The hot water hits my skin, and for a moment, I just stand there, letting it cascade over me, washing away the grime, blood and sweat that’s been clinging to me for God knows how long. It feels... strange. To be in a shower. To be clean again. After weeks of being chained up in that cell, it’s almost surreal. The steam rises around me, filling the small bathroom with warmth, and I can feel my muscles slowly start to relax.I lean my head back, closing my eyes, letting the water run down my face. My body aches, every part of me stiff from being confined for so long, but the heat is helping. I can feel the tension melting away, bit by bit, the tightness in my chest easing. It’s the first time I’ve felt anything close to comfort in what feels like forever.But even as I try to relax, there’s this nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I’m not really free. Not yet. I might be out of the cell, but I’m still a prisoner. The barrier around the cabin makes sure of that. No running. No esca
I wake up feeling off, my stomach churning the second I open my eyes, a wave of nausea hitting me hard. I try to ignore it, to push through the uncomfortable sensation as I roll out of bed and head to the kitchen. It’s just morning sickness. It’ll pass.The cabin is quiet, and for a moment, I relish the stillness. It’s the only thing that feels normal anymore. I grab a pan and start making breakfast, eggs sizzling as the scent of food fills the air. But as soon as the smell hits my nose, my stomach lurches violently. I barely make it to the sink before I’m bent over, heaving, my body betraying me.I hear footsteps behind me, and I know it’s him. Ruslan. I can feel his presence before he even says anything, the bond thrumming with his concern. I don’t look at him, still bent over the sink, trying to get the nausea under control.“What’s wrong with you?” His voice is rough, almost accusing, but there’s a layer of something else beneath it. Worry.I wipe my mouth with the back of my han
She’s pregnant. My mate is pregnant, and not with my child.This is a fucking joke. The Goddess must be laughing at me, watching as she keeps twisting the knife. It’s like I can’t catch a break, like the universe is hell-bent on making me suffer, on rubbing salt into every open wound.I can barely think straight, the anger is so strong. It fills every part of me, claws at my insides, until all I can feel is the injustice of it all. I didn’t ask to be tied to her, to be bound to the woman who is carrying the child of the man who destroyed everything that mattered to me.And now his child grows inside my mate. As much as I loathe this bond, as much as I hate everything about what it’s done to me, there’s a part of me that’s... angry that the child isn’t mine.I grit my teeth; the thought disgusting me, but it’s there. It’s like a sickness spreading through me, twisting my thoughts, making me want things I have no right to want.Why isn’t it my child? Why am I the one cursed with this b
The fire crackles in front of me; flames licking at the sky as Andrei’s pyre burns. The scent of smoke fills the air, and the heat from the blaze is so intense that it almost feels like it’s burning me from the inside out. I stand there, frozen in place, clutching the fabric of my black dress as if it can somehow ground me, somehow stop the spinning inside my head. It doesn’t. Nothing does.Tears blur my vision and I blink them away, refusing to let myself fall apart in front of the pack. I’m their Luna, their leader now, and I can’t show weakness, not even when the man I loved more than anything is nothing but ash and memory. But it’s impossible to hide the way my body trembles, the way every breath feels like I’m suffocating under the weight of the grief crushing my chest.I look up, and there’s Andrei’s face, still so vivid in my mind. His laugh, the way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled. How he would rest his hand on my belly, even before I told him I was pregnant. I
Three weeks of building anger, of restless nights, and waking up to an empty bed that should still belong to Andrei. Three weeks of watching the pack try to move on, while I can’t seem to move past the moment I lost him. Every breath I take feels tainted by the fact that the man responsible for his death is still alive, breathing the same air as the rest of us. But today, that changes.Today, the Rogue filth dies.I stand at the front of the clearing, my heart pounding in my chest as I watch the pack gather, their faces filled with cold satisfaction and pure anger. They want blood, justice for their Alpha, and I want it more than anyone.Every nerve in my body is taut with fury. My hands shake at my sides, but not from fear. From rage. The kind of rage that’s settled into my bones, burning hotter with every passing day. How dare he live while Andrei’s body is ash? How dare he get to breathe even for a second longer?Tomas approaches, his face set in a grim line. “It’s time.”I nod,
RuslanThe second I lock eyes with her, my chest tightens, and something snaps deep inside me. No. No fucking way. This can’t be real, it has to be some sick joke. There’s no fucking way the Goddess would curse me like this—mate me to the Luna of the bastard who took everything from me and made me watch.I can feel the bond pulling at me, stronger than anything I’ve ever felt in my life. It claws at my insides, trying to drag me toward her, as if my body doesn’t even belong to me anymore. I grit my teeth, my muscles tensing, and fight the urge to give in. It’s not possible. It’s not fucking possible.Her scent hits me again—fucking peaches and honey— it’s something that stirs parts of me I’ve buried for a long time. But I don’t want it. I don’t want her. My mind rebels against the very idea. I look at her, the way her face is twisted in shock, her lips parted, and her hand gripping her chest like she’s trying to stop her heart from breaking out. She’s just as confused as I am, but
KatyaI pace back and forth in Andrei’s office, the one place I used to feel safe, where everything felt secure, and now it feels like a prison. My heart pounds in my chest, my breaths coming in uneven, angry bursts. I’m furious. Not just at Ruslan, though he’s a big part of it, but at myself.How could I let this happen? How could I let that Rogue get under my skin like that? The way he looked at me, the way he spoke to me like I was nothing. Like I didn’t matter at all. The nerve of him, sneering at me, laughing like the bond was some kind of joke. I grip the edge of the desk, my knuckles white, trying to steady myself. But nothing helps. I want to scream. I want to tear something apart. I can still see his face, the way his cold silver eyes locked onto mine, that damn smirk on his lips. He acted like he didn’t care about any of it—about me, about the bond. Like he’s above it all. What’s worse is the way my body responded to him, like it was out of my control. The bond hit me li
The chains bite into my wrists, burning like fire as the silver seeps into my skin. My arms feel like dead weight, hanging uselessly above me, held up only by the restraints that have become a part of me now. I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Days? Weeks? Time doesn’t exist in this cell. There’s only the darkness, the endless ache in my body, and the gnawing emptiness where food and water used to be.I try to remember when I last ate, but the memory slips away, lost in the fog of pain. My mouth is dry, my throat raw, but even the need for water has faded into something dull and distant. It doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing does. The only thing I can feel now is the burn of the silver and the weight of my past pressing down on me.I close my eyes, letting the darkness swallow me. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough, I can disappear. But even in the dark, the memories come.Mina. Mila.I see their faces so clearly, so full of life and laughter. The way Mina would chase Mila around th