Diva was nestled in my arms, limp body, shallow breathing. The passion that had blazed so hot within her had been expended now, leaving her depleted, exposed.I pulled her closer, my heart racing. She was alive. That was all that mattered.The fortress was collapsing around us, walls falling, shadows fading into the void. The curse was broken.But we weren't safe yet.The ceiling groaned as massive cracks split the stone. Debris rained down, dust choking the air. A low, booming rumble vibrated the earth beneath our feet.I gritted my teeth. "Diva, we have to get out."Her eyelids fluttered, but she was too weak to respond.I scooped her up and ran.The hallways were crumbling, the floor shattering under my feet. I pushed through, dodging crashing wreckage, my wolf snarling in despair.I was not going to let this place kill us.I was not going to let anything keep her away from me again.Light.I spotted it—a break in the fallen walls. An exit.I plunged through.As I reached the openi
The cold, damp air of the cavern pressed against my skin as I sat there, my chest still rising and falling in uneven breaths. My mind was still caught in the vision—or whatever the hell that had been.Diva was trembling beside me. I could feel the way her fingers clenched mine, her grip too tight, desperate.“We both saw it,” she whispered. Her voice was barely there, like if she spoke any louder, she’d break apart.I squeezed her hand, grounding both of us. “Yeah.”The memory of that red sky, the warriors, the Elder’s knowing eyes— it all clung to my mind like a dark fog.And worst of all?The truth he had spoken.You were never just a victim. You were the key all along.I turned to Diva, watching the flickering torch light reflect in her dark eyes. She looked exhausted, but beneath that, there was something new. A quiet storm building inside her.She knew something had changed.So did I.Before I could say anything, the ground beneath us shifted.A tremor, deep and unnatural.Diva g
Diva held a trembling hand against her side, where the warm, spread of her own blood rested under her fingers. The pain hardly reached her.Her mind was too busy with what she saw in front of her.Ronan's lifeless body lay out on the field, his empty eyes open in shock.The burden of his death should have been a victory.It was not.Derek towered above him, chest heaving, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles reflected white. He was rigid from head to foot, as though still struggling, as though his rage had nowhere to escape.Blood oozed from his fists, filtering into the soil.Diva had never, ever seen him like this before.Not that first time, when he'd been in command with an iron fist. Not even at his worst.This was different.This was a man teetering at the edge of the cliff, staring into space, not quite sure if he was going to jump—or fall."Derek," she said, voice soft, insistent.He did not move.She took a shuddery step forward, ignoring the way her eyes crossed from loss
Jared’s POVPain throbbed through his skull, a sharp, pulsing agony that blurred his vision. The metallic taste of blood coated his tongue. His wrists burned where the ropes bit into his skin, his shoulders screaming from being pulled back for too long.The room smelled of damp wood and old leather. A single flickering bulb swung above him, casting erratic shadows against the concrete walls.“You’ve been a thorn in my side for far too long, Jared.”The voice was smooth, calculated. A voice that had haunted his nightmares since childhood.Loyd Rock.Jared forced his head up, locking eyes with the man who had destroyed his life. The older Alpha stood just a few feet away, a smirk twisting his face.Jared spat blood onto the floor. “You talk too much.”Loyd chuckled. “And you never know when to quit.” He leaned in, his breath cold against Jared’s skin. “You should’ve died with your parents.”Jared lunged forward, the ropes digging deeper into his flesh. Rage burned through his veins, but
Pain. That was the first thing she felt when she came to. Her head throbbed, her vision blurry. The scent of gasoline and blood filled the air. Rain poured down, soaking her skin, mixing with the warmth trickling down her forehead. Ava groaned, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. The car was a mangled wreck around her. Then she remembered— “Jared!” Her heart slammed against her ribs as she twisted in her seat. Jared was still beside her. His body slumped against the door, his face ashen. Ava fumbled with her seatbelt, ignoring the sharp pain in her ribs as she turned to him. She pressed her fingers against his throat, searching desperately for a pulse. Faint. Too faint. A sob caught in her throat. “Hang on,” she whispered. “Please, hang on.” The sound of a car door opening snapped her attention to the side. The second SUV had stopped. Two men climbed out. Ava’s stomach clenched. They weren’t here to help. Loyd’s men were here to finish this. Ava’s fingers wrapped
The voice slithered through the trees, slow and mocking.Diva’s entire body went rigid, her breath catching in her throat. The air turned thick, suffocating.Derek’s grip on her waist tightened, his muscles coiling beneath her fingertips. He moved instinctively, shifting so that she was half behind him, his stance lethal, protective.A figure emerged from the darkness, stepping into the dim light of the moon.Tall. Elegant. Eyes like molten amber that glowed with eerie amusement.Alpha Ronan.Diva’s stomach clenched.His lips curved into a smirk, his gaze flicking between them with predatory interest. “Look at you,” he mused, tilting his head. “The great Alpha Valen, brought to his knees by a little she-wolf.”Derek didn’t move. Didn’t blink.But Diva could feel it—the storm brewing beneath his skin.His fingers twitched at his sides, his breathing deep and controlled.Barely.Ronan’s gaze slid to Diva. “And you,” he continued, his smirk deepening. “Still clinging to a mate bond that
