Drey's POV I stood at the edge of the training field, watching the warriors stretch and warm up, but my eyes weren’t really on them. My mind was elsewhere racing, burdened and angry.The fog in my thoughts had lifted since Camelia’s ritual. Her words echoed in my head still:“When your mind clears, you’ll see not only what was hidden but what you chose to ignore.”Now, I could see everything; the lies, and the manipulation. The silence in Clarissa’s eyes the last time I saw her and how she had tried so hard to hide her pain. And I? I had pushed her away. I had defended Helen. I had doubted Clarissa.I could barely live with that truth.I hadn’t slept the night before. Instead, I spent hours going through the security logs from the day Clarissa disappeared. I pulled warriors aside, especially those close to Helen. I did not do it in front of others, I did it formally and quietly. I spoke with them one by one.A few stayed loyal to Helen, eyes blank and mouths shut.But two of th
Helen's POV The crunch of gravel beneath my boots echoed my fury with every step. He hadn’t marked me.Drey had chosen not to mark me. Was he defying me? Was my worth being underestimated?After everything, after all I had woven and whispered into his dreams, he had resisted. Last night, he’d pulled away from my embrace, murmuring excuses, his eyes distant and dull with hesitation. He’d claimed he needed space. Space? What he needed was clarity, and I was the only one who had ever given that to him.And still, he had slipped away before dawn like a thief.But if he thought he could turn his back on me, if he thought I would allow Clarissa to continue breathing in defiance, he was seriously mistaken.Today, she dies.Yes, she dies. She is stumbling block on my way to being Drey's Luna. She is a clog in my wheel of progress and I will not hesitate to take her out. My body buzzed with anticipation, my hands curled into fists as I approached the worn door concealed by brambles and ear
Clarissa's POV Darkness. That was the world I had come to know in captivity. My eyes, though open, saw nothing. The blindness was complete now, not just physical, but spatial. There were no lights, no torches nor sounds aside from the clinking of chains when I moved too suddenly. The scent of mold and stale blood filled the air, and yet my nose had grown numb to it. The once-jarring odours were now background noise to my suffering.Days blended into one another. I counted time through the rhythm of my heartbeat and the hollow echoes of footsteps, sometimes Helen’s, sometimes others, none of them bringing comfort. I was alone in every possible way, yet I refused to let the silence drown me. I had been broken before; rejected, mocked, and beaten down by fate. But I had risen every time. This would be no different.Still, the fear gnawed at me.Not for myself but for Drey.Whatever spell Helen had woven around him, it was deep and venomous. I could feel it in the stiffness of his voice
Drey's POV The air was thick with mist as I made my way through the forest path, the trees whispering in the early morning hush. My steps were swift but cautious, heart pounding beneath my ribs. The moon still clung faintly to the sky, casting a silver glow on the dew-drenched leaves. Camelia had told me to come alone, at the break of dawn, for the ritual that would purge whatever unseen force was clouding my judgment. I didn’t know what to expect, only that something inside me screamed that it was necessary.I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Not even Helen. Especially not Helen.She had been unusually attentive last night; touching, pleading, teasing. Anything to keep me glued to her. I had resisted, barely. A storm had begun to brew within me, and the dissonance between my mind and my gut had grown unbearable.I needed answers.Camelia’s hut came into view. Hidden by tall reeds and masked by enchantments, the place radiated a calm, ethereal energy. The elderly seer stood ou
Helen's POV Tomorrow, the entire pack would witness Drey mark me as his mate, a final, binding promise. The power I had fought tooth and nail for would finally be mine. But there was one thread left to cut. Clarissa.I stood and moved to the mirror, adjusting the crimson wrap that hugged my frame. My reflection stared back with cold determination. The glow of victory glinted in my eyes, but it was not complete. Not until she was silenced forever.Clarissa had always been a thorn, one that somehow kept piercing despite the odds. From the moment Drey took a liking to her, everything shifted; the way he looked at her, and even the way the pack revered her. I had tried to make him forget her, to turn his heart away with illusions and dreams, but the bond between them pulsed like a stubborn root beneath the surface. He resisted my touch more each day, as though something unseen reminded him of her.Even now, with the spell clouding his judgment, Clarissa lingered in his thoughts. I saw i
Drey's POVI sat at the edge of my bed, the silence of the night pressing heavily on my shoulders. Camelia's warning echoed in my mind, louder than the wind rattling the windowpanes. Her words hadn’t just been a warning; they were a reckoning.If I marked Helen, I would destroy everything.I stared at the floor, my jaw clenched. I had always prided myself on my strength, my ability to lead, to guide, to protect. But now, I was a man torn between illusions and truth, between a loyalty I once thought was real and a growing sense of unease I could no longer ignore. Clarissa’s absence was a hollow space in my chest, a whisper in every shadow, a constant ache in every heartbeat.I had made my decision. At dawn, I would meet Camelia again. I needed answers, not dreams. I needed truth, not illusions. And if Helen truly was behind the darkness creeping into my soul, I would unmask her, no matter the cost.The door creaked open softly.Sure enough, it was Helen.Helen stepped into the room, wr