WALLY'S POVSo that was how my morning went, after all the trouble I went through the stupid bitch's cur had the audacity to tell me he was no longer interested in that life and render all the plans j I had already made null and void. Then he had the effrontery to shut the door to that hovel in my face; summarily dismissing me like I was some sort of stinking beggarI had no idea how I had gotten back home, but I must have gotten back on my horse and ridden back just as hard as when I had ridden out, because the next thing I knew I was grabbing a bottle of mead from my pantry and stalking into my living room to park myself on the couch. And now my own daughter had the chutzpah to question me, after she had returned home in failure with her tail between her legs like a mother boar who had failed to bring a kill for her young.But I had dealt with her, yes! Next time she would stop and analyze her words before asking me questions." Dagna and Nico" I murmured softly between sips of mead
WALLY'S POVSo that was how my morning went, after all the trouble I went through the stupid bitch's cur had the audacity to tell me he was no longer interested in that life and render all the plans j I had already made null and void. Then he had the effrontery to shut the door to that hovel in my face; summarily dismissing me like I was some sort of stinking beggarI had no idea how I had gotten back home, but I must have gotten back on my horse and ridden back just as hard as when I had ridden out, because the next thing I knew I was grabbing a bottle of mead from my pantry and stalking into my living room to park myself on the couch. And now my own daughter had the chutzpah to question me, after she had returned home in failure with her tail between her legs like a mother boar who had failed to bring a kill for her young.But I had dealt with her, yes! Next time she would stop and analyze her words before asking me questions." Dagna and Nico" I murmured softly between sips of mead
INGRID'S POV"I'll never feel better," he cried, throwing himself into my arms.What has gone wrong this time? I wondered as I slipped the hand that had been on his back into his hair and began to massage his scalp and my other hand automatically went around him. It was the exact way I used to console him when we were both younger and he would come to me for comfort after getting into one scrape or the other. Long before the Dagna era, my subconscious couldn't resist adding.I held him until his tears subsided, then I softly raised his head and wiped off his tears with my thumbs." Now tell me, " I urged, reaching down to grab one of his hands and hold them in both of mine. " Who exactly do you think you killed?" My tone clearly portrayed that I didn't think he had done any such thing." Theo, he replied with a sniffle. I let out a loud bark of laughter that startled him so much he gave a little jump and put a little space between us." Exactly how much did you have to drink?" I aske
VIMON'S POVI knew it was silly and downright ridiculous but as I sat on my window seat and waited for the soldiers who had gone in search of their comrade, I found myself praying to the goddess as I had never prayed before for her to change what I knew to be true." Please goddess, he can be maimed, lame, blind or even have lost two or more limbs, just let him be found alive," I caught myself saying more than once or twice.Of course every time this happened, I could almost see my subconscious looking at me like I had lost my mind and I was brutally reminded of how I had left him to those fair monsters, not minding the look of terror in his eyes, my mind just wouldn't let me forget that memory.I was standing there, leaning against the window when I saw captain Alec run up the stairs with a bundle under his shoulder, my heart instantly jumped into my throat, and my knees instantly went weak, I didn't need to be closer than I already was to recognize Theo's clothes. I slowly slid down
WALLY'S POV" Now listen to me and listen like your life depends on it because it does," I warned the men standing before me." You have one job and one job alone," I said, raising a single finger above my head to emphasize the point." All I want you to do is watch Nico and those old farts, just watch them and report to me, doing nothing else except that; watch them, monitor their movements, their goings and comings and report back to me, nothing else! Am I understood?" I asked."Well understood," they replied in unison." Good," I said with a nod of approval." And make sure you stay in hiding, if he finds out that you're watching him, you will have no one but yourselves to blame for whatever he does to you." I further admonished, before dismissing them with a wave of my hand." Ohhh Nico," I called with a jeering laughter as soon as they were out of earshot." You've stepped on the tail of a tiger, and you'll pay and pay dearly," I promised him, sealing the promise by taking a gulp
