Malia“What?” Jamie’s voice cracked as he stared at Jude like he’d lost his mind. Jude held his hands up, his expression steady but serious. “She’s alive. Brooke’s holding her somewhere, locked up because she discovered something Brooke didn’t want getting out.” “That’s impossible,” Corey said, though his voice lacked its usual edge. “We saw her body. We—” “You saw what Brooke wanted you to see,” Jude interrupted. “Amara escaped being bitten by Aaliyah, but she saw Aaliyah's hybrid fangs. Aaliyah couldn't allow that to happen, so she brutally wounded Amara so she'd be treated and held hostage from there.” Corey still wasn’t convinced. He crossed his arms, his suspicious nature coming out in full force. “How do you know all of this? You seem to have answers for everything. Doesn’t that strike anyone else as... convenient?” Jude sighed. “Even now, you still don't believe me? All I've said makes perfect sense. Besides, when you've learned how to hide your hybrid side, you also
MaliaThe path to Jude’s lair wound deep through the woods, the air growing cooler and stiller with every step. It wasn’t the suffocating kind of silence, though—it was peaceful, the kind of quiet that felt deliberate, as though this place had been carefully hidden from the chaos of the world. When we finally arrived, I was struck by how different it was from what I expected. The lair wasn’t some foreboding underground fortress or a sinister, shadowy encampment. Instead, it was a small, makeshift village tucked into a sun-dappled clearing. The houses were simple, crafted from salvaged wood and stone, with patches of moss creeping up their sides. The men and women moved about, some working on repairing a roof, others tending to small, scraggly vegetable patches. Children ran barefoot across the clearing, their laughter ringing out like bells as they played tag and tumbled in the grass. No one had that cold, calculating look I’d always associated with hybrids. There were no malici
Malia That night, the four of us sat around the fire, its warm glow illuminating our faces against the darkened backdrop of Jude’s village. The soft hum of activity from the hybrids winding down their day surrounded us, blending seamlessly with the crackle of flames. Jamie broke the silence first, his voice laced with something like admiration. “You’ve got to admit,” he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “Jude pulled off something incredible here. I mean, look at this place. It’s hidden so well, and the people… they seem happy, safe.” He paused, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I don’t think anyone could harm them here, even if they tried.” Corey, who had been the most vocal in his doubts about Jude, was seated across from Jamie, and he was unusually quiet. He stared into the fire, the flames reflecting in his eyes, his usual smirk nowhere to be found. When he finally spoke, his tone was softer than I’d ever heard it. “I never thought…” He h
Asher The wind tore past me as I ran, each stride fueled by the chaos clawing at my mind. Branches snapped underfoot, and the forest blurred into streaks of green and gray. I didn’t have a destination—just an overwhelming need to escape. My body ached from the transformation, my muscles still trembling with leftover energy, but the pain was nothing compared to the disgust curdling in my stomach. When I finally stumbled to a halt, the world seemed to tilt around me. My lungs burned, and the bitter taste of bile rose in my throat. I was at the edge of a stream, its waters shimmering faintly under the moonlight. Kneeling, I cupped the icy water in my hands and splashed it onto my face, hoping to wash away the memories of what I’d almost done. The water was calm, the surface reflecting a version of me I hardly recognized. My jaw was sharper, my cheekbones more pronounced. But it wasn’t just the physical changes that bothered me—it was my eyes. They glowed faintly, an eerie gold that
Asher I couldn't believe it. Aaliyah bit Malia even before I started to fight her—how she managed that speed is beyond me. How I missed it was beyond me. It was then I realized what Aaliyah’s special trait was. She was super fast. It's the same way with how she nearly bit Amara, and no one noticed. Only this time, with Malia, she didn't miss. Malia was unresponsive. All attempts to get her to respond—to give me some kind of hope that she was alive were futile. Aaliyah—that monster, she took Malia from me. All that I felt afterwards was a torrent of rage. “You—” The words caught in my throat, swallowed by the tidal wave of rage that crashed over me. My vision blurred, everything around me fading into a haze of red. The hybrid instincts I’d fought so hard to suppress surged to the surface, and I felt my body shift. Claws extended. Fangs bared. My breathing grew ragged, each exhale a guttural growl. Aaliyah, my mother—no, Brooke, and all her allies, they’d taken everythin
Asher I never imagined that a day would come when I could feel this complete again. With Malia in my arms, her warmth grounding me, I felt like I had been living in a fog for too long—a fog that only lifted when she was near. The kiss I pressed to her lips was born from desperation, from relief, from the overwhelming need to make up for every second we’d lost. The world around us disappeared as I poured everything I felt for her into that moment. I broke the kiss, my forehead resting against hers as I whispered, “I swear to you, Malia, I will never leave your side again. No matter what happens, I won’t walk away.” She nodded, her fingers threading through my hair as she held me close. “I know, Asher. I know.” The sound of footsteps broke the stillness, and we both turned to see Jude and the others entering the room. Their presence reminded me of what we were about to do—what we had to do. “We’ve got work to do,” Jude said, his voice calm but serious. I gave a quick
