Tristan The council chamber stinks of desperation. Old wolves, wrinkled and worn, murmuring among themselves speaking of war, alliances, and strategy. As soon as I enter, the chamber goes silent and they all bow. I know why I have been summoned, it is the same reason I keep being summoned. At this point, it is becoming hard to hide my annoyance.“… She should be executed,” one of them says, his voice edged with steel. “The Alpha King would have never tolerated her continued existence.” A muscle ticks in my jaw. I lean back in my chair with a blank expression. “And yet, here she is,” I murmur, swirling the goblet of wine in my hand. “Still breathing.” There’s a tense pause. They’re waiting for my approval. The authority in my blood demands that I take control, that I give the final word. However, I will not, not yet anyway. She’s mine to break, mine to crush beneath my heel and truth be told, watching her struggle, watching the defiance burn in her eyes before she submits,
Serena“Mate,” my wolf cries, not once breaking eye contact with Tristan. The word echoes in my head, leaving me frozen beneath him. No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Tristan Sinclair is my mate? For a moment, he just stares at me, with an unreadable expression. Then, slowly, his lips curve into a smirk, one that sends a sharp pang through my chest. “Mate?” he drawls, stepping closer, his voice dripping with mockery. “You’re no mate of mine.” His words slice through me, but he isn’t done. He leans down, his breath hot against my ear. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a wolf, Serena. Weak. Worthless. You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as me.” My wolf whimpers, curling into herself, but I stand frozen, unable to move, unable to react. Tristan straightens, his silver eyes glinting with malice. “It’s almost funny,” he continues, laughing darkly. “How desperate you must be to think I would be paired with... this.” His gaze rakes over me like I’m something dis
Serena."What’s it going to be, little wolf?" Tristan Sinclair whispers against my ear, his lips brushing against my skin. A cold shiver runs down my spine, but it isn't fear. No, it's fury. Disgust. The absolute rejection of the monster in front of me.I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to suppress my wolf, who is practically vibrating with need. He is not our mate. This is a mistake.No mistake, she growls, her voice laced with longing.She’s sick. That’s the only explanation. The Moon Goddess cannot be this cruel. I refuse to accept it. Maybe she’s mistaking Tristan for Thorne, yes, that has to be it. Because this man, this sadistic beast, cannot be my mate.But my wolf is blind to reason and before I can stop her, she lunges forward, taking control of my body and closing the gap between us. She crashes our lips against Tristan’s in a desperate, possessive kiss that makes my stomach turn in revulsion.Tristan lets out a low chuckle against my lips, his smirk breaking the kiss. "So eag
Serena.As soon as the rogue opens his mouth to say the name, the sound of heavy boots echoes down the dungeon corridor, and before I can react, a guard grips the rogue by the collar, yanking him to his feet."Time's up, rat," the guard growls.The rogue barely resists, only letting out a dark chuckle as he’s dragged away. I lunge forward, my chains rattling."Wait!" I cry. "Tell me who!"The rogue doesn’t struggle, but as he's pulled into the corridor, he tilts his head just enough to look at me, his smirk never fading."Guess you'll have to figure it out yourself, Princess."The door slams shut behind him, leaving me trembling and my mind spinning.I stagger back, pressing my hands to my temples. Who was it? Tristan or Thorne? My gut twists painfully at the thought of Thorne’s name even being a possibility.I clench my fists. I need to get out of here, ignoring the voice in my head telling me that I will never make it out of here, not alive.I let out a frustrated breath, fingers cu
Serena.The silence that follows her words is deafening.Tristan, for once, isn’t smirking. Thorne’s muscles are tense, ready to spring into action. Sylvaine watches cautiously, her usual sharp tongue absent.The woman, no, the Queen, stares at them all, unimpressed. Her silver eyes sweep across the room, taking in the chains binding me, the bruises on my skin, the tension crackling in the air. Then, with an elegance that makes her seem untouchable, she turns to her sons."Explain." It isn’t a question.Tristan starts before anyone else can speak "She was meddling in things that do not concern her. And now, she faces the consequences of her actions."Thorne lets out a sharp breath. "Consequences? This isn’t justice, Tristan, it’s personal."Tristan barely glances at him. "And? She’s reckless. A liability. If it were anyone else, she’d already be dead, I'm only being merciful."Thorne’s control snaps. He steps forward, voice low and laced with fury. "You do not get to decide who lives