The ground beneath Diva felt unsteady, like the earth itself had fractured beneath her knees.Derek lay in the dirt, his body wracked with violent tremors. His breath came in short, uneven gasps, his hands clawing at his chest as if something inside him was being ripped apart.His eyes—once a stormy, familiar gray—were now black voids, endless and terrifying.“No,” Diva whispered, gripping his face between her hands. “Derek, stay with me.”He flinched at her touch. His body tensed, muscles coiling like a wounded animal caught in a trap. A raw, guttural sound tore from his throat, nothing human, nothing him.Diva’s heart pounded against her ribs, panic clawing at her insides.She shook him, desperate. “Fight it! Fight him!”But Derek only gasped, his back arching off the ground, his nails digging into the dirt. His entire body trembled with effort—resistance.And then—A dark, curling force wrapped around him, tendrils of shadow slithering up his arms, sinking into his skin.Diva felt
The moment Diva had charged into battle, the axis of the world had been rewritten.Wind shrieked around her as Derek and Ronan battled on, their limbs bound in an undulating turmoil of raw, unholy strength.Every growl, every slash, cracked great waves of force through the atmosphere.And yet it wasn't a fight.It was warfare.Derek's muscles grew taut, his breathing consisting of hard, ragged gasps. His claws sliced through the darkness, cutting through Ronan's assaults with a venom that sent Diva's backbone shivering.But there was something wrong.Derek's movements were not his own.They were too sharp. Too calculated.Like a puppet working to a silent cue.Diva's chest constricted.The curse.It still held sway within him, pulling on his limbs, spoiling his mind.And Ronan knew it.The devilish glint in his eyes said it all.He was waiting.Waiting for the moment Derek would make a mistake.Waiting for him to break.Diva would not allow that.She jumped forward, racing heart pound
She looked at Derek. His own eyes, still burning with determination even though he was hurt, reflected her own horror and shock. They both felt that moment of wordless comprehension that every second now counted.The stranger went on, "Three days from now, judgment will be upon you. Until then, you need to prepare and gather your spread light. Only thus can you try to overcome the darkness that will cover you.".Diva's brain went haywire. Three days. The countdown has begun. Each second was a precious, clockwork moment that could rescue her or nothing. Her heart thumped with adrenaline and utter terror. "And what is your price?" she snarled, voice steady over the tempest raging within her.The stranger's eyes clenched and he gave no swift reply. He extended his hand—a gesture in silence full of potential and threat. The air was charged with tension.Diva hesitated, hand hanging between the palmar calluses of destiny and trembling skin. She knew that to take it would reverse everything
The beat of Diva's heart was a war drum pounding as she led the pack into the ruined courtyard of the stronghold. The sunrise on the horizon-painted with red and gold—a bitter reminder that even a morning plucked from the darkness had horrors yet Chapterunimagined. Every step a battle cry, every breath a challenge of the shadows that would consume them.Diva's gaze scanned the horizon, where morning's earliest light and smoke from burning fires were combined. The enemy was advancing again. From that chaos, the Void awoke from slumber—its strength always on standby, devouring at her whim. She gripped her sword firmly, with brute strength flowing through her, a skill she'd had pounded into her veins and given.By her side, Derek strode with desperate circumspection, his gold eyes blazed hot though welts on his battered frame testified to a struggle of another sort. His hand is still fast around hers, a promise that they should never be parted, no matter what. They had fought for this fl
Diva paused in the doorway of an enormous room. The ground was strewn with shards of broken mirror, each with partial reflections of the past—a past of love, loss, and endless struggle. In the center of the room, balanced atop a pedestal, sat a glowing fragment of mirror. Its beam was peaceful, nearing in upon her.Varin invited them in. "That is the Fragment of Light," he said to them. "It holds in it the promise of rebirth, but at a price. To claim it, you have to let go of that which binds you to your sorrow."Diva's stomach pulled in. Every memory, every sob, every whispered promise was hers. To let it go…was like erasing her very being.She looked at Derek. His eyes silently pleaded with her—a mix of love and sadness that nearly shattered her determination.She closed her eyes for a moment, drawing a jagged breath. When she opened them again, they burned with a fierce resolve. "I choose our future," she whispered. "Not the pain of the past."A brilliant light poured out of the sh
