The General's (Eric's) P.O.VMy tribe of the Tigers felt smaller than usual when I walked in. The torches that usually lent the hall a steady, amber confidence seemed to flare and gutter, casting the faces around the council table into a harsh, accusing light. I could smell smoke, oil, and the faint metallic tang of tension, my people’s unease braided with something uglier; disappointment.They were all there. Rakan, Mael, Dahlia, the scarred faces I had bled beside, each one a memory of campaigns and cold dawns. She sat at the head, immaculate and composed, the queen of calm storms. My mother’s silhouette filled the throne beside her like a shadow that had learned to command daylight. Their eyes tracked me the moment I crossed the threshold, assessing, and measuring. I had the awkward sense of returning from a hunt empty-handed, but I knew this was inevitable the moment I picked up a pen and wrote that letter to the wolves.“You brought us trouble.” Rakan said first, voice low
The General's (Eric's) P.O.V“General!” Dylan’s voice was somewhere behind me, sharp and warning, but I didn’t hear him fully as my blood roared in my ears.The Alpha tried to sink his claws into my side but I'm sure he didn't expect that I was faster considering my broadness.I twisted, forcing his arm behind him until bone strained, and he snarled slamming his forehead into mine, with the crack resounding through the chamber. Pain flared, but I welcomed it. It sharpened me.Giving him joy time to even blink. I slammed him into the stone pillar, the impact making the walls quake, and with the speed in which he gets up, I realise that he isn't one of those weak alphas that rely on their soldiers for strength.Great. I loved the competition.The guards surged forward. Blades gleamed and raised high, ready to strike us both down if needed. The wolves’ warriors circled, growls rolling like thunder, their eyes glowing yellow in the flickering light. “So this is the Tiger’s famous cont
“You really have lost your mind.” Dylan said, his voice low, eyes burning with both disbelief and loyalty “But I’m already crazy, so I’ve got you.” He said again but this time, with a smile in his eyes and on his lips, just like the lunatic I knew. I should not have smiled, but I did. It wasn’t a wide grin, wasn’t even a smirk, just the ghost of one, enough for him to know I’d heard him and had taken in his words. He was right. I had lost my mind, but my madness was the only thing keeping me standing. The plan was reckless, even by my standards. To sneak into the apex werewolf pack, the beating heart of my enemy’s power under the pretense of peace talks? To pretend I came offering terms to end a war that had stained generations in blood, when in truth all I wanted was her? Yewa. My wolf. My salvation. My curse. Yes, Dylan was right. I had lost my mind but I had no choice, but I can't fall this deep and let her go just like that. I definitely knew that there was a possi
The General's (Eric's) P.O.VThe immediate loss of breath I felt in this moment was one that I could never explain. I've heard people talk about heartbreaks and how much they wished they could turn the time back for certain things but I never understood it until now.If I could beg, I would but there was no one to beg to bring her back to me.It's not like she even wanted to stay but I was greedy.For the first time in my life I was greedy enough to keep her with me even though it meant she would hate me.It was toxic and selfish but just one look at her face was all I needed and now more than ever.As I walked back, I could hear the sounds of footsteps, and with the scents, I immediately knew they were my men and although I was supposed to feel at least a little bit of gratitude that they had been searching for me, I felt angry instead, as their scents were making hers even more nonexistent.It wasn't that I had any hope of her coming back.That hope had been strangled hours ago whe
The General's (Eric's) P.O.VI should have known.Not because I was clever, or because I had spies in every shadow or because my instincts for war were infallible,I should have known because I had watched her long enough to understand the logic of her appetite that when Yewa wanted something, she took it and that if she wanted to leave, she did not bargain. She did not wait for peace or permission. She would move.For weeks I had been telling myself stories that kept me steady. I told myself she was exhausted. That the poison, the knives, the hands that reached for her throat had finally taught her caution. That she would wait for me to arrange a proper escape, to bring proof, to present a face that even my mother could not challenge. I convinced myself that Dahlia’s plans would hold, that Dylan’s steady hands would keep watch, that whatever animal cunning the wolf possessed would be tempered by the exhaustion in her bones.I lied to myself because the truth was unbearable, and
Yewa's P.O.V A year.It had been a full year since I crossed that invisible line into the human world and chose to bury Yewa and in her place, I became Christy.Christy was ordinary. Christy smiled at customers, made their lattes extra foamy, and learned how to balance three mugs of cappuccino at once without spilling a drop. Christy lived in a modest apartment with a creaky radiator and curtains that always smelled faintly of detergent. She laughed with coworkers about silly customers, groaned when the espresso machine broke, and sometimes joined them for late-night pizza after closing shifts.No one here knew about wolves or battles. No one looked at me and saw chains, scars, or curses.No one mocked me or saw me as undeservingI loved it here.Every day I poured coffee and scribbled names on cups and walked home under the glow of neon signs and human music echoing from bars, I told myself this is life. This is freedom.It was a normal life for them but it was extreme luxury f