LOGINTen years later Ten years had drifted by like a long, peaceful dream. As I stood on the balcony of the great castle, looking out over the sprawling lands of our kingdom, I found it hard to believe how much my life had changed. Sometimes I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't still that broken little girl hiding in the shadows. I remembered being a lowly omega, the trash and outcast of the pack. I remembered the stinging pain of being rejected by Derrick, the man I thought was my destiny. Back then, I was a girl who had nothing and expected even less. Then came Calhoun the terrifying Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. When he first took me, I was paralyzed with fear. The rumors said he was a mindless, heartless monster who wanted nothing more than to see the earth soaked in blood. But the rumors were wrong. Behind the cold eyes and the sharp claws was a man who had been shattered by the world. I learned about his tragic past, how he had watched his mother die in a way that no
Azrael rose from the dirt like a nightmare that refused to end. His skin was bubbling where the light had touched him, and his broken wing dragged behind him like a dead weight, but the power radiating off him was still enough to make the air vibrate. He looked at the three of us a Moon Goddess, a Demon Wolf, and a mortal Alpha and he let out a laugh that sounded like a thousand dying screams. "You think you can defeat me with teamwork?" Azrael roared. "I am the darkness that existed before the you were born!" The battle began again, but this time it was different. We moved as one, even if the boys hated each other. Derrick was the first to move. He knew he couldn't match Azrael’s magic, so he used his speed and his sword. He lunged forward, his blade whistling through the air. He wasn't aiming to kill, he was aiming to distract. He slashed at Azrael’s legs, forcing the demon to look down. At the same time, Calhoun shifted into his massive dark wolf form again. He didn't just
I stared at Derrick’s back, my mind racing as I tried to process the scene in front of me. I was absolutely shocked to see him standing there, acting as a wall between me and the literal devil. He was putting his life on the line, facing a creature of ancient nightmares, just to keep me safe for a few more seconds. It was a strange, heavy feeling in my chest. I remembered everything Derrick had done to me. He had been responsible for so much pain in my life. He was the reason my father was gone, and he had been the one to shatter my heart into a million pieces after I had gathered the courage to confess my feelings to him. He had even been the one to sentence me to death, treating me like I was nothing. But seeing him now, bruised and bleeding but refusing to move, something shifted inside me. This act was so brave and so heroic that I felt a part of my old anger start to melt away. I couldn't forget the past, but in this moment of life and death, I found myself forgiving him.
The smoke from the light beam cleared, and for a heartbeat, I thought it was over But then, a low, guttural growl rose from the shadows of the darkened cave. Azrael crawled out of the crater my light had made. His skin was charred and peeling, and one of his massive wings hung limp and broken at his side, but his eyes were glowing with a terrifying, murderous purple flame. He wasn't dead. If anything, the pain had made him faster and more dangerous. "So," he hissed, spitting out a mouthful of black blood. "The Goddess finally decides to show her face. You think a little spark is enough to finish what started thousands of years ago?" He vanished in a blur of shadow and before I could even blink, he was right in front of me. His hand clamped around my throat, lifting me off the ground. The heat from his touch burned my skin like dry ice. I clawed at his wrist, but it felt like trying to break solid stone. I can't die here, I thought. If I die, Calhoun dies. If I die, he wins. M
The air didn't just turn cold, no it turned heavy, as if the oxygen itself had been replaced by the thick, suffocating scent of sulfur and ancient rot. Azrael didn't wait for a formal start to the fight. With a deafening roar that sounded like a mountain splitting in half, he launched himself forward. His massive demon wings snapped shut and then expanded with a force that sent a gale of wind screaming through the clearing, knocking me off my feet. Calhoun, in his massive dark wolf form, met him halfway. The collision was like two beasts hitting head on. The sound of their bodies slamming together was a sickening thud that shook the very foundation of the cave and I feared it might collapse if the baffle raged on. I scrambled to my back, my eyes wide as I watched the carnage. I had seen Calhoun fight before he was a whirlwind of teeth and claws, a god of the battlefield but Azrael was something else entirely. He wasn't just a monstrous powerful creature he was a force of n
"You truly believe that I wouldn't recognize you in this lifetime? That I would forget the very face of the woman who ruined me?" Azrael’s voice wasn’t just loud, it felt like a physical weight pressing down on the air, cold and suffocating. He glared straight at me with eyes that burned with an ancient, terrifying hatred. I stood there, frozen, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I looked back at him, my mind a complete blur of confusion. I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn't know him, and I certainly didn't understand why he was looking at me as if I were his worst enemy. Before the silence could stretch any further, Calhoun stepped firmly in front of me. His broad shoulders blocked Azrael’s piercing gaze, acting as a human shield between me and the monster before us. Calhoun’s own stare was fixed on his father, sharp and unwavering. Despite the strength in his stance, I could see the slight tremor in his frame. My stomach knotted with worry.
Azrael's pov The silence of the Iron Hills was not the silence of peace, it was the heavy, suffocating silence of a graveyard that had been freshly filled. I walked through the iron gates, which hung off their hinges like broken limbs. The air was thick with the copper tang of blood and a swirli
I remember it like it was yesterday, that fateful day over seven centuries ago. That night, the wind howled outside my castle walls. It was a lonely sound, but I liked it. I sat on my throne of black stone. The room was dark and cold but I did not mind the cold. I had lived for a long time, and
Calhoun's pov The room was pitch black, and it smelled like old stone and wet dirt. Then, I felt it. Drip. Drip. Drip. Cold water fell from the ceiling and hit my face over and over again. It was the only sound in the quiet room. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt heavy but when I fina
The cell’s stone walls were weeping. Cold moisture seeped through the cracks, smelling of rot and something worse. I slumped in the corner, nauseous. It wasn't just the dampness that got to me, it was the bars that were coated with wolfsbane. It felt as though my skin burned just being near th







