FAZER LOGINOlivia’s POV Kai wanted to go in. I told him no. We had one chance, and it wasn't tonight.We stood at the tree line with the estate looming ahead of us, its windows glowing faintly in the darkness. The guards were still searching the west wing, their shouts carrying on the cold night air. Elsie's fire had done its job. But it wasn't enough."We can't just leave him in there," Kai said. His voice was tight. His hands were clenched. "You don't know what Marcus will do to him.""I know exactly what Marcus will do." I turned to face him. "He'll keep Ryker alive because he needs him. The wedding is the only thing holding Marcus's alliance together. If Ryker dies, the Moonfang family walks away. Marcus loses everything."Kai stared at me. "So we just wait?""We prepare."Daniel stepped closer. "What do you mean?"I looked at the estate one more time. Then I turned away."If we rescue Ryker tonight, Marcus will hunt us. He'll declare us traitors. He'll turn every pack against us. We'll be
Olivia’s POV We left the Silverpine Territory before dawn, and the power inside me hummed with every step.The palace gates groaned as we pushed them open, and I paused at the threshold for a moment, looking back at the ruins that had become my home. The broken towers. The overgrown courtyard. The window where I had stood so many nights, staring out at the land that was mine.I didn't know if I would ever see it again."Olivia?" Daniel's voice was soft.I turned away from the palace and nodded. "Let's go."Theron led the way, his steps sure and steady despite his age. Daniel walked beside me, his eyes constantly scanning the trees. I could feel the mark pulsing against my wrist, a steady rhythm that matched my heartbeat.The power was different now. It wasn't just warmth anymore. It was alive. It moved through me like a second set of senses, reaching out to touch the land, the trees, the wolves who lived beyond the borders.I could feel everything.And I could feel him.Ryker.The ph
Olivia’s POV The power was closer now. I could feel it waiting beneath the stone, patient and ancient, like something that had been sleeping for a very long time.Two weeks. That was all the time I had. Two weeks until Ryker stood beside Alessia and bound himself to her forever. Two weeks until Marcus's power became absolute. Two weeks until everything my mother had sacrificed to protect was lost.I couldn't let that happen.Theron led me back to the hidden chamber beneath the palace every day. The stairs were steep and cold, and the darkness pressed in around us, but I had stopped fearing it. The mark on my wrist lit the way now, a steady silver glow that pulsed with every step.The chamber itself was circular and vast, its ceiling lost in shadow, its floor carved with the massive symbol that matched the one on my skin. Every time I entered, I felt the power in the walls. It hummed beneath my feet. It whispered in the silence.
Ryker’s POV I tried to escape. I almost made it. Almost.Kai had slipped me the information two days earlier, folded into the napkin that came with my dinner. A single sentence written in his careful hand: Eastern passage. Third bell. Ten minutes.I had memorized it and burned the napkin in the candle flame. Then I waited.The hours passed slowly. The guards outside my door changed twice. The sun set and rose again. I ate the food they brought me. I slept in fragments. I stared at the ceiling and thought about Olivia.The phantom bond pulsed constantly now. Faint but steady. A reminder that she was still out there. Still fighting. Still waiting.I didn't know if she was waiting for me. I didn't deserve for her to be. But I felt her anyway.On the third night, I made my move.The bell rang. The guards changed. I counted to sixty in my head. Then I opened the door and stepped into the corridor.It was em
Olivia’s POV I was in the middle of training when the news came. It hit me harder than any blow Theron could throw.The courtyard was quiet, the morning sun pale and distant above the crumbling walls of the palace. Theron stood across from me with his hands clasped behind his back, watching as I pulled the power from the mark. It came easier now than it had on the first day. The light was steadier. The warmth was stronger. I could feel it building inside me, waiting to be released."Again," Theron said.I closed my eyes and focused. The mark pulsed. The power rose. I pushed it outward, and a wave of silver light spread across the courtyard, illuminating the stones and the weeds and the fallen columns.Theron nodded. "Better.""Better isn't good enough.""It never is. That is why we keep training."I opened my eyes and let the power fade. My hands were shaking, but I was still standing. That was progress.
Olivia’s POV My mother's letter was three pages long, and it took me three hours to read it.I sat on the floor by the window with the journal in my lap and the letter spread open in front of me. The handwriting was elegant, each word formed with care, as though she had known it would be the last thing she ever wrote.I read the first line and stopped.My darling Olivia, if you are reading this, I am gone.I closed my eyes. I had known it would say that. I had known from the moment Theron handed me the letter, but seeing the words on the page made it real in a way I wasn't prepared for.I opened my eyes and kept reading.I have so much to tell you, so much I wanted to say, but time is not a luxury I have. Marcus is coming. I can feel him in the wind, and I can hear his wolves in the trees. He will not stop until my bloodline is erased.But he will not find you. I have made sure of that.Theron will per







