LOGINWe didn't sneak back into the Lycan capital. We marched.I rode at the head of the column, mounted on the black stallion Kaden had given me. To my left was Kael, his armor polished and his sword drawn. To my right was a carriage, shielded and guarded, carrying Kaden. He was too weak to ride, but he refused to stay behind. He wanted to see Cassandra’s face when the truth came out.The Rowan pack followed us. Five hundred wolves, all of them wearing the Rowan crest, their heads held high. They weren't a defeated pack anymore. They were the honor guard of an Alpha.As we approached the capital gates, the Lycan guards leveled their spears. The air was thick with tension. The city was on lockdown, the news of the "fallen king" and the "thief" having turned the streets into a powder keg."Open the gates!" Kael’s voice thundered, shaking the very stones of the wall."The Council has forbidden your entry, Prince Kael!" the guard captain shouted back. "You are stripped of your command until th
Kaden couldn't walk.It wasn't that his legs didn't work; it was that his balance was gone. Without the constant, grounding presence of his wolf, he felt like he was floating. We had to carry him into the great hall, laying him on the soft furs in front of the massive hearth. Kael stayed by his side, his hand never leaving Kaden’s arm, as if he were trying to pump his own Lycan energy into his brother through skin contact alone."It’s quiet," Kaden whispered, staring at the fire. "Alina, is it always this quiet for humans?""I don't know," I said, kneeling beside him with a bowl of warm broth. "But you aren't alone. I can hear it for you."I could hear everything now. I could hear the heartbeat of every wolf in the courtyard. I could hear the snow melting on the roof. The power Kaden had given me was massive, but it felt heavy, like wearing a suit of armor that was three sizes too big."The army is still outside," Kael said, his voice grim. "They won't attack yet because they're confu
"He’s human. He’s just… human."The words felt like ash in my mouth as I cradled Kaden’s head in my lap. I pressed my palm against his chest, desperate to feel the familiar, thrumming vibration of his Lycan spirit, but there was nothing. No heat. No predatory hum. Just the shallow, erratic heartbeat of a man who had been hollowed out. Kaden’s eyes were open, staring blankly at the sky, his pupils dilated. He wasn't dead, but the part of him that ruled, the part of him that commanded armies, had been ripped away to fill the void inside me.Kael let out a sound that was half-growl, half-sob. He reached over me, his hand trembling as he gripped Kaden’s shoulder. "Kaden? Kaden, breathe. Come back. Shift, damn you! Shift!"But there was no shift. There was no fur. Just the pale, sweat-slicked skin of a younger twin who had always been the thinker, the strategist, and now, the sacrifice."Stand back!" A sharp voice cut through the chaos.I looked up to see the Lycan High Priest stepping thr
"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
The morning light was a cruel witness. It didn't care that the world had ended beneath the city streets; it simply slanted through the ivy-covered windows of the cottage, illuminating the dust motes dancing over Kaden’s sleeping form.I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. For a moment, I
They didn’t arrest me.That was the first mistake.They formed a corridor instead. Guards lining the shattered square with weapons held just low enough to pretend restraint, eyes flicking everywhere except at me. The council stood clustered near the ruins of the circle, robes singed, dignity cracke
The scream wasn’t human.It tore through the forest like something had been ripped open and forgotten how to close. The sound carried wrong, bending around trees, vibrating through the soles of my feet before my ears caught up. My breath stuttered. The hum inside my chest flared sharp and ugly, lik
The explosion didn’t sound like destruction.It sounded like relief snapping.A deep, concussive release that tore through the capital and punched the breath straight out of my lungs. Light collapsed inward, the circle imploding instead of bursting, power folding violently back on itself like it ha







