LOGINRaiden’s POV The word push was still hanging in the air when Traci bore down again. I tightened my grip around her hand, my other hand resting against her shoulder as I watched the strain cross her face. Her breathing came hard and uneven, her fingers crushing mine with enough force that any other time I might have complained. Right now, I couldn’t have cared less. Our babies were coming. Fredrick was positioned at the end of the bed, watching closely, his expression focused as Traci pushed with everything she had. I waited. Nothing. My heart slammed against my ribs. Traci finally released the breath she’d been holding and fell back against the pillows, exhausted. Fredrick frowned. “The baby didn’t come.” I stared at him. “What?” “I thought the baby was going to come with that push, but they didn’t.” He looked genuinely confused. Traci turned her head toward him, breathing heavily. “Are you telling me I just did all that for nothing?” Fredrick gave her an apologetic look. “I
Unknown POV I had barely been gone from the palace when I heard the change in the voices coming through the small device sitting on the table in front of me. I had planted it there long before anyone in that palace suspected someone was listening. The device was small enough to hide beneath the edge of the furniture, its connection protected by layers of security I had built myself. No signal could be traced back to me through it, and there was no way for the kings to follow it to wherever I happened to be. That had always been the point. I watched from a distance. I listened. I gathered information. And when necessary, I helped. My grandmother had taught me that protecting someone didn’t always mean standing beside them where they could see you. Sometimes protection meant staying hidden. Tonight, however, staying hidden was becoming harder. I sat back in the chair and listened as Fredrick’s voice came through the speaker. The White Wolf was in labor. My eyes dropped to the jour
Raiden’s POV Eight centimeters. The words kept repeating in my head. Eight. Traci was eight centimeters dilated. Our babies were coming. Today. I stood beside her bed with her hand wrapped tightly around mine, staring at the woman I loved while my mind struggled to catch up with everything that had happened in the last few minutes. It felt impossible that we had gone from laughing together to this. A few minutes ago, I had been laughing harder than I had in weeks. A real laugh. The kind that had come from somewhere deep inside me without me having to force it. I had felt like myself again, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, there hadn’t been a constant weight pressing against my chest. Then Traci had another contraction. Then the silver glow had returned. Then the marks on her stomach appeared. And now Fredrick had just told us she was eight centimeters dilated. Our children were almost here. I looked at Traci. She was breathing through another contraction, her
Traci’s POV The second Raiden finished saying, “Alright. Enough sad shit,” another pain tore through my stomach. I grabbed the edge of the bed so hard my fingers cramped around the mattress, and the breath I had been about to take caught somewhere between my lungs and my throat. My other hand went immediately to my stomach as the pain tightened, deeper and stronger than anything I had felt since this whole thing started. “Okay,” I gasped, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to ride through it. “That one was different.” The room changed instantly. Raiden’s smile disappeared, replaced by the same worried expression I had seen on his face earlier, but there was something different about him now. The panic was still there because I was hurting, but the darkness that had been sitting behind his eyes for weeks was gone. His curse marks were still faintly silver, and for once I could look at him without seeing that constant battle raging inside him. Zayden moved before either of us could
Maddox’s POV Boomer’s words hung in the air long after he’d spoken them. “We’ve lost five men.” Only a few moments ago the dining room had been filled with Serena’s laughter. Now it was so quiet I could hear the crackling fire burning in the massive stone fireplace several yards away. The warmth that had settled over the room vanished almost instantly, replaced by something colder. Much colder. I slowly pushed my chair back from the table, the legs scraping softly across the floor as I stood. Every instinct I’d spent years sharpening immediately took over. “Where?” Boomer didn’t hesitate. “The eastern patrols, my King.” My jaw tightened. “All five?” “Yes.” He nodded his head. “Wounds?” I raised my brow. He swallowed hard once before answering. “Clean kills.” That told me everything I needed to know. This hadn’t been some random attack. It had been planned. Calculated. Someone had watched my patrols. Someone knew exactly where to strike. Someone wanted me to know they coul
Maddox’s POV Hearing my wolf utter that single word had caught me completely off guard. Mate. Of all the things I thought I’d hear from him throughout my lifetime… That had never once crossed my mind. I’d never had a mate before. Hell, years ago I’d already accepted that I probably never would. I’d convinced myself a chosen mate would be good enough, and if I was being honest, I’d already had someone in mind. First… Darci. That idea disappeared the moment she’d found her true mate. Then my attention shifted elsewhere. Traci. A White Wolf. Even now, I couldn’t deny she’d been a prize unlike any other. I would’ve gladly claimed her if fate had given me the chance, but life had a cruel sense of humor. By the time I learned the truth about her bond with the Twin Kings, the decision had already been taken from me. Killing them wouldn’t have left Traci alive for me to claim. Their life bond guaranteed she’d die right alongside them, and suddenly every plan I’d spent months building becam
Traci’s POV“Traci, you need to rest. You’re pushing too hard.” Corbin’s voice cut through the sharp morning air while I drove my fist into the padded target again. Sweat slid down my spine despite the cool breeze rolling through the clearing behind the old patrol cabins.“I’m fine,” I muttered, th
Traci’s POV“Corbin, we have a problem.” The second the words left my mouth through the mindlink, panic nearly swallowed me whole again.“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Corbin’s voice came through instantly, calm and steady like always. “Are you okay?”No. Absolutely not.I pressed both hands against t
Raiden’s POVRogue attacks across the kingdom had gotten worse every year.What once started as small raids along distant borders had evolved into organized assaults with strategy behind them. More warriors. Better timing. Stronger fighters. Somebody was building an army in the shadows, and whoever
Zayden’s POV“Sienna,” I muttered against her neck as she settled herself onto my lap with a satisfied little smirk.Soft music drifted through my chambers while firelight flickered across the walls, casting golden shadows over the room. The scent of vanilla and wine clung heavily to the air. Hones







