LOGIN~SilverThe prophet showed up at breakfast three days later looking as smug as someone that old and wrinkled could possibly look.I was eating pancakes that Caspian had attempted to make and pretending they weren’t slightly raw in the middle when the doors to the dining hall opened and the prophet walked in with his stupid staff and his knowing eyes.“The bond is weak,” he announced without preamble.Caspian set down his coffee. “Good morning to you too.”“There is nothing good about this morning when I can feel the instability in your mate bond from across the kingdom.” The prophet walked closer and I felt Bastian tense beside me. “You completed the bond once. It was not enough.”My stomach dropped. “What do you mean not enough?”“The mate bond between three people requires maintenance. One encounter was enough to form the connection but not enough to sustain it.” He looked between the three of us. “The bond is already weakening. And with it the healing effects on the kingdom are sta
~SilverWe spent the next hour mapping out timelines. When the poisoning started. Who was where. Who had access to what. The pattern that emerged made my blood run cold.The tea had been introduced three weeks ago. Right after Viola found out about the bond completion and she’d been told she was being replaced as potential Luna Queen.“It’s Viola,” I said. “It has to be. She had a motive. She had access through the Queen Mother. And she left right when we started getting suspicious.”“But how did she get into Mother’s private garden?” Aurora pulled up security footage. “Look. The garden has cameras. No one went in or out except Mother and Margaret in the past month.”“Then she didn’t get the poison from the garden. She got it somewhere else and added it to the tea after it was prepared.” I started pacing. “Where does the tea go after Margaret makes it?”“Kitchen storage. Then it gets brought up to the brothers’ chambers every morning by the breakfast staff.”“So Viola could have tampe
~SilverI made it exactly two days before Bastian cornered me about the bond. I was in the library researching antidotes to Wolfsbane poisoning when he walked in and sat down across from me without asking. Just looked at me with those clearer eyes and said the words I’d been dreading.“You’re scared. I can feel it through the bond constantly now. What’s wrong?”I closed the book too quickly and the sound echoed in the quiet room. “Nothing. I’m fine.”“Silver you’re a terrible liar and the bond makes it impossible anyway. I can feel your anxiety. It’s been building for days and it’s keeping me up at night.” He leaned forward. “So tell me what’s actually going on.”I looked at him and realized I couldn’t keep dodging this. The bond was betraying me. Every spike of concern when they ate something. Every flutter of relief when they made it through a meal without getting sick. “I think you’re both sick,” I said carefully. “Something is wrong with your bodies. Something beyond what Dr. W
~SilverI was in the middle of searching Viola’s abandoned rooms with Aurora when the pain hit through the bond. Not nausea this time but actual pain that was stabbing and radiating from Caspian’s chest like someone had driven a knife between his ribs.“I have to go.” I dropped the drawer I’d been rifling through and ran for the door.“Silver wait—”But I was already sprinting down the hallway following the pull of the bond. It led me straight to Caspian’s study where I found the door locked. I didn’t bother knocking. Just slammed my shoulder against it until the lock gave way.Caspian was on the floor behind his desk collapsed. His skin was gray and sweat was pouring down his face and through the bond I felt everything. The poison was worse this time like whoever was dosing them had decided to escalate.“Caspian!” I dropped to my knees beside him and pressed my hands to his chest. “Can you hear me?”His eyes opened but they were unfocused. “Silver? What’s happening to me?”“I don’t k
~SilverIt's been three days of feeling Bastian get violently ill through the bond and wanting to scream. Caspian had an episode too on the second day and I’d been in the middle of painting with Aurora when the nausea hit me so hard I almost threw up myself.“Are you okay?” Aurora had asked.“It’s not me. It’s them. Through the bond.” I’d pressed my hand to my stomach trying to separate their pain from my own feelings. “Something is really wrong.”I started keeping a journal and wrote down every time one of them got sick and what they’d been doing before. The pattern became obvious fast. It only happened after meals. Specifically after breakfast and sometimes after lunch. Never after dinner which was weird.On the fourth day I marched down to the kitchens at six in the morning before the staff got busy. The head cook was a woman named Margaret who’d been working at the palace for twenty years and knew where every spoon was kept.“Can I help you Miss Silver?” She asked when I walked i
~BastianThe rest of the day passed normally. I feel better than fine actually since my vision was still improved. I went through emails and attended a video call with a neighboring pack’s Alpha and had dinner in my chambers. LBy the time nine o’clock rolled around I’d almost convinced myself it had been a one time thing. Stress or bad coffee or some weird bond adjustment like Dr. Woods suggested.Then there was a knock on my door.Silver stood in the hallway wearing leggings and an oversized sweater that made her look younger than her nineteen years. Her silver hair was pulled back in a messy bun and she had her arms wrapped around her pregnant belly in that protective way she always did.“Can I come in?” she asked.“Of course.” I stepped aside and she walked past me into my chambers. It was the first time she’d been here since before we rejected her and I watched her take in the space like she was looking for changes.“You redecorated,” she observed.“Yeah. After you left I could
~Bastian Two days later the prophet was summoned. I didn’t want him there. I had always hated the old man with his cryptic warnings and his smug attitude. He had been the one to tell us that only a Healer could save us. That we needed to keep Silver close and we had ignored him. But now with th
~Silver I woke up to sunlight streaming through my window and the sound of birds chirping outside. For the first time in weeks I actually felt veryy rested. The nightmares hadn’t come last night. My sleep had been deep and dreamless and when I opened my eyes I felt something close to peace. It w
~Silver It had been three days since Mike’s warning about the Alpha Kings and their failing kingdom. Three days of looking over my shoulder and jumping at every unexpected sound. I was in the garden that afternoon helping Sara plant new herbs when I heard the commotion at the pack entrance. Voice
~SilverThe baby kicked again that night while I was trying to sleep and I pressed my hand against my stomach with a small smile. It was still strange to me. This little life growing inside me that had nothing to do with rejection or pain or betrayal. This baby was mine and I would do anything to p







