MasukVeya’s POV I woke with a strangled breath and found him already above me. Morning was only half-born. A pale blade of sunlight slipped through the heavy curtains, carving a faint golden line down his bare back. His tan skin glistened with a sheen of sweat. The muscles in his shoulders and arms shifted with every roll of his hips—slow at first, measured, then quicker the moment he realized my eyes were open. “You’re awake,” he rumbled, his voice thick, rough with sleep and possession. “How do you feel?” “I… I don’t understand,” I stammered, shaking my head because he had found that devastatingly sweet place inside me again. “Your Majesty…” A low moan escaped me. My voice was wrecked. My throat burned from how many times I had called his name through the night, never truly stopping and never truly resting. My hands rose on instinct, clutching at his shoulders. My nails pressed into his slick skin as his movements made the bed creak beneath us. Each thrust pushed my head back, and
Nerissa’s POV The split door still trembled when I stepped inside. Cracked wood scraped beneath my claws before crashing onto the black marble floor, the sound ricocheting up to the vaulted ceiling of the council chamber. All seven elders rose almost at once. Their heavy robes dragged across the stone. The old bastards’ faces tightened—not from fear. They were not weak men. No, this was a calculation. The kind that comes when a carefully crafted plan shifts beneath their feet. I did not wear my crown. I came with fangs. The half-shift broadened my shoulders, sharpened my hearing, and lengthened my nails into curved blades ready to tear. The sleeves of my red gown had ripped, exposing the sweep of fine white fur brushing my skin. The fabric clung indecently to muscle and heat, as though even silk understood who ruled this room. The air thinned under the weight of my dominance. My gaze locked onto the long obsidian table at the center of the chamber. Upon it lay the royal bloodl
Nerissa’s POVI sat at the edge of the bed, spine straight out of habit, fingers digging into my chest as if I could hold together whatever was tearing loose inside me. The image would not stop replaying—Rael’s arms wrapped around that lowborn slave, the way his body curved around hers as though he had finally found something he had been searching for his entire life. As though she were home.He had never held me like that.Two measured knocks broke through the silence. The door opened carefully, and the scent reached me first. Isevar stepped inside with a stride that was heavy yet controlled. His silver armor still clung to his broad frame, catching the dim candlelight. His black hair was tied low at his nape, and his jaw was carved sharp as a blade meant for war.“Allow me to approach, Your Majesty,” he said, his voice low and steady.I gave a faint nod, resting my head against the carved bedpost.“How much has happened that I do not know during my absence?” His tone was grave, the
Nerissa POVThe cheers still echoed as the ritual cave began to empty, but to me the sound had twisted into a long, piercing hum drilling into my skull.I remained seated on the throne while elders and nobles filed out with wide smiles, their satisfaction gleaming under torchlight.My mind drifted back to what had happened only hours ago, when my husband stepped down from his throne, not for me.My king broke through a circle of magic even the elders dared not touch. The ritual symbols tore at his skin, slicing through flesh as if punishing his defiance, yet he kept walking forward as though the world bent to a single purpose.And that purpose was not me.What carved deepest into my chest was watching my husband pull that slave girl into his arms—right in front of me. His hands wrapped around her thin body possessively, and he lowered his face so close that their lips met.I gave no dramatic reaction. Royal protocol did not permit me the luxury of losing control. Even when my husband’
Veya POVThe palace gates close behind me with a heavy clang, like a coffin being nailed shut.Snow immediately bites into the soles of my feet. The cold is sharp, merciless—proof that this isn’t some nightmare I can escape by waking up and crying beneath a blanket.Six guards flank me. Their spears and swords glint beneath the moonlight, ready to sever my head at the slightest misstep.Thin chains encircle both my wrists, clinking softly with every step. The sound is small, almost delicate, but in my mind, it roars. A reminder that I have never truly been free in this place.Hours ago, the artifact stone glowed the moment it touched my skin. The king and Oracle Vesska exchanged a look as though they had just witnessed a miracle resurrected from the grave.I hadn’t even been given the chance to ask what it meant before the king pulled me against his side. He leaned close enough that only I could hear him. “Follow the ritual tonight. For the greater good.”I looked up at him then. “Who
Rael POV“The salt trade from the southern territories has declined by three percent, Your Majesty.”“The solution?” I asked, my tone glacial.The man sweated, his hands trembling around the parchment scroll. “P–perhaps raising the port tariffs—”“Fool.” My voice remained level, but the primal aura inside my chest thrashed like something feral clawing against its cage. “If you pressure the ports, they will smuggle their goods through forest routes. You will lose the tax entirely.”My gaze locked onto the wineglass in my hand, watching the dark red liquid swirl slowly. The color reminded me of something far more precious than gold.Her face kept surfacing through every fracture in my thoughts. The tremble of her soft lips when she tried to act brave. The warm gray-green of her eyes that always looked at me as if I were not the monster born to inherit this blood-soaked throne.“Your Majesty?” the trade advisor’s voice shook.I swallowed the wine without tasting it. The primal force in m







