*Alec*How long had it been? The windows inside the Palace were weird. I was counting time by how many maidens came in and out. Some of them brought food. Three meals a day, so I figured it had been a few weeks. The others who brought bandages and salves came less frequently. Ember was still a pale, bruised, unmoving form on the bed. She was still breathing. Her heart was still beating; thus, there was still hope. “Still here, I see,” Chastine said as she entered. “I expected you to at least stretch your legs.”I said nothing. The words wouldn’t come as I stared at Ember’s pale face, watching for some change in her status. Chastine sighed and took the chair beside me before offering a piece of parchment to me. “You have another message from Whitelark.”I glanced at it and took it. Rhys had been sending me these messages steadily. This was the third one, so it had likely been about three weeks since he left. The message was what I expected: war was on the horizon. Rhys ha
*Ember*I was drifting. The pain had long since faded to the back of my mind. I didn't know where or when I was. I didn’t even know if I was alive or if I would be for much longer. My mind felt like it was slipping away like sand through my fingers being carried off by the wind. When things started to clear, everything was shadowy, like I was peering through dark water. A woman was talking to me, but her words were muffled as if she was speaking through water. She went in and out of focus, but I was terrified of being separated from her. I didn’t know this woman, I knew, but whoever’s eyes I was looking through did. The clearer her face became, the sooner I realized that she had some of the same features as I did. It was her hair, the same color as mine, that made me think we had to be related. She pulled me close. I felt the warmth of her arms around me and could have cried because of how safe and cared for I felt, how scared I felt at the realization that we might be separated.
*Ember*My eyes snapped open, and it felt as though I was awakening to the world for the very first time. My heart pounded in my ears and I could feel panic crawling up the back of my throat. I wanted to scream, but when I opened my mouth, no sound came out.Two large, warm hands gripped my shoulders firmly but gently. It was only then that I realized that I had been thrashing around, as though my body had been trying to free my mind from the shadowy dream realm that I had been so helplessly trapped within.“Ember,” a familiar voice said from somewhere above me. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”Slowly, the figure above me swam into focus. With a sigh of relief, I recognized the intense features and dark hair of Alec. The sight of him instantly calmed me, though my heart was still racing wildly against my chest.“What happened?” I asked. My voice was cracked and dry, and my mouth felt like I had been sucking on sandpaper. I knew that something bad had happened? I could remember
Chapter 49: Tidings of War*Alec POV* The hour was late, and the Palace of the Moon had fallen silent. The hush had spread into Ember’s bedchamber, where she had drifted off into a deep, comfortable sleep.I listened for a while to the steadiness of her even breathing while she slumbered beside me. The sound reminded me that she was safe in these walls. Lukas would never be able to touch her here – her or her unborn child.The thought of the child made me pause. When I had told Ember that it didn’t matter to me who the father was, I had spoken only the truth. If the pup were Lukas’, I would look after it as my own regardless. But something in my heart told me that the child was mine and that it had formed from part of me. I couldn’t explain it. I just knew, deep in my bones.Sighing, I sat up. Ember stirred beside me, but she did not wake. I smiled softly down at her. She looked beautiful in the low candlelight. My fingers, as if moving of their own accord, brushed a l
*Ember’s POV*I sat on the bed, watching Alec rush about the room as he haphazardly packed his belongings. I felt breathless and numb. I supposed that I had always known that war would come as soon as Alec had rescued me from Lukas, but it had always been an alien, abstract concept. Now that it was actually happening, I realized that I had never allowed myself to really consider what war would mean. And with my newfound mate and the pregnancy, what would happen to us?“How long will you be gone?” I asked softly, trying to disguise how my brain was reeling from this newest development.Alec paused to look at me, his face unreadable. “I don’t know,” he answered. I knew what he really meant, that he didn’t know if he’d even make it home, let alone when.Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them back. I needed to strong for Alec, and for the baby. But what would happen to this child if Alec never returned? What would we do then?”“Alec…” I started, struggling t
*Ember’s POV* Lukas wanted to take me as his Queen.I wanted to scream, or cry, or vomit, but my body went numb and all I could do was sit there are stare at Rhys in disbelief.How could this have happened? I had always known that the throne was dangerous. Shifters cheated, lied, and even killed to call themselves the Alpha King of the Silver Crescent. Even my own father had murdered his predecessor, poisoning him with silver in the same way Lukas had done to him.But I had never lived through that age. I had never known a time of war in Allusia. But this, I realized, was something more than outright war. Only an hour ago, it had been the rebels against my father, the Alpha King. Lukas had sided with the rebels, even led them depending on which pack you talked to. Now that he had claimed the throne, the rebels would split into smaller factions. The result would be immeasurable chaos within the rebel ranks, not to mention the severely dropped odds of the Whitelarks succeedin
*Ember’s POV*The force of Alec’s rejection tore through me in a ripple of agony. It was as if my soul had been shredded by the words he had uttered. If I hadn’t already been sitting, I would have collapsed.“Alec!” Rhys bellowed, rushing out to follow his Alpha. He had only seen the tail end of our altercation. The Goddess only knew what he thought had happened. I liked to think of Rhys as her friend, but I knew that his loyalty had always and would always lie with Alec. Would he hate me for this? Or worse, would he hate his Alpha for rejecting me?With a sick feeling, I realized that I might never know. They would leave the Palace of the Moon Maidens soon, and as much as I hated to admit it, there was a substantial possibility that I would never see either of them again.“What have I done?” I choked out, faced with the horror of the situation.Part of me knew that Alec had only done it to protect me and keep me safe from Lukas. If Lukas ever found out that Alec and I had cl
*Alec*The words were still rattling through me, breaking my heart into a million pieces. It felt like each piece was stabbing me, shredding my insides. The agony echoed through my entire being. I opened another pain potion and drank it, closing my eyes and hoping that it would fade one day and also hoping that it never would. I had rejected Ember for her own safety. That didn’t make it easier to bear. That didn’t make me feel better. If anything, it felt like twisting the knife deeper and deep because I wasn’t strong enough to protect her. I had acknowledged it and taken steps to make sure she was safe anyway, but I felt terrible. I choked on the bitter aftertaste and shuddered as I grabbed another one and tossed it back. They weren’t strong enough alone to dull the pain enough to function. Slowly, the agony started to fade until I could stand up straight. I prepared to return to Whitelark with Rhys and Bryan. “Sawyer?” I asked, surprised to see him among the party that wou