AsherThe sun began to rise.The golden light washed over the field like a mercy none of us deserved. It touched the broken, the bloodied, and the dead. Too many. Faces Iâd known. Names Iâd grown up with.The Reece mages dropped one by one, barely able to stand. Their magic was goneâsacrificed to stop one man.Rhedd clutched her stomach, pale and shaking, her magic burned out like a candle in wind.The wolvesâthose still standingâshifted back. Naked, bruised, and dazed. They looked at me like they didnât know what to feel.And then I turned and saw him.Ronin.He was bloodied, bruised, still limping from what Jude had done to him. But his eyes were sharp. Watchful.He walked toward me, the others parting in his path.He stopped a few feet away, lifting his chin.âSo,â he said, voice raw. âNow what?âI didnât answer right away.âI know what you think of me,â he continued. âAnd I donât blame you. But I pledged because it was the only way to win. That doesnât mean Iââ He hesitated, jaw c
AsherJude was just a man. Twisted, obsessed, and broken. A shell of the force that had terrified every wolf and Lycan under the moon. And I wasnât sure killing him would be victory⌠or vengeance.Should I kill him? Is that the answer?Behind me, I heard Rhedd cry out, pulling me out of my thoughts.âKeep him still!â one of the Reece mages shouted.They circled Malia where she lay floating in the air and then slowly brought her to the ground. They were unraveling the last of the threads Jude had embedded inside her. Magic that pulsed and bucked like it didnât want to let go.âHe used her like a damn conduit,â Rhedd muttered. âIf we donât cut it cleanâââHeâll pull her soul out with it,â another finished.I didnât take my eyes off Jude. His breath hitched. His gaze was unfocused, but when it landed on me, I saw something strange flicker behind his eyes.Fear.Not because he was about to die.But because he wasnât in control anymore.âYou think this fixes anything?â he rasped, coughing
AsherWhile everyone else was unable to move. Ronin had it worse. His bones crackedâloud enough that even the stunned silence couldnât hide the sound. I watched him fall to his knees, coughing up blood. His spine jerked one way, then the other, like it was trying to twist him into something unrecognizable. Something wrong.âDamn you,â Ronin hissed through clenched teeth. âIâll kill you⌠I swear, IâllââBut Jude just smiled and raised two fingers. Another wave of agony surged through Ronin, folding his body like a puppet whose strings had snapped.No one moved.Corey. Jamie. Rhedd. Everyone stood frozen in place, either physically or emotionally. Shock. Despair. Fear.Except me. I didnât flinch and unlike everyone else, I wasn't unable to move. I just stood still because⌠well⌠I was stunned by all that had happened. But for some reason, Jude's magic wasn't working on me.Jude turned to me slowly, his eyes glowing like coals.âYouâre quiet,â he said. âBut you always were a little slowe
AsherI felt it before I saw it.A deep hum tore through the battlefield like a pulse from the earthâs core. The ground cracked beneath us, vibrating with something ancient and wrong. My body stilled, instincts taking over. Every wolf on our side growled low, confused. Even Ronin, standing opposite me with blood on his hands and a twisted glare in his eyes, paused mid-strike.And then it happened.The earth opened up and Jude rose from it, Malia by his side.He wasnât walking.He was floatingâlevitating above the dirt like he belonged to another realm. Malia hovered next to him, limp but breathing, her hair weightless in the still air. Streams of energyâmagicâflowed from her into his hands like threads being woven. Her face looked drained, pale, as though the life was being siphoned out of her bit by bit.I froze.This couldnât be real. I heard he was confined and starving in the same cell that I had been locked in. But he was here.And he wasnât just aliveâhe was drawing magic from
AsherThe moon was full and heavy in the sky, throwing pale light over the open field ahead. My boots pressed into the soft earth as I looked over the line of soldiers behind meâmy fatherâs secret elite, all in wolf form, silent and still. Every one of them had trained for this night, and still, we were outnumbered.Four packs stood against usâSky, Storm, Range, and Lycone. Wolves I had once thought would always be loyal to me. Jamie and Corey - Brothers I had fought with. Now they stood across from me with their teeth bared and claws ready, all of them backing the one who took what was mine.Ronin.He stood on the ridge ahead of us, arms folded, his wolf just beneath the surface because he wouldn't turn. He didn't need to. He was a Lycan. Day or night didn't matter for Lycans to shift. He didnât look tense. He looked smug, like he already believed this battle was over. I mean, with me being outnumbered, he was probably right.I exhaled through my nose. My heartbeat was steady. I did
