AZURE The torches' unsteady flames caused the shadows in my chamber to dance, creating lengthy, menacing figures on the stone walls. The smell of ancient power and burning sage filled the air, a mixture that lived on treachery and secrets. A smirk tugged at the edges of my lips as I sat on my obsidian throne. Everything was coming together, and the mayhem I wanted to unleash will soon blossom into reality. As usual, my adversaries had misjudged me, but this time, I was armed with a weapon that was far more lethal than any army: the truth. "Bring him in," I said, my voice cutting like a razor through the quiet. Two of my shadow guards dragged a body into the room as the huge iron doors cracked open. In a pitiful attempt at bravado, the man held his chin high despite his pale complexion and big, terrified eyes. "Ah, Xavier," I said, bending forward to welcome him. "You’ve served your purpose well, haven’t you?" My source, a renegade wolf named Xavier, shuddered. "Please, my lord, I—" I
HAILEY The council hall was thick with tension. I stood at the room's center, which seemed to press in on me with its high-stone walls and carvings of old wolves. The councilors sat in a half-circle, their eyes sharp and merciless. Amenia's roar echoed soundlessly inside my head as my fingers danced at my sides. Do they have the nerve to call us thus? I grumbled under my breath, "I don't like it either." My gaze ran over the faces before me: elders who spoke for packs from all over the realm, all of them said to be impartial and clever. But their impartiality seemed questionable at best today. Elder Aldric began to speak, "Queen Hailey," his voice as cold and smooth as a diamond. "You have been summoned to discuss the future of our people. The present dispute with Azure must remain unresolved. I retained my composure by crossing my arms. "If this concerns challenging my decisions or actions—" I was interrupted when Elder Mirabel held out her hand. "Your Majesty, this is not a trial.
HAILEYThe night storm was relentless. Wind howled like a lost wolf as rain sheets beat against packhouse windows. Anxiety curled around my stomach like a knife as I walked nervously around the living room. Turtela lay in her bassinet, interrupting silence every now and then with gentle coos. While his wolf fought to be free within him, Ryan hunched over the couch in locked jaw and staring away, my breathing as silent as could be, voice riding over rain's pounding drone to cut "I don't like this." My eyes flew at Ryan when his head shot round. He was on his feet. "We've closed up the defenses, but neither do I. There are two patrols. We'll see if Azure tries anything. Arms crossed over my chest, I said, "That's not enough."With arms crossed on my chest, I said. He is too cunning and too unstable. We should have— The tension was broken by the roar of a crash followed by the screaming shrieks of wolves outside. In an instant, Ryan jumped up, his stretched body prepared to defend. "Stay
HAILEY I arranged and stationed different men at Azure's place, and we took the fight to him; to me, he's done enough, and his reign needed to end once and for all.It was a sea of mayhem on the battlefield. Wolves and shadows fought their growls and snarls, blending with the shouts of combat. The sky above swirled with dark clouds that seemed to show the chaos below, and the air was heavy with the pungent smell of magic and blood. I stood there in the middle, my body pulsing with strength. The carnage was illuminated by the silvery glimmer of the moon, which hung low in the sky. Amenia, my wolf, was a raging force inside of me, and her wrath gave me power. The atmosphere of pure malice emanated from Azure's shadowy figure, which stood towering and uncompromising across the battlefield. I shivered from head to toe when I heard his thunderous laughter, which irritated me to my core. "Is this all you have, Queen?" he taunted, his voice brimming with disdain. "You think you can stop me?
