LOGINBranwen POVThe creek is cold, clean, and perfect. I float there, letting the water wash the heat from my skin and the last traces of sleep from my mind. The Wilds hum soft and alive around me. Birds chatter. A breeze stirs the pines.For once, there’s peace.I dunk my head under, come up gasping and laughing, and push my hair back. The morning sun slides through the canopy in silver threads, glittering on the ripples. I almost feel… normal.Then the forest stops breathing.No birds. No wind. No chatter. Just silence thick enough to choke on.I straighten, water sliding down my body. “Hadrian?” I call softly.No answer.The hairs on my arms rise. My magic stirs, whispering a warning. I take a step toward the bank, my eyes sweeping the treeline.That’s when I hear it, a deep, rumbling growl. Not hostile. Not yet. Just a sound that vibrates in my chest, low and heavy, like the ground itself is purring.“Bloody hell,” I mutter, sloshing toward shore. “Can’t even bathe without drama.”I r
Branwen POVI wake to the smell of smoke and sizzling fat.The moss under me is still warm, and my limbs are deliciously sore in all the right places. Every muscle hums with memory, and my lips curl into a sleepy smile before I even open my eyes. The golden scent of him lingers on my skin, sunlight and salt and something primal that makes my magic purr.But the moss beside me is empty.I sit up slowly, the thin blanket slipping to my waist, and blink into the dim light. The cave is quiet except for the faint crackle of a fire somewhere deeper in. Hadrian’s cloak is gone. So are his boots.For one irrational second, my chest tightens. The bond glows steadily under my skin, though, warm and pulsing, assuring me he’s still close. Just… not here.I stretch, wince, and grin all at once. “Gods,” I mutter to myself. “No wonder I can’t walk straight.”The scent hits me again, rich, savory, and smoky. My stomach growls loud enough to echo. Food. Real food.I throw on my ridiculous leathers, fi
Branwen POV The shadows of the inner cavern swallow us whole, thick and cool like a lover's breath held too long. Hadrian's hand in mine is an anchor, his rough palm and steady grip. The heat of him seeps through my skin like sunlight through storm clouds. My heart thunders, a wild drumbeat echoing off the stone walls, but it's not fear. It's hunger. The gods' words coil in my gut like thorns...Seal your bonds. And gods help me, I want to. With every fiber of my sassy, stubborn soul. He stops in the heart of the chamber, where the floor dips into a natural bed of moss. The air hums here, thicker than before, laced with the scent of damp earth and ancient secrets. A single shaft of moonlight filters through a crack high above, silvering the edges of his sandy hair, turning it to spun gold. His eyes, golden, fierce and reverent, lock on mine, and for a breath, we just stand there with our chests heaving, the space between us crackling like dry tinder waiting for flame. "Branwen," h
Branwen POVSleep drags me under hard and fast. One blink and I’m not in the cave anymore.The air is wet, thick, and heavy with magic. I stand in a circle of ancient trees older than the Wilds themselves, their roots glowing faintly like veins of light in the ground. A mist curls low across the moss, cool and sweet like rain on stone. I can feel them before I see them, the weight of divinity, and the hum of old power pressing on my skin.Five figures step out from the mist.Rootmother first, massive and calm, her skin like bark, and her eyes green with the pulse of deep earth. She smells of soil and growing things. Behind her, Solon walks in gold light, bare-chested, his skin the color of the sun at noon, with eyes molten and unyielding. Luneth glides beside him, silver-haired and veiled, with moonlight woven into her dress. Virel rises from the water pooling at my feet, all blue and white and endless motion, her laughter soft and sad. And finally Galeon, storm-eyed and sharp, wind c
Hadrian POVThe sun bleeds low, the gold sinking into the trees as if the Wilds are swallowing the day whole. We’ve been running for hours, and the land ahead opens into a rise thick with oaks and dark brush. I can feel it, the pull of safety, the hum of ground that listens.“This’ll do,” I say, my voice rough. “High ground, narrow access, good sightlines.”Branwen steps beside me, her chest still heaving from the run. Her dark curls cling to her temples, wild and damp, her eyes alive even in the dimming light. She looks around once, scanning like a soldier, then nods.“Fine choice, Lion,” she says. “You’re learning.”I huff a quiet laugh. “You say that like I wasn’t born for strategy.”“You were born to roar,” she shoots back, grinning. “But I’ll allow both.”Zarrk slinks out of the shadows behind her, smooth and unbothered, like he hasn’t been following her scent all afternoon. “I’ll check the perimeter,” he says. “Traps and wards need setting before dark.”Branwen’s eyes flick towa
Queen Seressa Coilheart POVThe Sunken DepthsThe water trembles around the basilica when I scream.The lanterns lining the black canals flicker, bending in the waves my rage summons. Silas’s death echoes through every bone in this rotten palace like a curse. My son, my heir, gone, slain by that cursed witch.The witch they call Branwen Mosswood.The name coils on my tongue like a thorned vine. I taste her magic even here, miles beneath the Wild surface, where the air smells of moss, metal, and memory.“Fetch me the wardens,” I whisper.No one moves. The hall is full of serpents in silk, my courtiers, my venom scholars, and my whispering priests. None dare breathe. I stand at the edge of the water, watching the reflection of my crown ripple over the black glass. My braids gleam like lacquered armor, heavy with pearls and gold. The gown I wear is older than kingdoms, sheer as oil, slick as a lie.“I said,” I hiss softly, “fetch me the wardens.”The doors open at once. Two of them enter
Branwen POVRun. It's all I can think as those white tiger eyes lock on me. I don't wait for him to pounce, I launch upward, my feet digging into bark, fingers catching on knots as I scramble up the nearest tree like a wildcat being chased by death itself. My heart hammers so loud I swear he can he
Branwen POVI wake to the blaring of horns. The sound is metallic and ancient, like the gods themselves decided to announce the slaughter. My eyes fly open. For one blissful second I've forgotten where I am. Then a guard's fist closes around the collar at my throat and yanks me off the cot like I
Branwen POVTurns out the wagon to hell smells like piss, fear, and old onions.We've been rattling along the rutted road for hours, thirty of us crammed shoulder to shoulder in a barred cart like livestock. Our hands are bound, ankles chained and our cursed fate is sealed. Every bump sends my arse
Branwen Mosswood POVThey always said I was too pretty to survive the world I was born into. "Might get you coin, that face of yours," My ma would mutter, tying back one of my escaping dark curls while I squirmed. "But it'll get you killed twice as fast."I suppose she wasn't wrong.Name's Branwen







