LOGINDanielle’s POVTHE NEXT MORNINGI wake up to some kind of cold, the hard marble floor against my cheek. Stiffness in my limbs. A dull ache behind my eyes that throbs with every breath I take.For a moment, I don’t remember where I am or why my chest feels so tight, like something heavy is pressing down on it.Then in seconds it all rushes back. The hallway. Rhett’s grip on my arm. Elara’s voice sliced through the tension like a knife. The way Rhett had gone quiet when she appeared.My throat tightens in seconds.I push myself up slowly, wincing as my muscles protest. I must have slept on the floor all night. The thin rug beneath me is rumpled, my hair tangled, my dress wrinkled and twisted around my legs.I don’t even remember lying down. I only remember crying.My eyes burn as I blink, swollen and sore, the kind of ache that comes from tears that never really stopped. My body feels weak and heavy as if the antidote they’d given me days
Danielle’s POV I don’t wait for permission. I walk away like my whole life depends on getting away from him.The hallway stretches ahead of me, long and my steps echoing, marble floors cold beneath my bare feet. My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure the servants lining the walls can hear it. Every step feels like I’m tearing myself away from something fragile, something I don’t even know how to protect anymore.“Danielle, stop.” Rhett’s voice follows me, loud and edged with anger he’s barely even containing. But I don’t, instead I lift my chin and keep moving.His footsteps are heavier than mine from behind and faster than even right now I know he’ll catch up to me. Part of me wants him to. Another part is terrified of what will happen when he does.“Danielle!” he snaps. Then his hand closes around my arm. Not rough but not gentle either.The suddenness of it jolts me, stopping me short. I gasp, spinning halfway toward him, my breath coming unevenly.
Danielle’s POVThe ride back to the pack feels longer than the hours I spent unconscious, back in the pack hospital.The car wheels crunch against the gravel path, steady and unyielding, and I sit stiffly inside, my hands folded in my lap as though holding myself together requires constant pressure. Every movement still aches for some reason, not enough to keep me bedridden, but enough to remind me how close I came to something worse.Rhett walks behind me when we arrive at the mansion as always. Always behind. Always watching.I can feel him even when I don’t look back, the weight of his presence like a shadow stitched to my spine. Guards flank us, respectful, quiet, their gazes never lingering too long. And right now, I hate how it is that the pack has learned how to look at me now. Carefully. Like glass that’s already cracked once.Taking another step forward, I see her. ElaraShe stands at the front of the mansion steps, bathed in afternoon
Rhett’s POVDevon is talking right now. I know this because his mouth is moving. What I don’t know, what unsettles me is that I haven’t heard a single word he’s said in the last minute.“…Alpha?” The word snaps me back and I look directly into his eyes.I blink, my gaze shifting from the far wall of the council room to where my beta sits across the long oak table, brows drawn together.“Yes,” I say quickly. Too quickly. “Go on.”Devon doesn’t.He leans back in his chair instead, arms crossing over his chest, dark green eyes studying me with a familiarity that only comes from years of fighting beside someone.“You didn’t hear me,” he says flatly, staring back at me.“I did,” I reply.“Then repeat it.”Silence stretches between us. The lights along the stone walls crackle softly, their brightness bending in the draft. The scent of old wood and ink hangs heavy in the room, familiar as always. Normally, this place sharpens me. But t
Danielle’s POVLady Seraphine doesn’t say another word immediately, instead, she stays silent watching me—with the kind of patience that makes my skin prickle. Her hand is still resting over mine, warm and firm, as if she’s anchoring me to the bed.I force myself to breathe as I part my lips to finally respond.“I don’t think everything is okay,” I finally admit. My voice sounds smaller than I want it to. “I think something is very wrong.”She nods once. “I thought as much.”That alone almost undoes me.“You believe me?” I ask, searching her face. Seraphine’s lips curve into something that isn’t quite a smile. “I believe that women rarely imagine poison.”A sharp, bitter laugh escapes me before I can stop it.“She smiled,” I say quietly. “When Rhett wasn’t looking. Not the kind kind. The relieved kind.”Seraphine exhales slowly in front of me as she looks away for a brief second before looking back at me. “Elara has always been good
Danielle’s POV As expected a couple of seconds later, the door slams shut behind Elara. The sound echoes louder than it should, rattling something deep in my chest. For a moment, I just lie there, staring at the place where she stood—where her lies had curled around the room like smoke. And Rhett? He doesn’t move. He just stands near the door, shoulders rigid, jaw locked so tightly I can almost hear his teeth grind. His presence fills the ward, heavy and suffocating, like a storm refusing to break. “She poisoned me,” I say again, quieter this time. He exhales sharply through his nose and finally turns to face me this time. “You’re weak right now,” he says cutting me off. “You’ve been through something traumatic.” The words hit harder than I expected. Weak and traumatic all in one sentence. And annoyingly, he’s not wrong. Not lying. But I didn't believe either. “I know what I felt,” I insist, pushing myself up on the pillows despite the ache screaming through my body. “The tas







