LOGINElliott's POV The halogen lamp on my desk hummed, a low-frequency buzz that grated against my ears as I flipped through the land deeds. The scents of old parchment and printer ink filled the air, mixing with the cooling mountain breeze drifting through the open window. We needed more territory, not for hunting, but for survival in a world that was rapidly encroaching on our borders. "Borders won't matter if we can't feed the lower ranks during the winter," I muttered to the empty room, my thumb tracing the agricultural yield projections for the northern valley. The neighboring packs—the Silver Glade and the Iron Peak—were hesitant. They were old school, obsessed with territory lines and ancestral burial grounds. I needed a way to convince them that a joint business venture, a massive scale-up of farming and land acquisition, was the only way to keep the humans from buying it all up first. A floorboard creaked in the hallway. I didn't look up, my nose catching the scent of van
Reylap's POV "Yellow is not a neutral, Reylap. It’s an assault on the senses," Eliott said, his voice echoing against the bare floorboards of the nursery. He held the lid of the paint can between two fingers like it was a piece of evidence from a crime scene.I leaned back against the doorframe of the spare room he’d cleared out for me weeks ago, crossing my arms over the slight but firm curve of my stomach. "It’s not 'assault yellow.' Camille called it 'Summer Harvest.' It’s warm. It’s cheerful. It doesn't look like the inside of a sterile pack clinic, which is clearly what you’re gunning for with that depressing slate grey.""Grey is sophisticated," he countered, though his gaze softened as it drifted toward my waist. "And Camille has questionable taste in decor. She once tried to convince the Council that neon orange was the color of 'authority'.""She was right about the yellow," I insisted, stepping into the room. "The sunlight hits this corner in the morning. If we paint it you
Syrn’s POVThe garden air was thick with the scent of jasmine and the sharp, metallic tang of shifting dirt. I leaned against a marble pillar, my hand instinctively pressing against my side. A dull, pulsing ache radiated through my abdomen, a constant reminder of the toxin that had nearly liquidated my internals two weeks ago. Every breath felt like inhaling ground glass.Across the lawn, Camille was laughing. It was a bright, airy sound that grated on my nerves. She was standing far too close to Roman, the new warrior Eliott had brought in to bolster the perimeter. Roman’s posture was stiff, his hand resting on the hilt of his training blade, but he was looking at my sister with a warmth that signaled nothing but trouble."Camille," I called out, my voice cracking slightly from the effort.She didn’t hear me. Or she pretended not to. I forced my legs to move, ignoring the spike of heat in my gut. I reached them just as Roman was leaning down to whisper something that made her cheeks
Camille’s POVThe biting chill of the autumn morning should have sent me scurrying back toward the warmth of the kitchens, but my feet had developed a mind of their own. I shifted my weight, pressing my back against the stone pillar of the terrace, trying to look like I was merely contemplating the mist-heavy forest.In reality, my eyes were locked on the training yard below.Ronan was there. Again. He was always there at this hour, a solitary figure moving with a fluid, lethal grace that made the cold air seem to crackle around him. He’d shed his shirt despite the frost, his skin bronzed and steaming as he ran through a series of high-intensity drills. Every time his muscles rippled under the strain of a heavy swing, my breath caught in my throat."You’re going to catch a fly if you leave your mouth open like that, Camille."I jumped, my heart hammering against my ribs. I spun around to find Reylap leaning against the doorway, a knowing, mischievous glint in her eyes. She looked tire
Elliott’s POVI didn't move. I stayed seated in the heavy wooden chair pulled right up against the edge of Reylap’s bed, my hand inches from hers, watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She had fallen back into a heavy, bone-deep sleep only minutes after our lips parted, but the silence of the room felt brittle. Every time she twitched or whimpered in her sleep, my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.The sound of her screaming was still echoing in my ears, bouncing off the stone walls of my mind. The door creaked open just an inch. Kael stood there, his face a mask of exhaustion and worry. "She’s out?" he whispered, his voice barely a vibration."Finally," I said, my voice sounding like gravel. I didn't look at him. I couldn't take my eyes off her. "She’s exhausted, Kael. The fever, the terror—it’s too much.""The pack is talking, Eliott," Kael said, stepping inside and closing the door softly behind him. "About the drink. About Syrn."I turned my head then
Reylap’s POVThe air in the Great Hall smelled of cedar and old blood. It was a scent I hadn't inhaled in months, yet it filled my lungs like lead. I stood in the center of the stone floor, my feet bare and cold against the slate. Shadows danced along the walls, cast by the flickering torches of the pack house—my home. Or what used to be my home."You really thought you could bring that filth into my house?" Malik’s voice sliced through the silence.I turned, my heart hammering against my ribs. Malik was there, his silhouette tall and imposing, his Alpha aura pressing down on me until I felt like my knees would buckle. He began to circle me, his eyes glowing a predatory amber."Malik, please," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Listen to me.""Listen to what, Reylap? The lies of a traitor?" He spat the words, his lip curling in a sneer of pure, unadulterated disgust. "Look at you. Carrying a bastard. A stain on this pack’s lineage.""It isn't a bastard!" I shouted, the desperation claw
Reylap's POV“State your business!”The guard’s voice rang out through the drizzle just as I stepped up to the gates of Dark Moors Pack, and for a second, I genuinely thought he was joking.I stood there dripping from a miserable six-hour ride, mud clinging to the hem of my coat while my medical ba
“No." Farida’s smile thinned slightly. “I said, kneel.”I looked at her slowly, exhaustion twisting inside me so violently I almost started laughing again. “You stole my ceremony, my mate, my title, and now you want my dignity too?” I tilted my head. “Greedy.”A sharp murmur spread through the roo
Reylap’s POVI heard the music before I even reached the gates, and I knew it was a celebration. I could hear drums and voices and that particular kind of joy that carries across pack grounds when there's good news, and for one foolish, breathless second my heart lifted, because I thought it was fo
Elliott's POVI let the muttering fill the air, a low, dangerous hum that grated against my nerves. My jaw was locked so tight I felt the ache all the way to my ears. They talked in whispers, in hushed, cruel tones, but every word clawed at me. “Rogue.” “Danger.” “Outsider.” All aimed at her. All