EIGHTEEN YEARS LATERJADENI gazed into the limitless crimson sky from the edge of the volcanic cliffs. Like a living beast, the molten rivers below me churned and surged, releasing heat into the atmosphere. It felt new today even though I had stood here a thousand times before. Heavier. Because I had to make a decision today. That's what the Dragon King wanted me to think, anyway. With my nails sinking into my palms, I let out a quick exhale. My mother, the Queen of All Species, had called me home. Not just me. Jackson and Jermaine, too and that includes Alexia. After Eighteen years of silence, she had finally come to the conclusion that we were important. Twenty years without the warmth of our parents, a mother's hug, and strangers reminding me every day that I do not belong in their world. My hair stood on end at the thought. She was unknown to me. Not at all. Except for the regular taĺes spread about her, I knew nothing.My only knowledge was that Mother had thrown us aside as if
QUEEN HAILEY The grand hall of the Ivory Citadel felt colder than usual. I sat on my throne, my hands lightly gripping the armrests, but there was no comfort in the gesture. No sense of power. No reassurance. The crown upon my head felt heavier than it had in years, as though the weight of my choices had finally found a way to crush me. The summons had been sent. Jaden was coming. Jermaine had answered from the Faes that he'd come back home. Jackson… I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly. Still no word from him and Alexia at all. A mother should not have to summon her own children like they were mere subjects to be called before a throne. A mother should not have to wonder if they will even answer. Yet, that was what I had become. Not just a queen. A mother in title alone. And it was my fault. For Eighteen years, I had been haunted by the echo of a choice I could not take back. I had told myself it was necessary. I had told myself it was the only way. That if I had not let
TURTELAMy whole life I had imagined this moment.The day my brothers would come home.The day my family would finally be whole. I had heard so many stories from everywhere, including the media; our mother is Royalty; some praised her for listening to the moon goddess, others blamed her, and now I'd see the truth for myself. Countless times, I've brought up visiting them, but I was never allowed to.And now, as I hurried down the pristine corridors of the castle, my heart hammering in my chest, I was terrified.I had seen their pictures. I'd read the stories about them, heard the court's whispers, and listened to Mother's voice crack with longing when she spoke of them. But I never knew them.Not really.And now, one of them was here.Jaden.I'd imagined this scene a thousand times. In my head, he'd look up, notice me, and something inside of him would shift the way it had for me. He'd smile, maybe tease me about how eager I must have been. He'd pull me into a hug, and for the first t
RYANThe doors opened and there was silence. Jaden commanded the space he occupied, standing framed in the doorway and accentuated by the arch over the entrance to the throne room. Turtela remains behind him a shadow, watching all; my angel is so wise beyond her years with so much level headèdness like that of her mother's. Hailey had been afraid no one would like her. That was a silly worry; no one could possibly ever dislike Turtela; they met her and loved her. Jaden was no longer the helpless baby we had been mercilessly forced to abandon; now he was a man. His face was so unreadable, and hard and strong. I knew I should speak up. It is time to step in and keep the peace. But I am unable to. The sight of my son made my heart, which had been wounded by war and betrayal, tighten in excruciating, throbbing grips. My son. I was anchored by Hailey's fingers digging into my palm. For the first time in years, she appeared small when I turned to face her—my mate, my queen. It was as if the
AARONThe past had a way of creeping back in, no matter how much I tried to hide it.I'd had a craving for power. No, that was too weak—I'd been obsessed with it. Power was my aim, my constant thought. And Hailey… Hailey had been my fixation, the crown treasure that I believed I ought to have claimed.I had spent years believing I deserved the throne, deserving of her love. If I had been Alpha King and not Ryan, I would be the one standing beside her, ruling alongside her. I had wanted it at any cost, so much so that I had lost myself in its longing.Time had taken away the illusions from me, forcing me to face reality. Then, meeting my mate and having my beautiful Aurora finally subdued my person, and all my unnecessary cravings disappeared. Hailey wasn't ever going to be my own. And power? Power was a momentary flash, a burden that could destroy the very person that held it. I had seen what it did to others, seen how the burden of it had nearly shattered Hailey.And now I was watch
TURTELAThe second I entered my chambers, the weight of it all came crashing upon me.I had held on in that room, standing before my family, as I watched the breaking of a man I had known my entire life. Logan—the hard-as-nails warrior, the father figure who had always stridden so fearlessly—became something raw and broken.And David…That smug, condescending grin. The ring of his laughter echoing, taunting us after his devastation.I clung to the doorframe, shaking hand. I was gasping for breath, constricted chest, scorched throat. I had fought so hard to have some kind of strength in that room, not to break down. But now, here in the privacy of my own chambers, I could finally release it all.A sob of shuddering tore from my throat as I dropped to knees.It was too much.The lying and the betrayal and the war roiling outside our walls. Feeling powerless gnawed at me like a sickness. I was always the bright one, the warm one, the one with the smile that could find humor even in dire