Malia The moment I woke, a sharp gasp escaped my lips, as though my lungs were desperate to remind me they still worked. My vision blurred momentarily, but the first thing I saw when it cleared was Asher’s face, his expression torn between relief and disbelief. His arms were around me before I could make sense of anything, holding me so tightly I could feel the tremor in his body. “You’re here,” he whispered hoarsely, his voice thick with emotion. “You’re here, and that’s all that matters.” I blinked, dazed. My neck throbbed with a dull ache, and fragments of what had happened flashed in my mind—the pinch on my neck, the searing pain, the blood… the overwhelming feeling that I was slipping away. “I thought I—” I began, but Asher cut me off. “No,” he said firmly, pulling back just enough to look me in the eye. His gaze was intense, desperate, as though he needed to make me believe the truth. “You’re here, Malia. That’s all that matters now.” I nodded, though my mind still felt
Malia Sitting on the bed in Jude’s lair, I stared at the faint cracks in the wooden ceiling, my mind reeling from what Corey had just told me. I’d died. Not metaphorically or as a dramatic exaggeration—actually died. And Asher had brought me back with magic. The words were too surreal to grasp. Jamie cleared his throat, leaning back against the wall. “You’re probably wondering how Asher even managed to do it, right?” “Wondering?” I snapped my gaze to him. “That doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Jamie shrugged, his nonchalant demeanor contrasting the gravity of the conversation. “Look, I don’t know for sure, but if I had to guess, it’s because of his bloodline. Hybrids are a mix of werewolves and witches, right? That kind of power doesn’t just vanish into thin air, even if both of Asher’s parents were hybrids. He probably inherited some magical aptitude from a grandparent. Or maybe even further back in his lineage.” “That doesn’t explain why magic isn’t common among us,” I said,
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 I’d known. Names I’d grown up with.The Reece mages dropped one by one, barely able to stand. Their magic was gone—sacrificed to stop one man.Rhedd clutched her stomach, pale and shaking, her magic burned out like a candle in wind.The wolves—those still standing—shifted back. Naked, bruised, and dazed. They looked at me like they didn’t 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.“So,” he said, voice raw. “Now what?”I didn’t answer right away.“I know what you think of me,” he continued. “And I don’t blame you. But I pledged because it was the only way to win. That doesn’t mean I—” 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 wasn’t 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.“Keep him still!” 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 didn’t want to let go.“He used her like a damn conduit,” Rhedd muttered. “If we don’t cut it clean—”“He’ll pull her soul out with it,” another finished.I didn’t 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 wasn’t in control anymore.“You think this fixes anything?” he rasped, coughing
AsherWhile everyone else was unable to move. Ronin had it worse. His bones cracked—loud enough that even the stunned silence couldn’t 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.“Damn you,” Ronin hissed through clenched teeth. “I’ll kill you… I swear, I’ll—”But 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 didn’t 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.“You’re quiet,” he said. “But 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 earth’s 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 wasn’t walking.He was floating—levitating 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 energy—magic—flowed 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 couldn’t 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 wasn’t just alive—he 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 me—my father’s 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 us—Sky, 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 didn’t 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 didn’t 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, I’d been smiling faintly at the way Ronin had grumbled about paperwork. Just hours ago, I’d 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 forgot—but because remembering hurt too much.I had let him go.And now he was back.Ronin didn’t look at me. His entire body was taut, rage pouring off of him in waves as he crumpled the letter in his fist.“He dares to ask me to step down,” he growled, pacing. “After everything I’ve done—after the unity I’ve forged? The peace I’ve built? He wants to come back from the dead and reclaim what he abandoned?”His 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 couldn’t 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 me—not 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 hearth’s dying flames. My nightgown clung to my skin in the low firelight, and my chest ached with something I hadn’t let myself name in months.“Just accept it, Malia,” Rhedd had told me only hours ago, his voice quiet but final. “He’s not coming back. If Asher was alive, he would’ve come by now.”
AsherThe moon was high the night I met with Nina’s 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 didn’t ask how they got in contact with me—they always had a way to do things discreetly. Nina’s father, Nathan, regarded me with the tired eyes of a man who had carried the truth for too long.“He told us this day would come,” he said. “Ian prepared. We kept his will safe. And we kept his soldiers even safer.”From the shadows, they stepped forward—silent, deadly, focused. Wolves in human skin. Elite. Trained in secret under Ian’s 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 wasn’t 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 couldn’t stop now. I needed to know it all—no matter how much it hurt and no matter how much I wanted to stop, I turned the page.‘Brooke and Renah began their affair not out of love, not truly—not 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.’I leaned back, jaw tightening.So it was true.I watched them once. They didn’t see me. Her smile was real. His was reverent. That was the moment I knew—Renah loved her more. Brooke? She simply needed to be adored.It painted such a different picture of my mother than the one I’d 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