Serena. “Well, that was fun, wasn't it slave”, Tristan whispers in my ears leaving me wondering how one minute he is standing far away and the next he is right beside me.As soon as the Queen takes her leave, General Vasquez follows suit. Now it's just the two brothers, Sylvaine and I standing in the grand hall.I ignore Tristan completely looking everywhere but him, and sigh in relief when Sylvaine rushes over to me, looping her arms with mine.“Come on Serena, you're staying in my chamber tonight, we have a lot to catch up on ”, she says loud enough for her brothers to hear, pulling me out of there.I barely make it two steps out of the grand hall before I feel him. "Serena, wait" Thorne yells running towards us.My body tenses, but I do not stop. I do not even look at him. He left without a word or an explanation after promising to be there for me, and now he thinks he can just walk back into my life? "Alpha Prince Thorne," a voice calls out.I stiffen. General Vasquez. Cur
Serena.“Mine. Mate”, Tristan growls and before I can react, he pounces. It happens so fast like a blur. One moment, Thorne is covering my body, and the next, he’s gone. Tristan slams into him with bone-crushing force, sending him flying across the room. Thorne crashes into the wall with a sickening crack, furniture splintering beneath the impact. My scream gets stuck in my throat as I scramble back against the bed, my pulse a wild, erratic mess. Tristan doesn’t even glance at me, his full focus is on Thorne. Thorne groans, shaking his head as he struggles to rise, blood dripping from a gash at his temple. But before he can regain his footing, Tristan is on him again, his massive jaws snapping dangerously close to his throat. "You dare touch what is mine?" Tristan’s voice is thick with fury, his words barely human. His wolf snarls, lunging again, this time, intent on tearing Thorne apart. "Tristan, stop!" I shout, my voice hoarse with panic, but he doesn’t hear me or h
Serena.The moment Tristan’s lips crash onto mine, the world tilts. Heat surges through me, raw and undeniable. Every fiber of my being trembles, caught between shock and something far more dangerous. For a fleeting second, I don’t think. I don’t think about the pack watching. I don’t think about Thorne. I don’t think about the war that still looms over us. There is only Tristan. Then his body stiffens. A sharp breath escapes him, and suddenly, his grip on me loosens. Before I can react, his legs give out, and he collapses against me. Gasps ripple through the pack, but I barely hear them. My arms instinctively wrap around Tristan’s broad frame, struggling to support his weight. His body is feverishly hot, his breath shallow against my skin. "Tristan?" I whisper, panic creeping into my voice. He doesn’t respond. “Get him to his chambers!” Sylvaine commands, snapping the pack out of their stunned silence. Two warriors rush forward, prying Tristan from my grasp. They lif
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.
Tristan.I felt it before I could name it. A low, coiling growl stirred in my chest, and my wolf jerked awake, wild, feral, and furious.Someone is touching her.The images weren’t clear, but the bond twisted sharply inside me, a painful, suffocating tug in my chest. I stumbled back, clutching the edge of the table in my room as the world spun.My wolf howled in rage, clawing to the surface.“Ours. Mate. She’s ours!”The first time he’d said it, I hadn’t believed him. Not when she looked so broken, so enslaved. Not when she had knelt in the mud like a thing without a soul. And certainly not when she flinched from my touch.But the first time she looked at me. I knew and my wolf never stopped calling her mate after that.And now... now she was with him.I didn’t remember bursting into the house. Didn’t remember the splintered door or the way Thorne was on top her, his scent all over her. Didn’t remember the way she looked at me, startled, ashamed, like I’d caught her doing something w
Serena.I find him near the supply tent, his arms crossed, and his face as if it is carved from stone. I open my mouth, carefully.“Luther.”His gaze slices through me, emotionless. Then he turns his back.That’s it.My fingers curl into fists. That’s all the answer I need.I feel the sting behind my eyes, but I say nothing. I turn away and walk back to the small storage tent where Sylvaine waits, twiddling with a piece of bread she has no intention of eating.“We leave tonight,” I whisper.She arches her brow. “About time.”That night, I decide to announce our leave, so I head to the war tent. The tent is crowded when I enter with commanders, scouts, Gareth... and Luther, standing in the center like a storm waiting to break. I brace myself for a cold goodbye.But I never get the chance.“Seize her,” he commands.Hands grab me from behind before I can move. Ropes bind my wrists. I don’t fight. I’m too stunned.“What the hell Luther”, I yell, yanking against the men holding me tightly
Serena. The sun dips low, casting a golden hue over the camp, but my world feels anything but warm. I stand in the training ring, a wooden sword clutched in my grip, facing Luther. The ground beneath me is firm, yet I feel like I’m standing on jelly. “Focus,” Luther commands. “You’re slower than I remember, you good?.” I scowl. “I’m fine.” He lunges. I dodge, barely, my counterstrike lacks force. He sidesteps, easily knocking my sword aside, then grabs my wrist, twisting my arm behind my back in a move too quick to counter. He leans in, his breath warm against my ear. “If I was the enemy, you’d be dead.” I wrench free, glaring at him. “You’re distracted,” he says, eyes narrowing. “Should I know why?.” My heart pounds. Does he know? I keep my expression nonchalant. “I told you, I’m fine.” Luther studies me for a long moment, then sighs and steps back. “You don’t have to tell me. But if you’re not at your best when the real fight comes, it won’t just be you who suff