All Chapters of Bride of the Beasts: Chapter 1 - Chapter 4

It hurt.A sharp, tearing brilliance bloomed beneath Azara’s skin as though her own light had turned against her.Radiants like her were not meant to bleed, nor to know agony such as this. Pain belonged to mortal flesh, to bone and blood and fragile breath. Not to beings wrought from pure illumination.And yet, even among the Radiants, Azara had never been like the others.Tonight proved it.Because she was in so much pain. And she was bleeding—not blood, but light.Liquid radiance dripped between her fingers as she clutched her belly. The forest bowed around her as if recognizing her suffering. Leaves curled inward. Branches dipped low. Shadows recoiled from the glow leaking through her skin.She fell to her knees, one hand pressed to the damp earth, the other cradling the swell of her womb.The child within pulsed with its own faint shimmer, answering her distress with a flicker of life. A reminder of why she could not fall. Why she could not break. Not yet.The child pressed downw

ANWEN’S POVArlo was already moving around the room, grabbing things—my thick scarf, the small pouch of medicinal herbs for my fever and cough, an extra pair of socks. He stuffed them into a rough sack with hurried hands.“Where are we going?” I asked, pushing the blankets aside and climbing to my feet.He stopped and stepped closer.“I have to take you to the sanctuary,” he said. “They can’t reach you there.”My breath caught. My eyes widened before I could stop them.The sanctuary.Everyone in the forest knew about it—a hidden place the monsters couldn’t cross into. It had once been sacred to the Radiants, and their magic still lingered there, humming in the stones and soil. When danger crept too close, the women and girls were sent there to hide.“But…” I began, my voice cracking, “that means we’ll be separated.”Arlo shook his head immediately. “This is only temporary,” he said, cupping my face.“The Resistance is planning something,” he added quickly, lowering his voice even thou