Diva's heart thrummed as she sprinted down the stronghold stone corridor. Every step echoed like a rebellious drumbeat. Wind sliced across her cheek, mixed with the foam and purpose. Before her lay the dark threat beating like a living shadow; behind her lay the pack's warriors in a wall of growls and biding talons.Derek charged at her side, his golden eyes afire with a fierce determination that belied his battered body. His eyes, usually steady and reassuring, now blazed with urgency. During the fleeting interludes between battles, their eyes spoke all that needed saying—a silent vow to hold on, to fight on, no matter the cost.The enemy was no longer dark threat. Mutters had evolved to bellowing. The Void—the hoary, amorphous monster described in halcyon recollection of old myth—came into being. Its presence squeezed against the ramparts of the fortress like a hug of vengeful haze, distorting reality in fiendish, chaotic ways.A slam from the outside wall jarred the fortress brutal
Diva's heart pounded against her ribcage as she sprinted down the fortress corridor, blinded by the black-outs. Every step a frantic trot through the silence of the aftermath. The devastation of the previous day's battle—scorched dirt and acrid shreds of broken vows—remained etched on the walls. Every burst of torchlight made her jump, every figure vanishing into the shadows reminded her of decisions now weighing on her conscience.She gripped her side where the bruise pulsed with pain, but not pain that hindered her—it was betrayal, the cold sting of doubt in her veins. Her mind whirled back to Caelan's words moments before, a poisonous truth that questioned her who she was. Even as the pack bayed her name in triumph, she felt a void gnawing in her chest, as if something was ripped away from her.Derek's dark form emerged from the corridor down the hall. His gait was uneven; each step a tell-tale for a man fighting the battle against fatigue and hidden grief. When his gaze met hers,
For one moment, as the first blush of dawn stole above the line of the world, the universe paused as a single breath.Then a distant symphony of horns shattered the fragile calm. The enemy forces marched forward—black hordes marching with death in their minds through the valley. The land trembled under the weight of their advance.Diva's heart thudded. The energy that seethed in her was wild and unforgiving, a fire she barely recognized but was bent on controlling. The strands of light within her, the potential of the new beginning, were for redemption.The war had barely ended. Preyed on by the Void, an emptiness just coming into being, there was threatening her on the horizon like a storm. But upon seeing Derek, then Alaric's stern face, a spark of rebellious hope was kindled in her."We have three days," she repeated again, voice a soft command that rang in every warrior's head. "Three days to gather our strength, to prepare ourselves for the coming darkness. And if we do. we might
Diva leaned against the slippery balustrade of the fortress, her gaze raked over the storm-shrouded horizon on which waves of clouds seemed to twist around like maddened phantoms. There had been a triumphant shouting at last, but a cold stillness closed in about her like a second skin. All the pack roars now seemed so hollow, as if victory had been won at a cost, biting deep into every heart.He moved slowly through the courtyard, each step a struggle with his own wounds.Diva's heart pounded, each beat a reminder of that dark turn in her life. Ronan's words reverberated in her mind: "You were never meant to exist." The memory of that cold statement mixed with the bitter aftertaste of betrayal. She clenched her fists until they turned white, refusing to let that ugliness claim her future.A ruckus of boisterous shouting from inside the hall attracted their attention. Wolves—pack members—huddled anxiously, eyes wide with fear and confusion. Jorah stepped out into the open, shaking voic
Diva stood at the balcony of Blackfang stronghold, gazing out over rolling hills now hers. The full moon cast silver light upon the ravaged battlefield, shining down upon the wolves once at war with each other but now united.She should have won. She should have won.Instead, a pain was firmly rooted in her chest.Being Alpha never was a dream of hers.She had spent her life fighting for survival, not for power. But power had found her anyway.A warm presence moved behind her.Derek.His touch was gentle as he placed his hands on her shoulders, his fingers tracing the bruises and healing wounds that still marked her skin."You’re thinking too much," he murmured.Diva exhaled sharply. "There’s too much to think about."Derek turned her to face him, his yellow eyes locked on hers. "Then let me take some of it."She wanted to.By the gods, she wanted to.This was her responsibility now.She had become the Alpha, and with that came the burden for every life in her pack.And not everyone a
Diva's hands closed around Derek's blood-soaked shirt as she held him to her breast. His body was limp, his breathing shallow—too shallow."No, no, no," she whispered, her trembling hands applied to his wound. "Stay with me, Derek. Please."But his golden eyes remained shut. His skin was growing cold.Horror clutched at her chest.The battlefield was quiet, wolves still in the aftermath of Ronan's fall. Blackfang warriors hoped cautiously, but the survivors of Ronan's army had already surrendered, their commander nothing but ash.It did not matter.Not if she lost him.Diva clenched her teeth, attempting to disregard the burning of her own wounds. "Someone get the healer!" she shouted, voice raspy.No one moved.They were still in shock, still waiting for her command.Then—A person pushed through the crowd.Jorah, Derek's beta. His eyes were wide with fear, his actions quick. "We have to move him," he said urgently. "Now."Diva nodded, but when she went to lift Derek, a rough hand pu