INICIAR SESIÓNVALERIUS "Tell me what is wrong."I blocked the narrow doorway of the linen closet. Marie stood trapped between tall wooden shelves and my chest. She held a stack of white towels, pressing the cotton against her stomach like a shield.She refused to meet my eyes.Looking down at her pale face, my beast growled in sheer frustration. Just a few hours ago, she was screaming my name. She melted in my arms, claiming me as her mate in that freezing attic. We shared a bond forged in blood and heat. Now, she stared at the floorboards, treating me like a stranger holding a loaded weapon."Nothing is wrong," Marie lied."Try again." Taking a slow step forward, I forced her to back up. Her spine hit the wooden shelves. "You smell like raw panic. Your pulse is beating fast enough to crack a rib. Who spoke to you, Marie?""Nobody spoke to me.""Did Callum threaten you?""No.""Did Sera corner you?""No!" She gripped the towels tighter. Her knuckles turned white.Before she could slip sideways, I
MARIE"Pay me, or I expose everything."Footsteps halted. Pressing my spine against the cold stone wall, my heart skipped a painful beat. Dusting a high wooden shelf in the eastern corridor, my afternoon shift was nearly over. Now, a young maid named Tessa stood blocking my only exit. She held her chin high, a greedy, vicious smirk twisting her thin lips."I do not know what you are talking about," I answered, keeping my voice flat.Tessa crossed her arms over her white linen apron. She was a junior servant, known around the kitchens for stealing leftover wine and listening at keyholes."Stop playing dumb," Tessa sneered, taking a slow step forward. "You think nobody watches you. You think because Alpha Callum put you on the worst chores, you are invisible. But I see things. I follow things."Gripping my dirty dust rag, I forced my breathing to stay even. "You are wasting your time. I have nothing to give you.""You have the Lycan King."The name hit me like a physical blow to the sto
VALERIUS "So… are you going to tell me the truth now?"Tracing a finger down her bare spine, I watched her body react to my touch. We lay tangled together on the lumpy mattress. Moonlight spilled through the tiny circular window, casting pale shadows across her bruised skin. Heat radiated between us, fighting off the freezing attic draft.Marie shifted slightly. She rested her cheek against my chest. "What truth?""What happened to you in the silver cage."Silence fell over the room instantly.Just a second ago, she felt soft and pliable in my arms. Hearing those words, her muscles locked into rigid stone. The mate bond humming between us spiked with sudden, blinding panic.Pulling away from my chest, Marie scrambled backward. She scrambled until her spine hit the cracked wooden headboard. Reaching down, she grabbed the frayed wool blanket and pulled it tightly up to her chin."Do not ask me that," Marie whispered. Her voice shook violently.Sitting up, I ignored the cold air biting
AUTHOR’S POV."Do you ever stop fighting?" Valerius asked, his voice a low rumble in the dark.Marie lay tangled in his heavy arms. The tiny attic felt freezing, but his skin radiated intense heat. She shifted her bruised body against the lumpy mattress, her breathing finally starting to slow down."I stopped fighting ten minutes ago," she whispered."Your muscles are tense." He ran a large hand down her bare spine. "Your heart is beating like a trapped bird. Tell me what you are afraid of."Turning her head, she looked up into his glowing golden eyes.Before today, everything terrified her. Callum’s heavy fists. Sera’s hidden poison. The dark, damp basement where men tried to break her. But lying here, pressed flush against the Lycan King, a strange and sudden shift occurred. Every single fear simply evaporated. The mate bond surged through her veins, chasing away the shadows and replacing her terror with a dark, consuming hunger."I am not afraid," she answered truthfully."Then why
AUTHOR’S POVA week passed.Marie’s young body healed slower without the aid of a Lycan wolf, but she recovered enough to stand. Doctor Aris removed the thick bandages surrounding her ribs, replacing them with a tight cloth binding. He popped her shoulder back into place daily until the joint learned to stay in its socket.She could walk, but she remained weak.On the seventh day, Alpha Callum entered the royal suite. Valerius was out inspecting the northern perimeter with Thorne. Callum did not waste time. He ordered two guards to escort Marie out of the guest wing and back to her designated quarters.Doctor Aris argued, but Callum invoked his Alpha right. The physician compromised by setting up a medical drip in the attic. He inserted a thin glass needle into a vein on the back of Marie’s hand, connecting it to a long, clear tube. The tube fed a mixture of hydrating fluids and liquid willow bark straight into her bloodstream from a glass bottle hanging above the bed."Keep the line
AUTHOR’S POV"Hold the bandages tight against her ribs."Doctor Aris issued the command with sharp, practiced authority. Standing beside the massive royal bed, the old physician pulled a thick roll of white cotton from his leather bag.King Valerius did not argue. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he pressed his large, scarred hands flat against Marie’s battered torso. He applied steady pressure over the white pads covering her cracked ribs. His golden eyes remained fixed on her pale, bruised face. He had not slept. He had not eaten. For two straight days, the Lycan King refused to leave the room."The swelling is going down," Aris noted quietly, wrapping the cotton firmly around her chest. "Her shoulder joint is stable. The head trauma remains my biggest concern, sire.""She will wake up," Valerius stated. His voice sounded like grinding stones. It held no room for doubt.Tying the final knot, Doctor Aris stepped back and wiped his bloody hands on a towel. "I will prepare another