ISAIAHThe air was thick with heaviness. Magic clung like a heavy fog, the stench of incense and old shadows poisoning every breath I took. My flesh itched as the remnant of David's black magic clung to the packhouse walls, a harbinger of what was to come.All of that was nothing compared to the devastation in Logan's eyes before he shifted and vanished into the shadows.I had seen so much sorrow, could foresee so many losses to come. And yet even my gift—the visions the divine had given me—the visions could not prepare me for the bare, suffocating despair that consumed Logan.Flora had been his everything. His salvation for a lifetime of pain. And to discover that she was never his to begin with? That their bond was an illusion of magic?It shattered something inside him that might never heal.Hailey was where Logan had just left, her jaw set, her fists clenched. Her words echoed in my mind."We have to kill him."And she was right.David had grown beyond what I had foreseen. He had
MARISSAThe packhouse was eerily silent, as if the walls themselves grappled with making sense of what had happened. Smoke and the bitter taste of burned magic clung in the air, mingling with the raw emotion that radiated from all assembled. My own heart pounded in every beat as I took in the scene before me.Logan—our Logan—kneeling on the ground, broken.I had never witnessed him so broken. Never. This resilient man had never been so broken. Yet even I had no idea how to process all of these new information. Flora had been so devoted and loving to her mate and child so this revelation is simply too astounding. The man who had been a rock of fortitude, who had battled and fought and led wars and defended his daughter with a ferocity that shook the world—cried.Hailey sat next to him, her presence in itself a soothing balm of reassurance, but even she could not repair this. Some wounds cut too deep. Some truths dismantled everything. Flora was her best friend yet she seemed so lost r
LOGANThe grounds groaned beneath me, the motor growled, but I hardly heard it. I was not unconscious of the cold, stinging night air whipping by. I was still unable to understand their words. "Flora was his mother." "His father was Azure." In my imagination, these phrases sounded like battle drums. Flora. My friend, my mate, the mother of my daughter and the angelic human I had loved with every fibre of my being is presently being linked to the one who almost destroyed us all? How is this even possible?. I tried to calm my beating heart, which had suddenly become unsteady, perspirations across my forehead as my knuckles repeatedly shook and the words I had heard settled and dawned on me. Years had passed since she died—gone from me, leaving only memories and an empty spot that I had never occupied. And now, suddenly, the truth was revealed. She had another living child. The son of Azure. I grind my teeth. It was an unpleasant betrayal. This information had dealt me a sudden blow, and
JACKSONI felt like the wind had been punched out of my lungs.David was Alexia's half-brother?That wasn't some irrelevant piece of information we had overlooked—that changed everything.I turned to Jermaine, my fists tightening. "Are you sure?"Jermaine's expression was serious. He tapped the parchment again. "This record is old, Jackson. There's no mistake. Azure and Alexia's mother had a child before ever meeting Alexia's father. That child was David."I ran a hand through my hair, trying to get my head around it. "So that means." My jaw clenched. "That means he's been lying to Jaden the entire time."Jermaine nodded. "Not just Jaden. All of us."I sucked in a sharp breath. "We have to tell Hailey."Jermaine hesitated. "We have to be careful how we do that. Jaden is already wound up. If we push him too hard, he'll think we're trying to manipulate him."I growled. "I don't care if he gets mad at me. This doesn't involve Jaden anymore. Alexia's involved. And if David is anything lik
DAVIDI could feel the change in the air.Jaden was stepping back.Not sudden—not a drastic move. But I knew him too well. He lingered a little longer. His eyes lingered a little longer, searching for something he wasn't sure that he wanted to see.I had seen it before. Doubt. It was a powerful thing. A weapon.And I was a master at wielding it.I had to act quickly.I came across him near the training grounds, looking up into the branches of the trees as if in deep thought. Perfect."Deep in thought about something serious?" I joked, my tone light and cheerful.Jaden shifted restlessly, then shook his head once more. "A lot on my mind."I rested against the stone wall beside him. "Jackson and Jermaine, then?"His head whirled around. "How did you—I smiled. "Come on, Jaden. We've been friends for years. You think I don't know when something's wrong with you?"His shoulders relaxed a bit. He wanted to believe me.Good."Let me guess," I continued, looking at him. "They think I'm a thr
JADENI ran through the castle halls, my brothers' words ringing in my ears."David is not safe. You have to wake up, Jaden.""There's something not right with him. I don't trust him.""And you shouldn't either."It wasn't what they told me that unsettled me—it was the certainty in their voices. Jermaine was usually reserved, the sort who would weigh everything before he spoke, and Jackson, despite his arrogance at times, possessed a keen eye for spotting lies. But they were both wrong this time.David was okay.He had always been okay.Hadn't he?I suppressed the idea.Blending around the cutting corner, I bumped my shoulder into the chilly stone wall but barely registered.I needed air.Sliding the doors of the courtyard wide open, I entered the biting night. The sky stretched out endlessly overhead, and stars shone like lanterns in the distance. The stillness was a welcome change.Until I saw him.Waiting beside the far archway, David stood in the shadows. He wasn't pacing. He wasn
JACKSONThe minute I stepped into the castle, I knew something was off. The atmosphere here wasn't just charged—it was polluted. You could smell the hidden odour around here of great trouble brewing. It was silent, a tick below normal, but I'd been a part of the human world long enough not to miss the scent of deceptions when they hung thick in the air.Jermaine was already in the grand hall, arms folded, his face as sharp as ever."Do you feel it too?" he asked as I walked in.I nodded. "David?"Something was not right with him.It's not a suspicion, just intuition. A powerful, nagging feeling that twisted in my gut whenever I looked at him. He was too smooth, too controlled. Men like him couldn't be trusted.I'd run across my fair share of lying people in the human world—corporate vipers who grinned as they orchestrated your downfall, politicians who had spun deception into poetry. And David? The same vibe. The kind of person who took the long way around, who got you to believe him