MasukLana's POV The world didn't slow down. It didn't shatter into a million pieces. It just went very, very still. I saw his hands, the same ones that had been tangled in my hair moments ago, now resting on Jessica’s waist. I saw his lips, which had tasted of my rage and my tears, now pressed against hers. And I saw his eyes, open and looking directly at me over her shoulder. There was no shock in them. No guilt. Only a cold, challenging intensity. As our eyes met, his arms tightened around her, pulling her more against him, deepening the kiss for my benefit. It was a performance. A brutal, calculated move designed to wound. A strange, icy calm settled over me. The heat of our earlier passion, the confusion, the desperate hope that maybe there was something real beneath all the anger all ended in that moment. This was the truth. This was the man he was. A manipulator. A tyrant. A creature who saw love and loyalty as weapons to be wielded. I simply walked past the open doorway, my step
Ronan's POV I left her sleeping in my study, curled on the sofa with a blanket I’d draped over her. The taste of her was still on my lips, a confusing mix of salt, wine, and furious surrender. My shirt was misbuttoned, and my knuckles were white where I gripped the doorframe, steadying myself. The beast within was momentarily sated, but the man was reeling from the tense moment we just spent with each other. That wasn’t reconciliation, it was more like a surrender negotiated with violence and passion. I had no idea what would happen when she woke. I strode into my private office, needing the something, anything to clear my head. The scent and memory of her still clung to me. The door opened without a knock. Jessica. She swept in, her eyes immediately observing my disheveled state, the faint scratch on my lip. Her expression was a perfect blend of concern and disapproval. “Ronan, this is becoming… unseemly,” she began, her voice smooth as silk over a blade. “The way you were drag
Ronan's POV Her scent seemed to longer around me for longer than intended. I don't know it if was from how I felt seeing her and Bastien acting so cozy and lovely or if it was from how beautiful she looked tonight and I couldn't even tell her because of my man ego. She smelled like wine and fresh air, very different from the faint smell of wolves that has clung to me throughout the night yet my mind couldn't get over what they might be doing together. My wolf was quite sure that they would probably not cross the line but the irrational part of me thought otherwise considering Bastien and I had always been rivals. The image of her leaning into Bastien, her laugh too bright, her eyes glassy with drink, was a brand on the back of my mind. I’d acted as if she were nothing. Air. It was the only defense I had against the raw, clawing jealousy threatening to break my control. To show any reaction would be to give her power, to admit that her petty rebellion with my brother could actuall
Lana's POV It had been three days. Three days. That’s how long that animal Ronan had left me locked in my room, he made my room a cage. He’d finally released me this morning without a word, the silent treatment stretching between us like a frozen thunder. My anger had cooled from a boiling rage into a hard, sharp diamond of resentment. And I knew exactly how to make it cut. I’d spent the time I was allowed out of the room deliberately seeking out Bastien. Our training sessions became my escape. Where Ronan was cold and withholding, Bastien was all intense, focused warmth. He didn’t just correct my form; he explained the why behind every move. He praised my progress. He looked at me like I was a warrior in the making, not a fragile doll to be locked away. I leaned into it, laughing a little too brightly at his dry jokes, letting my hand linger on his arm a little too long. I knew the rumors would get back to Ronan. I wanted them to. That's the goal. The grand dining hall that nigh
Ronan's POV The confrontation still hung in the air mixed with Jessica's perfume. His final words sounded more like a threat than any other thing. His words kept echoing and replaying over and over again in my head. I needed space. I needed to think because that was the least thing I was doing right now. Idris walked beside me, a silent, mountainous presence. He knew better than to offer empty sympathy. He let the silence stretch, allowing the wind to blow the chaos from my mind. Finally, he spoke, his voice a low rumble. “The pup has teeth, it seems.” I didn’t need to ask who he meant. “She’s reckless. Emotional. She doesn’t understand the consequences of her actions.” “Does she need to understand,” Idris countered, “or does she need to be heard?” He stopped, turning his face toward me. “You cannot command a storm to be calm, Ronan. You can only learn to sail within it. Right now, you are trying to lash it to the dock, and you are tearing your own ship apart in the process. Thi
Ronan's POV The sight of his hand on her chin, their faces inches apart, made want to bury him alive and chain her in her room. It wasn't the kiss itself that shattered me; it was the intimacy of it. The gentle way he tilted her face, the softness in her eyes as she looked at him. It was a language she and I had never spoken. Our connection was forged in fire and ice, in defiance and raw need. This… this was something else. Something that felt more dangerous than any physical betrayal. They sprang apart as if they were about to do something. Lana’s face was a mask of guilt, her eyes wide with panic. Bastien had the decency to look caught, but the defiance in his gaze was a fresh insult. I wanted to punish him so bad. “Get away from her,” I said, my voice dangerously low, the wolf simmering just beneath the surface. Bastien didn’t move. “Ronan, this isn’t what it,” “I said,” I snarled, crossing the distance between us in three strides, “get away from what is mine.” I shoved him b







