Masuk[Viktor’s POV]“And?” I probbed.“He…he never talked about his whereabouts either. Please..I’m…I’m innocent, Alpha,” Lena pleaded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.“You allowed that rogue to enter the territory on my father’s wedding,” I snarled, letting Kai do the talking.She bared her neck in submission. “I…I…didn’t mean to. He…he threatened to tell Elder Moira about me having an affair with several…”Before she could utter more, my fingers were wrapping around her neck. “You dare to tell me that you sleep around with rogues and think that I would spare you.”Lena struggled, her wolf surfacing.“Call Elder Moira now!” I barked at my beta, Sam, through the mindlink.“Yes, alpha.”He was efficient with his task as 15 minutes later, Elder Moira slammed open the door to my study.“Why was I summoned so unceremoniously, Alpha Viktor? Where is your father? I would like to talk to him about this disrespectful—” Her words came to a halt when her gaze fell on Lena, who sat with her ha
[Viktor’s POV]The next morning, Vladimir walked into my study, wearing a crisp blue button-down and gray trousers. “I knew you would be here. Couldn’t sleep?”“No, I just had some paperwork, so I came in early,” I lied, sorting through the stack of papers.I could feel my brother’s gaze on. He wasn’t going to rest easy until he could get Astoria back in the estate, but he didn’t know how dangerous that could be.He thought of her as a sister and probably saw me as the person who couldn’t accept someone as a half-sibling.I closed my eyes briefly.“Did you think of something?” He asked, and I knew what he was talking about.“About what?” I murmured as I glanced at the laptop screen.“You know very well what I mean.” Vladimir’s eyes blazed with muted anger.I gazed back at him. Silence followed, heavier this time.He let out a slow exhale as if to control his anger.“You stopped her at the beginning anyway,” he murmured. “You didn’t stop at anything.”My jaw tightened. “That was differ
[Viktor’s POV]The moment the sound of the main gates opening came to my ears, I was alert.I had been waiting in the lower hall for over an hour, though “waiting” wasn’t quite the right word. There was nothing passive about the way tension coiled through my body, nothing that could be called calm about the restlessness of my wolf.The moment Vladimir had reached out through the mindlink and told me what had happened, something inside me had snapped into a cold, sharpened focus.A rogue had tracked her, and I just knew that the rogue wouldn’t be just anyone, but maybe the same or from the same circle that attacked her when she was here.The doors opened, and instantly I could smell the stench of a rogue’s blood and my brother’s…and…Astoria’s. The last bit made my blood boil a bit more.Vladimir walked in, looking calm like he always did, though there was a tightness in his posture that betrayed the strain of what had happened.Behind him, two of our men carried the unconscious body of
[Astoria’s POV]The sound of the wood splintering under a massive force was deafening enough to keep my senses from shutting down completely. My attacker’s head snapped toward the noise, his grip slackening just enough for me to gasp in a ragged breath.A blur of movement crossed the room, but I knew who it was even though my vision was still blurry.Vladimir.He wrenched the man out away from him, which had me crumbling on the floor like a ragdoll, gasping for breath.Vladimir hit the man with enough force to send both of them crashing to the floor, the impact shaking the furniture around us. I couldn’t keep track of them for a few moments as I tried to get hold of coughing as air rushed painfully back into my lungs, my entire body trembling.However, when I looked at them, every movement seemed as if I was watching a video on fast-forward.Without hesitation, Vladimir pinned the man down with brutal efficiency, his movements sharp, controlled, every strike deliberate and precise. Th
Astoria’s POV]My breath stilled. I felt as if I was transported back to the forest when the rogue first attacked me.Another low and prolonged growl reverberated through the living room.That wrenched me to the reality.I stayed rooted on my spot, unable to think. My mind refused to process what my eyes were seeing, clinging desperately to logic, to reason. It had to be something else. I solely wanted to believe that it was a trick of light, or my flatmates playing tricks. This could not be hapening, not when I left the place and the world.Why now? After months?Yet another growl, low but icy made me inhale sharply.The sound went straight through me, settling somewhere deep in my bones, cold and unmistakable.Was this the same rogue? Or was it someone else? Some other wolf?The red eyes started getting closer.“No…” I whispered, the word barely leaving my lips. My heart was rabbeting in my chest. At this moment, I wished I wouldn’t have let Vladimir go. He would…he would protect me
[Astoria’s POV]The following weeks blurred for me as I practically holed myself in my room. and applied to jobs endlessly, refreshing my inbox more times than I could count every half an hour, only to be met with same advert emails, silence, or rejection.Each day felt like a ticking clock. I had no friend to lean on, no family to go back to, and if things went this way, I would probably have no place to sleep or a stable phone connection by the next month.My flatmates didn’t care, and I was glad and too proud to ask them for help.However, one evening as I was thinking of whether I should just have some Saltines for dinner and call it a day, I heard a notification.An email stating I was selected for a remote position.It wasn’t ideal, but it paid well enough, and most importantly, I couldn’t afford to be picky.I instantly replied, and an interview was scheduled the next day.In that moment, I was hopeful about my future. At least, I won’t have to worry about the bills.That didn’
[Astoria’s POV]I should have been relieved to have left the estate, to come back to the hubbub of city life, away from a world that now seemed fictional.On the surface, nothing was different. The traffic still roared like an endless beast, people still rushed past without looking at one another,
[Astoria’s POV]The next morning arrived far too quickly.I didn’t leave immediately, but stayed in bed for the next 10 minutes or so, wondering why I had thought that my mother would call me to her wedding out of love for me.‘She only wanted to show how much she cares for me so she can be high up
[Viktor’s POV]“Rest,” I said as I forced myself to leave the room and let Vladimir take care of Astoria.There was a more important matter to handle.‘Is Astoria alright?’ My father’s voice drifted through the mindlink. I clenched my jaw, wondering if it was only him asking or if there was any con
[Astoria’s Pov]When I opened my eyes, the ceiling above didn’t look like the one I was used to seeing every morning. This one had dark wood beams and…then the lighting seemed too…dull.Why was I—The question triggered the memories.The wedding. Lena running. The forest.And then—The wolf.The me







