MasukChapter 39The river had always been mine. It was the one place in the palace grounds where silence felt real. No expectations. No watching eyes. No need to be careful with every word, every step. Just water, wind, and breath. Today, it felt like something else entirely. Because he was here. I did not turn when I heard him approach. I did not need to. The sound of his steps was steady, unhurried, like he had already decided this moment belonged to him. It annoyed me that he walked like that. As if nothing could challenge him. As if no space was ever off limits. Gravel shifted lightly behind me. Closer. “You leave quickly,” Aaron said. His voice was lower than usual. Not loud. Not playful. Just close. I kept my gaze on the water. “You follow too easily.” A breath of quiet amusement reached me. “And yet you didn’t stop me.” That was enough. I turned. The distance between us was wrong. Too small. At some point, while I had been refusing to look at him, he had stepped
Chapter 38The palace was quiet when I left her chamber.The corridor stretched long and empty ahead of me, lit only by a few fading torches along the walls. Their light flickered against the stone, casting thin shadows across the floor as I walked.My steps were slow.Unhurried.Anyone watching would have thought nothing of it.But my mind was nowhere near as calm as my footsteps suggested.Bridget.The name lingered in my thoughts longer than I liked.I should not have gone to her chamber tonight.That much was obvious.Yet the moment I saw her standing on that balcony, watching the training yard below, the decision had already been made.I knew she was there long before she realized I had noticed her.A person who trains alone at night learns to feel eyes.Even silent ones.At first I had assumed it was one of the palace guards. But when I lifted my head and saw the thin outline of her figure against the balcony rail, something inside me shifted slightly.The princess.Watching.Sh
Chapter 37For a moment I simply stared at him.Aaron stood in the corridor outside my chamber as if the hour meant nothing. As if visiting the princess’s room in the middle of the night was the most natural thing in the world.Moonlight slipped through the high windows behind him, stretching across the floor between us.He did not move.He did not look embarrassed.He did not even try to pretend this was a mistake.The silence lingered longer than it should have.“You shouldn’t be here,” I said finally.My voice sounded calm. Far calmer than I felt.Aaron’s expression did not change.His gaze moved slowly over my face as if he was studying something interesting.“You were watching me,” he said quietly.The statement was simple.Not accusing.Not surprised.Just certain.I tightened my hand slightly against the door.“You were training in the middle of the courtyard,” I replied. “It was difficult not to notice.”A faint smile appeared.It was not the careless grin he often gave the w
Chapter 36 Sleep would not come. The palace had long fallen into silence. Torches burned low along the outer walls, their flames shrinking into thin threads of orange light. Even the night guards moved quietly through the courtyards below, their footsteps fading into the distance. Yet my mind refused to rest. I had tried everything. Reading. Walking the length of my chamber. Even closing my eyes and forcing stillness. Nothing worked. Thoughts drifted endlessly, circling the same places like restless birds. Finally I rose from the bed and crossed the room. Moonlight slipped through the tall windows, spreading across the marble floor in pale silver patterns. The air felt cool and still. Perhaps that was what I needed. Fresh air. I pushed open the balcony doors and stepped outside. The night wrapped around me immediately. The wind carried the scent of damp grass and distant water from the river beyond the palace grounds. Somewhere far away an owl called once, then the sound fad
Chapter 35 The storm faded before dawn. When the rain finally stopped, the forest smelled fresh and cold. Mist rolled through the tall trees as morning slowly crept over Blackridge. But the quiet did nothing to calm my mind. His words from the night before refused to leave me. *Because she asked me to.* I had spent years hating the Alpha for my mother’s death. Every memory I carried was shaped by that moment her body on the ground, his figure standing over her. And now he had said something that twisted the truth I thought I knew. I walked beside him in silence as we returned toward the pack grounds. Neither of us spoke. The pack houses slowly came into view through the mist, their roofs still damp from the storm. Warriors were already awake. Some patrolled the edges of the territory while others moved through the courtyard preparing for the day. When we stepped out of the forest together, the first wolf who saw us stopped immediately. Then another. And another. Within
Chapter 34The storm did not stop that night.Wind rattled the tall windows of the Alpha’s house, and thunder rolled over the mountains like distant drums. Even inside the thick stone walls, the sound carried through the halls.I could not sleep.The events of the evening replayed endlessly in my mind.The whispers in the hall.The laughter.And the moment the Alpha had stood up.I had expected anger.Violence.Instead, he had spoken calmly, and somehow that had been far more powerful.I turned in the bed again, staring at the dark ceiling above me.The room felt too quiet.Too still.The storm outside pulled at something inside my chest.Eventually I stood up.If I stayed here any longer, my thoughts would drive me mad.I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders again before leaving the room. The fabric was heavy and warm, shielding me from the cold air that filled the halls.The Alpha’s house was mostly silent at this hour.Servants had gone to their quarters.Most warriors slept.Only
Chapter 28Morning comes early in the Alpha house.I wake before the sun, like I always do. The air is cold when my feet touch the floor. For a moment I stay still, staring at the wooden ceiling above my bed.But the memory returns quickly.The room.The whispering voices.Lady Ophelia’s hands on L
chapter 21I learnt early that silence keeps you alive . in the pleasure house , silence was currency.we learned when to moan, when to speak , when to gesture and act. all men did not come to us for Truth. they came to forget it . I was good at helping them forget. By the time the Alpha king
Chapter 30The house never felt smaller than it did that day.I moved quietly through the halls, carrying a basket of freshly folded linens. Every step felt heavy. Every sound seemed louder than it should be. Even the soft rustle of my dress against the stone floors echoed like a warning.I had lea
Chapter 26 The training ground had always felt like mine. Not because I owned it. But because it was where I rebuilt myself. Steel in hand. Dust in my lungs. Sweat on my skin. Here, I was not the girl who had been sent away. I was a warrior in progress. I was discipline. Roshan stood across fr







