LOGINEleanor POV My head throbbed with a dull, relentless ache. My body felt heavy and weak, as if every muscle had been drained of strength. The last clear memory I had was of someone pressing a cloth or something over my nose and mouth while Zita was preparing me for the wedding. I had tried to pull away, but a thick dizziness had swept over me too quickly. After that… nothing.Slowly, I forced my eyes open.I was in a dim room. A tall arched window stood to one side, and the full moon’s light poured through it in a pale silver beam that fell directly across my face. I blinked against the brightness, disoriented, until the rest of the space came into focus. I was lying on a narrow bed. When I tried to sit up, cold metal bit into my wrists.Chains.My heart lurched.“What the hell…?” I whispered, yanking against the restraints. The chains held firm, bolted securely to the frame. Panic fluttered in my chest. “What’s going on?”A figure stood near the window, silhouetted against the moonli
Back to the present!I returned to my mansion after dropping Eleanor and Lucian off. The drive back had been quiet. Too quiet. My hands had stayed steady on the wheel the entire time, but underneath the calm a low, restless energy still moved through me. Thank the Goddess nothing had happened to Eleanor. She was fine. Alive. Still useful. That was all that mattered. “Good evening, sir.” One of my most trusted female servants, Lila, greeted me just as I reached my bedroom door. Her voice was soft, respectful, already carrying the quiet eagerness I had trained into her. “Good evening.” I paused with my hand on the handle, studying her for a moment. “Is everything prepared?” “Yes, sir. Your bath is ready… and so is your special room.” A slow smile tugged at my mouth. I lifted my hand and placed a single finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up until her eyes met mine. She didn’t resist. She never did. “You’re such a good servant, aren’t you?” That beautiful, obedien
I arrived at my father’s house in the late afternoon, when the sun had begun to soften and long shadows stretched across the compound.The familiar halls felt quieter than I remembered, the air carrying the faint scent of old wood and the herbal medicines my mother constantly prepared. I stepped into the living room and found her near the window, one hand resting on the back of a chair as if she had been waiting. The moment she saw me, a familiar, faintly pointed smile touched her lips. “Well, hello there,” she said, turning fully toward me. “Look who finally decided to pay us a visit.” “How are you, Mother?” I asked, crossing the room. I offered her a brief hug, careful and measured. She returned it with more warmth than I gave, her hands lingering a second longer on my back before she pulled away. She cupped my face between both palms, studying me the way she always had—searching for signs of exhaustion, of loneliness, of the life she believed I should already be living. “I’m
I was very angry. What the hell was wrong with Lucian? Why would he go to my father when I had specifically told him he needed to rest? Lucian was the reason my father was like this in the first place. My father had always loved him too much—enough that he had been willing to expose what he overheard that day. I had been left with no choice. I made certain he could no longer speak of it.If only he had never been there. If only he had never listened to that conversation.Aurelius—the man who called himself my father—had never seen me as anything more than an ordinary beta. A tool. A shield. He expected me to serve Lucian for the rest of my life. To stand behind a man who was soft. Too kind. Too blind to the knives already at his back. Even if Lucian was stronger, he understood nothing of the real currents moving around him. He walked through life protected by other people’s sacrifices and called it leadership.I was tired of living in his shadow. Tired of taking the fall. Tired
Days back!I was in my office reviewing a set of reports when my assistant knocked and informed me that someone was requesting an audience.“Who is it?”“It’s Hussain.”I didn’t look up immediately. My pen remained poised over the page for another second before I finally set it down.“Let him in.”A moment later the door opened and Hussain strode in without waiting for further invitation. His face was tight with barely contained rage, the kind that made the air around him feel heavier. I rose from my chair at once, already reading the storm in his posture.“Hussain. What brings you here?”“Aries, I have had it with Lucian.” His voice was sharp, almost shaking with the effort of keeping it under control. “That bastard thinks he can do whatever he wants simply because he is Alpha.”I raised both hands slightly in a calming gesture, stood up and walked toward him, putting myself between him and the desk. “Hey. Calm down. What happened?”“He barred me from the council.” Hussain’s jaw clen
Aries POVHours earlier.I had been searching the down floors of the old building for what felt like forever, moving from corridors to rooms, every sense sharpened for any trace of Eleanor. My pulse stayed steady, controlled, even as frustration began to edge in. Then I pushed open another door and stopped.Valeria stood in the center of the dim space, watching me with a slow, knowing smile already curved on her lips.“Where is Eleanor?” I asked, walking toward her without hesitation.She tilted her head, eyes gleaming with amusement. “Oh, Aries… what do you think you’re doing?”“What do you mean?” My voice came out hard. I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached.Valeria took a few deliberate steps closer, never breaking eye contact. “Stop pretending to be someone you’re not. I can see straight through you, Aries.”My patience snapped thin. “What the hell are you talking about, you little bitch?”She burst into laughter—loud, sharp, and deliberately drawn out until she was satisfied. W







