Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

Athena's POVLife gradually settles back into its usual routine.There are meetings to attend, infirmary reports to review, pack expansion suggestion to review, and enough small decisions waiting for me each morning to make the hours disappear before I realize they have passed. I move through them the way I always have, keeping track of what needs to be done and making sure nothing important slips through the cracks.Still, something feels slightly different.I haven't been feeling quite like myself.It starts with the mornings.I wake tired more often than usual, even after sleeping through the night. There is a heaviness in my body that takes longer to shake off, and some mornings I sit at the edge of my bed for an extra minute before getting up.The workload gives me an easy explanation.Then there are the nights.Dimitri and I have not exactly been making much use of the hours we're supposed to be sleeping.Whatever restraint we show each other during the day seems to disappear th

Athena's POVI keep my expression in place as I walk toward the entrance.Whatever is happening inside me stays there.I have learned how to protect myself long before I ever became Luna. I have learned that anger can make you reckless, that hurt can make you say things you cannot take back, and that sometimes the safest thing you can do is keep your emotions where no one else can reach them.So I close the bond.The moment I do, the connection between Dimitri and me becomes quiet.It hurts.That is the first thing I notice.It feels strange to shut him out after becoming so accustomed to sensing him through our bond. His presence has become part of my everyday life, something I have stopped thinking about because it is simply there. Now I force myself to put a wall between us.I cannot let him feel what is happening inside me.He does not get to know how badly his words have hurt me.He does not get to feel my anger.He does not get to know that a part of me is still standing in his o

One Year LaterDimitri’s POVEarly morning settles over Blackridge before the sun has fully climbed over the mountains.I sit behind my desk in my office, surrounded by the same dark wood, the same shelves, the same documents that have occupied this room for years. Outside, the pack is already moving.I hear it through the walls.Doors opening. Boots crossing the stone paths. Voices carrying across the courtyard. The kitchen has been awake for hours, and somewhere below, someone is giving orders about supplies for the training grounds. A pair of wolves runs past the eastern side of the building, their footsteps fading quickly into the distance.Blackridge is beginning another day.It has begun every day this way for the past year.I have watched twelve months pass from this same territory. Seasons have changed. Snow has covered the mountains and disappeared again. The trees have gone bare and returned to green. The pack has continued forward because that is what packs do.So have I.B

Dimitri's POVMy wolf is particularly restless today. I know why. I have known since the moment I woke up and felt the morning sitting differently from every other morning of the past year. Something is coming. My wolf understood it before I allowed myself to think it clearly.I am looking out the window of my office and watch Carter below in the courtyard, briefing our warriors and dividing them into groups. He moves efficiently, assigning patrol rotations so the borders stay covered even while the training sessions run. Every group has its instructions. Every patrol knows its route. The warriors listen closely, their attention fixed on Carter as he explains the changes to the schedule.My gaze moves across the courtyard, taking in familiar faces and familiar movements. Blackridge has continued functioning for the past year. Training has continued. Patrols have continued. Council meetings have continued. The pack has eaten, worked, laughed, argued, celebrated, and mourned.Everything

Dimitri's POVMy wolf wants to see his pup.The need has been there since the moment I saw him. It has grown stronger with every second Athena has been inside the packhouse, separated from me by walls and a decision I have no power to change.I want to follow her.I want to walk inside and see Augustus again.I want to know what he looks like when he is close enough for me to see every small detail of his face. I want to hear his voice. I want to know whether he will look at me again.But Athena's cold attitude is clear.She made her position known the moment she called me Alpha Romanov.Whatever she intends to give me, it will not be easy.My wolf knows it too.He wants to push past every boundary she has placed between us.I hold him back.A soft scoff comes from beside me.Without even looking directly I know it is Gemma.Her eyes are fixed on the packhouse entrance, and there is something ugly in the way her mouth twists.She moves closer until she is beside me."After a year," sh