LOGINQUEEN HELENA’S POV“Zip it for me.”My voice comes out soft—almost tender—as I slip into Merrin’s room, my back bare and exposed to him.It isn’t a request. It never is.It’s a quiet test of his self-control. And with skin this smooth, this close… I know he won’t resist this time.Merrin steps closer behind me. I feel him before he even touches—the heat radiating from his strong body, the quiet control he carries like a second skin, sending my pulse racing.The silk of my nightdress clings softly to my curves, the fabric opens down my back… waiting for his hands. My skin tingles with anticipation, every nerve awake, the thin fabric doing little to hide how much I want to be noticed… even if he doesn’t yet realize just how much.The zipper slides up. Slow. Deliberate. Then his fingers brush my bare skin.A sharp breath slips from me before I could stop it. Unsteady, too warm, my body betraying the tension coiling deep inside me.“Too tight?” he murmurs, his voice low, almost careless,
MARREK’S POV“No! You always say that!”The words rip out of me before I can stop them—too loud, too sharp, too real.Father pauses at the door.Everything goes still.Even the wind outside seems to hold its breath… like the world is waiting to see what he’ll do.“I said I have to go,” he replies, too calm. Always too calm. “It’s important.”My chest tightens until it hurts.“More important than me?” My hands curl into fists, nails digging into my palms. “It’s my birthday.”Four.I’m four today.And he’s leaving.Again.He exhales slowly, dragging a hand through his hair. I’ve seen that before; when he’s tired, when he’s lying, when he’s already halfway gone.“Marrek…”“No!” My voice cracks, and I hate that it does. “You always leave. You always choose something else. You say we’ll be together, but we’re never together!”Behind me, Auntie Zoey clicks her tongue, sharp as a slap.“That’s enough. Since when does a four-year-old talk like an adult?” she snaps, stepping forward.Her eyes
VIOLET’S POV“Again… Come on, Marrek. Just one more step.”My voice trembles, but I force a smile.He wobbles between us.Tiny fingers stretched wide. Legs unsure. Eyes burning with stubborn determination that doesn’t belong to a child.Silvan crouches a few feet away, arms open, steady as stone, but his gaze is anything but calm.“Come to me, son,” he murmurs.Son.The word hits something deep inside my chest—something fragile… something dangerous.Marrek grunts in frustration.His foot lifts.Drops.Lifts again.I stop breathing.“Good,” I whisper, barely holding myself together. “You’re doing so good.”He stumbles forward.One step.Then another.And then—He crashes straight into Silvan.A bright, unrestrained laugh bursts out of him, wild and alive, and something inside me cracks wide open.Silvan catches him easily, lifting him high like he weighs nothing.“That’s my boy.”Marrek squeals, grabbing at his face, his hair—anything he can reach.“Should we go again?” Silvan asks, hi
MERRIN’S POV Rain hammered violently against the palace windows.Like thousands of restless fingers trying to break inside.Like the sky itself wanted to witness what was about to happen.I grabbed Mirella’s throat.Slowly.Not in rage.But in cold, controlled hatred.“Why did you say her name?” I asked.My fingers tightened.Not suddenly.Slowly.Like squeezing a ripe fruit until its skin begins to cry.Mirella’s eyes widened in terror.Her fingers clawed at my wrist.“A… Alpha… I was just joking…” she choked.Behind me, the soft mechanical movement of Emily’s wheelchair broke the silence.Celine stood immediately.“Please, Alpha! Don’t hurt her!” Emily pleaded.“Please, my husband, release her!” Celine added.But I did not move.Something inside my chest was burning.Warm.Alive.Uncomfortable.The bond.Her presence.Always her.I released Mirella suddenly.She collapsed onto the carpet, coughing violently.I turned away from her.Rain kept talking outside.Slow.Relentless.Merci
VIOLET’S POVI remember the first night we arrived at Ironcrest Pack.I remember how small I felt.Not because I was weak.But because I was being weighed.Measured.Judged.Zoey held my hand the entire walk through the gates. The iron crest above the entrance glinted under the moon like a blade catching bloodlight. Tall stone walls loomed over us. Guard towers pierced the sky.No laughter.No warmth.Only watchful eyes.Silvan walked ahead of us, steady, regal, composed, as if he belonged there.He did not.Neither did we.Two elders waited in the courtyard. Gray hair braided tightly. Hard eyes sharpened by decades of suspicion. The air smelled of pine smoke and cold iron.“You request refuge,” the taller elder said, voice flat as stone.Silvan inclined his head, not quite a bow, not quite defiance. “Yes.”“You are Alpha of Luna-light,” the second elder replied slowly. “Why not take them to your own land?”Silvan’s jaw flexed.“It is not safe.”“For whom?” the elder pressed.A beat o
MERRIN’S POVI could not sleep.The bed felt wrong without her warmth.Too wide.Too cold.Too empty.The palace itself felt hollow, like something sacred had been torn out of its chest.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her.Chains biting into her wrists.Chin lifted.Defiant.“I am carrying your child.”The words would not leave me.They crawled under my skin.They echoed through bone.They would not die.I sat up sharply.The mate bond twisted in my chest like a live wire.Rage.Longing.Humiliation.Desire.All of it fused together until breathing felt like swallowing glass.“Why?” I muttered into the dark.Was I not enough?Was Silvan better than me?Did she ever love me?Or was every touch…every kiss…every moan in the dark…A lie?I rose to my feet.If she was to die at dawn, then I would know why she had done it… why she had betrayed me. I would hear the truth from her own lips.Even if it shattered me.The night air sliced like a blade the moment I stepped outside.Cold.St
MERRIN’S POVThe war ended two months ago.It still smells like blood.Even now, when I walk through the rebuilt streets of Wolves-Heaven, I swear I can taste iron in the air.Hammers strike against wood.Stone scrapes against stone.Wolves laugh again, and children run between half-built scaffolds
VIOLET’S POVI lock the door.The click echoes louder than it should… sharp and final.My hands won’t stop shaking.Outside, the hallway is silent.Too silent.The kind of silence that waits for something terrible to happen.Inside, my room smells of rose oil and burnt candle wick. Sweet. Bitter. S
VIOLET’S POVDarkness didn’t come all at once.It crept in slowly.Like cold fingers closing around my chest.Voices blurred together.Footsteps.Someone shouting my name.I felt arms around me. Strong. Tight. Familiar.“Merrin…” I whispered, though my lips barely moved.The world tilted.Glass sha
CELINE’S POVThe morning air smelled of rain on concrete and the soft burn of torches along the driveway.I walked downstairs and found Emily and Mirella already at the breakfast table, their laughter cutting through the quiet. Their hair was flawless, their perfume sharp and deliberate… like a war