MaliaI didnât breathe.Not for a full minute after Ronin said those words.Asher Mendoza is alive.I stood there, frozen beneath the branches of the old silverwood tree. Just moments ago, Iâd been smiling faintly at the way Ronin had grumbled about paperwork. Just hours ago, Iâd kissed him without shame in front of his guards.And now, my world has split in half.He was alive.My Asher.The one I had mourned in silence. The one I had cursed the stars for taking too soon. The one whose name I had stopped speaking, not because I forgotâbut because remembering hurt too much.I had let him go.And now he was back.Ronin didnât look at me. His entire body was taut, rage pouring off of him in waves as he crumpled the letter in his fist.âHe dares to ask me to step down,â he growled, pacing. âAfter everything Iâve doneâafter the unity Iâve forged? The peace Iâve built? He wants to come back from the dead and reclaim what he abandoned?âHis eyes flicked toward me at last. And the moment he s
MaliaIt had been almost a year.A full cycle of moons since I stood before the altar in a dress that felt like a cage and pledged myself to a man I did not love. A year of silent dinners, of shared quarters and unshared sheets. A year of waking up beside someone who looked at me like I was a world he couldnât touch.Ronin had not once tried.He had kissed my cheek in public, taken my hand at royal events, and always ensured I had a personal guard at my side. He gave me space. Respect. But not once had he laid a single finger on meânot without my permission.And that restraint⌠it had become unbearable.Tonight, the weight of it collapsed on me.I sat on the edge of our bed, staring at the hearthâs dying flames. My nightgown clung to my skin in the low firelight, and my chest ached with something I hadnât let myself name in months.âJust accept it, Malia,â Rhedd had told me only hours ago, his voice quiet but final. âHeâs not coming back. If Asher was alive, he wouldâve come by now.â
AsherThe moon was high the night I met with Ninaâs parents. I had to meet them since I now knew the truth. They were the only ones I could trust. We gathered in the ruins of the old Northern chapel, a place sacred enough to keep secrets buried but strong enough to host rebellion. I didnât ask how they got in contact with meâthey always had a way to do things discreetly. Ninaâs father, Nathan, regarded me with the tired eyes of a man who had carried the truth for too long.âHe told us this day would come,â he said. âIan prepared. We kept his will safe. And we kept his soldiers even safer.âFrom the shadows, they stepped forwardâsilent, deadly, focused. Wolves in human skin. Elite. Trained in secret under Ianâs orders for the day I would reclaim the crown.I couldn't believe my eyes. How did Ian think of this? How was he able to predict that I may not get any support unless he provides one for me?I was relieved that I had been given a head start, but it wasnât enough. Not for a war.
AsherMy thumb hovered over the next page for longer than I cared to admit. The leather binding creaked softly beneath my grip, like it too feared what lay ahead. But I couldnât stop now. I needed to know it allâno matter how much it hurt and no matter how much I wanted to stop, I turned the page.âBrooke and Renah began their affair not out of love, not trulyânot at first. Brooke wanted affection. She wanted to be wanted. Renah⌠he was a convenient escape. They were discreet. Not for my sake. For hers. Always for hers. She didn't want to ruin her reputation.âI leaned back, jaw tightening.So it was true.I watched them once. They didnât see me. Her smile was real. His was reverent. That was the moment I knewâRenah loved her more. Brooke? She simply needed to be adored.It painted such a different picture of my mother than the one Iâd held growing up. She had always seemed powerful, poised, in control of every room she walked into. I never imagined her desperate. Or fragile. But with