LOGINMERRIN'S POV"Mama..."The broken sound of Marrek's voice stopped me cold.His small chest rose and fell unevenly as tears streamed down his face. Every breath seemed to hurt him."You held Father's bracelet and cried," he whispered. "You said you missed him."Silence swallowed the room.I couldn't move. Neither could Violet.Marrek looked directly at her, and the question in his eyes was far more devastating than the tears."Why are you standing with the man who killed him?"Violet crossed the room so quickly the chair beside the bed nearly toppled."No." Her voice cracked. "No, sweetheart. That's not—""Did you stop loving Father already?"The question shattered whatever composure she had left."Never." She dropped to her knees beside the bed and took his trembling hands in hers. "Never, Marrek.""You said he loved us.""He did.""You said we'd never forget him.""We won't."His face turned toward me."Then why were you smiling at him?"Violet flinched. "I wasn't smiling."His voice
VIOLET'S POV"Will you hurt Mama too?"The small voice drifted across the garden."Or... will you make me disappear like Father?"The words hit me like a blade to the chest. For a heartbeat, the world stopped, the breeze, the fountain, my breath. Everything.Then I saw them.Marrek stood beside the fountain, clutching his stuffed wolf so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.Merrin stood a few feet away, utterly still.Neither of them had noticed me.Marrek's eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Waiting for an answer no child should ever have to ask.A violent protective instinct tore through me."MARREK!"Both of them turned.I crossed the distance in seconds and pulled my son into my arms.His little body trembled against mine."Mama!"I held him tighter. Then I looked up, straight at Merrin."What did you say to him?" My voice shook with fury. "What stories have you been filling his head with?"A shadow crossed Merrin's face—concern, pain, and something unreadable—as he reached
LADY SARAPHINA'S POV"Zoey!"The moment I spotted her crossing the corridor, panic surged through me.Before I could lose my nerve, I rushed forward and grabbed her arm. She spun around, surprise flashing across her face, but I didn't give her a chance to react. I pulled her into my arms, holding on to her as if she might disappear again.For one foolish, desperate second, I let myself believe she would hug me back. Instead, she shoved me away with all her strength. The force of it nearly sent me stumbling backward, and the hope I had clung to shattered in an instant."Don't touch me."The words hurt far more than the push.My smile wavered."Zoella—""No."Her voice sliced through me.Cold.Colder than I had ever heard it."You don't get to do that."My throat tightened."What are you talking about?"Her laugh was bitter."What am I talking about?" Pain flickered behind her eyes before turning into anger. "Violet came back with your grandchild, and you haven't even gone to see them."
MERRIN’S POV“Move back!”Violet’s scream ripped through the room just as the scissors flashed toward her throat.Everything inside me stopped. Then my body moved before my mind could.I caught her wrist hard enough to force the blades away from her skin while my other arm locked around her waist. The scissors slipped from her hand and shattered against the marble floor with a metallic crack that echoed through the chamber.Violet fought me instantly—wild, terrified, broken.“Let me go!” she screamed, thrashing against my chest. “Let me GO!”Her nails tore across my skin. My neck burned. My jaw stung where she hit me, but I barely felt any of it because all I could think about was how close she had come to dying. If I had been even a second slower, there would have been blood everywhere by now.My wolf slammed against my ribs so violently I almost lost control.“Alpha!” Sophie cried.“Get back,” I snarled.The room froze. Even the guards stepped backward.Violet kept struggling in my
MERRIN’S POV“You killed him!”The scream stopped me cold. For one brutal second, I forgot how to breathe.Marrek’s tiny body shook violently in Violet’s arms, his fists twisted into the fabric of her dress as though he feared I would tear her away from him too.Tears soaked his face.“I hate you!” he sobbed. “You’re the one-eyed Alpha! You’re not my hero anymore!”His voice cracked.“You’re a monster!”Monster.I’d survived blades, wars, and executions. None of them cut this deep.The floor felt unsteady beneath me. For a heartbeat, all I could see was blood—fire crawling up palace walls, Silvan lying dead, Violet screaming while soldiers dragged her away.And Marrek…Looking at me with terror instead of admiration.I staggered back a step.No one moved. Not Violet. Not Sophie. Not even the servants trembling near the doorway.Because what defense could I possibly give?Marrek was right.Every ruined thing in this palace led back to me.My throat tightened until it burned, but I stil
VIOLET’S POVThe moment I spoke, someone in the courtroom laughed loudly. I turned immediately, only to realize everyone was laughing now, not just one person.Even now, the sound wouldn’t stop echoing inside my skull.Hours after the trial ended.Hours after nobles bent their knees before me.After servants started whispering Your Majesty with trembling voices and fearful smiles.After the crown was placed at my feet like an offering dipped in blood.Still—I heard the laughter.Sharp.Cruel.Patient.Waiting.I stood motionless in the center of my chambers while maids hurried around me like frightened birds, replacing curtains, lighting candles, and changing sheets no one had slept in. The scent of jasmine and smoke thickened the air until it became suffocating.“They were laughing…” I whispered again.Because Helena had been right.The moment Merrin revealed me… the moment he named Marrek Crown Prince… he didn’t protect us. He exposed us. Painted targets directly onto our backs.A
ZOELLA’S POVI knew my sister, Violet, would do something stupid if she stayed in Wolves-Heaven for another minute.Something like… falling for that ridiculous, one-eyed Alpha Merrin.Ugh.Just thinking about it made my skin crawl.The way she smiled when he appeared in the dungeon this morning?Vo
SILVAN’S POVMy secret room smelled of oil and cold steel.It lay beneath the palace, buried deep under stone and silence, hidden behind a wall that answered only to my blood.No windows.No sound.Just racks of weapons lining the walls and the low, constant hum of power vibrating through the floor
MERRIN’S POVI felt it before my body fully registered it.Violet was restless.Burning.Hungry… in a way only I could understand.My chest tightened. My pulse jumped, sharp and sudden, like my body had been struck by a silent alarm. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, restless and alert.I’d been tra
MERRIN’S POVThe balcony was cold.Not the harmless kind of cold… but the sharp, invasive kind that slipped beneath layers of fabric and pressed against bone. Wind sliced through the thick wool of my coat, tugging at the hem like it wanted to rip something from me.My hands shook.Not from the cold







