Novel-novel oleh Goodness Steve Emanah

Serena.I cannot breathe.The smirk on Tristan’s face is gone by the time I blink, replaced with his usual mask of cold detachment. But I had felt it, heard him. The mate bond, raw and undeniable, had reached for me like an unseen tether. “I know what you’re doing.”The words echo again and again inside me, louder than the music or the chatter around the table. I force myself to move, to pour wine into a goblet with my shaky hands.“Don’t look back”. “Don’t falter”. “Just finish your task”. I mumble to myself the rest of the night.I leave the high table with my pulse thundering in my ears. I can feel his eyes still on me, like a blade pressed against my back.By the time I slip into the servant’s passageway, I am trembling. Not just with fear, but confusion. Did he know? About the pendant? About the resistance? About Thorne?Gods. About me?I press my hand to my chest, as if I can stop my heart from revealing more than it should. The bond is supposed to be dormant, suppressed since

Serena.“Did he come?” Thorne’s voice cracks through the quiet, jagged and heavy like a stone hurled into still water. I freeze, breath catches in my chest, a thousand answers crawling up my throat.“Who?” I ask, though I already know who I think he means.His eyes meet mine, searching. “The traitor. The one who took Sylvaine?.” He pauses. “You keep glancing at the door and you have the same expression you had when she was taken.”Relief comes sharp and fast but guilt rides in its shadow. Because yes, some part of me was waiting. Waiting for the crash of another storm, the familiar sting of Tristan gaze. For someone I had no right still thinking about.“No,” I whisper, my voice barely there. “He didn’t come, he escaped.”Thorne’s expression doesn't shift. He doesn't ask for more. Instead, he leaned forward, cupped my jaw in his calloused hand, and kissed me again. The kind of kiss that tried to forget the world. I let myself get lost in it, just for a moment longer.But even now, part

Serena.“We need to talk Serena”, Thorne says as he barges into the quarters. I hold my breath expecting the worse and formulating lies in my head as to why Luther is with me.However, he’s gone. One second Luther is standing right next to me in the quarters. The next… the space is empty. “It's about what we said earlier”. Thorne murmurs scratching behind his ears, totally oblivious to what just happened.I barely have time to respond when another voice interrupts. “Serena.”It's Tristan. Of course.He storms in behind Thorne like he owns the damn room. His eyes flick to Thorne, and then back to me with that same old disgust curling on his lips.“You were supposed to clean the eastern baths this evening. They reek of wolf sweat,” he says coldly, his arms folding.I stammer, “I—I forgot. I’m sorry, I’ll get to it now—”Thorne’s jaw ticks, but he says nothing. He turns his back and walks out.I cannot just watch him go again, so I run to him this time, my heart beating too fast for

Serena.It’s been days since I saw them, Isabel and Luther. Days since I stood outside her door with the image of them making love burning into my mind.I haven’t told anyone. Not about what I saw. Not about what I felt. Not even about the kiss that still lingers like a curse on my lips.I bury myself in my secret training, errands, anything that will keep my mind from spiraling. I feel empty inside, I know it might be because of Tristan's continuous cold attitude towards me, despite being mates, or it may be because Thorne no longer looks at me or acknowledges me. It may also be due to the fact that my childhood love, Luther didn't work out and now he is also not in good terms with me. Either way, the emptiness keeps on eating me from inside out, and although I should be worried, it is better to feel numb than to bear the pain in my heart.One afternoon, I run into Isabel behind the manor. She’s tending the moonflowers that only bloom when the night air is still. She straightens w

Serena.“Head Back”, Tristan commands and his army turn around immediately as if controlled by an unseen force.We walk in silence, anticipating the worst as we head back to the manor. Surprisingly, the Nytheran manor stands quiet. Too quiet.No smoke. No fire. No signs of an attack. Just an unsettling calm that settles over the grounds like fog. My heart drops as we rush in, Tristan at my side, the warriors fanning out with blades drawnready for a war that doesn’t exist.Luther escaped, and now I'm sure sending the scout And the scout? No trace of him. He lied.This whole thing was a ploy. A distraction. And we fell for it.Queen Aliyah summons me not long after. The guards escort me through marble corridors that echo with each of my footsteps. When I enter the royal chamber, Sylvaine is already there, arm bandaged, pale but alive.Queen Aliyah descends from her throne slowly, her expression stoic and composed.“You showed courage,” she says. “Protecting Sylvaine. Facing the enemy h

As soon as I sighted the army behind them, I let out a loud growl and shifted immediately. My wolf charged at them, swiftly dodging Serena and Sylvaine and pouncing on one of the soldiers. The air burned. It was the kind of heat that crawled under your skin and seared you from the inside out. My wolf was snarling, itching for blood. Steel rang out behind me as Nytheran warriors surged forward, answering my silent command. But I didn’t care. I only saw him.My target is the bastard who is standing in the middle of his army with a stupid smirk on his face.As soon as I get to him, he shifts into his wolf, turning around and blending in with his army. “If it isn't the all powerful Tristan Sinclair, Alpha Heir to the Nythera Pack”, he says in a mocking sing-song voice.It just made me want to rip out his throat, but as I got closer, he moved faster than I could have predicted and grabbed Serena who stood just ahead, dirt-smudged, bruised, but alive. Her eyes widened when she saw me.