon. He looked small from up here. Small and panicked."Seize her!" Damon screamed, his voice cracking. "She’s a fugitive! She’s a traitor to the Lycan Empire! Kill her now!"Not a single guard moved. They looked at the silver dagger in my hand. They looked at the way I stood, my shoulders back, my chin high. I wasn't the trembling Omega maid they had mocked for years. I was the daughter of the man who had built this pack from the blood and bone of the northern wars."The only traitor here is the man who sold his own sister to pay for his cowardice," I yelled, st
"Look at you. From a King’s bed back to the dirt where you belong."Damon’s voice was like grease, slick and disgusting. I didn't give him the satisfaction of looking up right away. I kept my gaze fixed on the damp stone floor of the cell. It was the same cell where he used to lock me when I didn't scrub the floors fast enough. The smell hadn't changed. It was the scent of rot, old blood, and broken dreams. My stepbrother stood on the other side of the iron bars, his shadow stretching long and jagged across the floor. He looked heavier, his face bloated from too much ale and the arrogance of a stolen title."I’m surprised you haven't killed me yet, Damon," I said, my voice rasping. "Or are you afraid of what the Kings will do when they find out you've touched their property?"Damon laughed, a harsh, braying sound that echoed through the dungeon. He stepped closer, his fingers gripping the cold bars. "Property? Alina, you were a trade. A piece of meat used to settle a debt. And word tr
"Move, Alina. Now!"Kael’s voice was a whip, cracking through the tiny room. He didn't wait for me to process Kaden’s warning. He grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the small window that looked out over the servants' courtyard. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs. The Heart of the Empire. The most sacred relic in the Lycan kingdom. If that was in this room, it didn't matter if I was a mate, an Omega, or a ghost. I was dead."I didn't take it, Kael! I swear to you!" I stumbled, my boots catching on the frayed rug."It doesn't matter what you did!" Kael snarled, his eyes bleeding into that terrifying Lycan gold. "The Council is thirty seconds from that door. If they find it here, we can't stop them from executing you on the spot. Go!"He ripped the rug back, exposing the loose floorboard where I usually kept my meager savings. My breath hitched. There, nestled in the dust, was a velvet pouch. It pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light that seemed to mock me. The diamond. Cassandra
"You’re shaking, Alina. Is it the cold, or is it the guilt?"Cassandra’s voice sliced through the silence of the royal corridor like a serrated blade. I didn't turn around immediately. I couldn't. I was too busy trying to shove the crumpled piece of parchment into the waistband of my trousers. My heart was a frantic bird hammering against my ribs, and the metallic tang of fear flooded my mouth. I had seen the seal. I had seen the jagged, messy handwriting of my stepbrother, Damon.I forced my hands to still. I forced my face to become the blank, emotionless mask of the maid they expected me to be. When I finally turned, Cassandra was leaning against the arched doorway, her blonde hair shimmering under the torchlight. She looked perfect. She looked like a Luna. She looked like a lie."I’m just tired, Lady Cassandra," I said, my voice flat. "It’s been a long shift.""A long shift of playing spy?" She stepped into my personal space, her expensive perfume hitting me like a physical blow.
“We’re throwing a celebration.”Serra’s announcement came three days after Witness transformed. The valley had settled into wary peace. People returning to routines. Children playing. Life continuing.“A celebration of what?” Lena asked. She was exhausted. The fight with the ancient thing had drained her completely. She’d slept for two days straight.“Survival. Victory. Transformation. Take your pick. People need joy after terror. Need to process what happened through something positive.”“We don’t know if it’s really over. Kira’s vision said six months. We’re only at five.”“So we celebrate while we can. If something worse comes, at least we’ll have had one moment of genuine happiness before facing it.”Lena couldn’t argue with that logic. “Fine. Celebrate. But keep guards posted. Keep watch rotations active. Joy doesn’t mean carelessness.”“Obviously.” Serra smiled. Tired but genuine. “You should participate. Let people see you’re not just the serious silver woman who saves everyone
Nobody spoke for a long time.The camp was silent except for wind through trees and the distant sound of children crying. Everyone was thinking the same thing.Who dies so the rest can live?“We could draw lots,” someone suggested. “Make it random. Fair.”“There’s nothing fair about this,” Alina re
The wolves built a monument where Lena had disappeared.A simple stone marker. Her name carved deep. Dates of birth and sacrifice. Nothing fancy. Nothing elaborate. Just permanent proof that she’d existed and chosen to give that up.Alina visited it every day. Sat by the stone and talked to dirt th
Arrows flew first. Hundreds of them. Darkening the sky like a swarm of birds. They hit the walls and stuck. Hit shields and bounced. Hit flesh and tore screams from throats.“Return fire!” Mira shouted from the eastern tower.Rowan’s archers answered. Their arrows were fewer but better aimed. Ten I
Two years after Lena’s binding, trouble came from an unexpected direction.A messenger arrived from the Shadowpine territory. Young wolf, barely sixteen, his face pale and frightened.“Alpha Ronan sends urgent word,” he gasped. “Children are disappearing. Three in the last month. No trace. No sign