DAGNA'S POVTo make matters even more strange, if I strained my ears enough, I could make out the muffled sounds of someone rhythmically tapping on a tree with what sounded like an ax or a staff deeper into the woods, a little faster than the river I was lounging in. I had no idea how long I was in this alternate reality, but after a while it all began to fade away and I opened my eyes to find myself lying on my bed and realize that it had been a dream.Just as I tried to borrow back beneath the sheets, I realized that I could still hear the tapping on the tree and this time it was actually more distinct and sounded much closer, it took me a full minute to realize that it was actually the sound of knocking on my door and another minute before I groggily got out of bed and went to open the door. " Come downstairs," my father said as soon as I opened the door." Dinner is ready and I want to talk to you." He added before turning on his heels and going back the same way he came.With a
Vimon's point of view“That explains it then,” Kane finally said after a couple minutes of silence reaching for his glass of water.“Wait!” He called with the glass halfway to his lips, sounding like a man who had just made an ground breaking discovery.Because I killed him, not with my hands but still the same thing, a night after he fucked my brains out on a bed of fallen leaves.Of course I wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud, instead I said;“ I was looking out my window when I saw Alec come in with blood stained clothes, so of course I got curious and started asking questions.“ You mean he found out yesterday?” He asked.Didn't I just say that??“ Yes,” I said out loud, making a ‘that's what I just said’ gesture with my hands, wondering what he was getting at.“ I don't understand.”“ What don't you understand?”“ You said you saw him go into Ingrid's room yesterday with a bottle of liquor.”“ Yes I said that,” I replied, wondering if maybe, just maybe, my husband wasn't g
Aegon's point of view For some reason, no matter how hard I tried, and I did try; counting imaginative sheep, counting numbers backwards, and other supposedly sleep inducing activities, I ended up tossing and turning rather than getting any actual sleep.No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get my mind to take a break and stop showing me one particular image, an image of a petite young woman with very light skin (made even more pale after months of having little or no contact with the sun), in a gorgeous little mauve number that outlined her subtle curves and contrasted beautifully with her pale skin, her ginger hair swept up in some kind of hairstyle that had curls escaping to tease at the nape and making me itch to reach out and twirl those curls around my finger, with her full and plump lips that looked like there were just begging for a kiss, and her big baby blue eyes. She looks so fucking gorgeous that it almost makes me ache to look at her. It's so imprinted itself on my br
The breaking point Aegon’s Reaction Aegon had been carrying a weight he could no longer ignore, though he tried his hardest to bury it under layers of indifference and pride. The moon was rising, and with it, so was the tension that had coiled tightly in his chest ever since he had betrayed Ingrid.The moment he had slept with Dagna the woman who had once been his lover, the woman who was now out for revenge he had convinced himself it was all a mistake. That it didn’t mean anything. But deep down, somewhere far beneath the surface, he knew the truth. It meant something, at least to her. To Ingrid.He’d convinced himself that he was still in control. He was the Alpha and The leader. The one who made the rules. But every time he saw Ingrid every time he felt the pull of their bond. it became harder to keep up the lie.When he had returned that night, his blood still buzzing with the memory of Dagna’s touch, he had expected Ingrid to be asleep, to avoid him as she usually did. He hadn
She mustn't dieNico’s POVThe pieces didn’t fit. at least, not the way everyone else seemed to force them to. Ingrid’s condition, Aegon’s erratic behavior, Vimon’s sudden distrust of Dagna, and the disappearance of the Jewel of Light… all were signs of a puzzle no one wanted to solve. But I couldn’t ignore it. Not anymore.He had been watching and observing from afar for so long enough.It began the moment he saw the haunted look in Ingrid’s eyes after she collapsed in the storeroom. He had been one of the first to find her, though she never saw him. He stayed hidden, watching as her body trembled from an invisible pain no one could understand. That kind of agony wasn’t physical. It was something darker, deeper.Something supernatural.Nico started his investigations quietly. He didn’t trust anyone not even Aegon, who had become increasingly unstable. He dug through old records of magical rituals involving mate bonds and the Jewel of Light. What he found chilled him to the bone. The
She mustn't dieNico’s POVThe pieces didn’t fit. at least, not the way everyone else seemed to force them to. Ingrid’s condition, Aegon’s erratic behavior, Vimon’s sudden distrust of Dagna, and the disappearance of the Jewel of Light… all were signs of a puzzle no one wanted to solve. But I couldn’t ignore it. Not anymore.He had been watching and observing from afar for so long enough.It began the moment he saw the haunted look in Ingrid’s eyes after she collapsed in the storeroom. He had been one of the first to find her, though she never saw him. He stayed hidden, watching as her body trembled from an invisible pain no one could understand. That kind of agony wasn’t physical. It was something darker, deeper.Something supernatural.Nico started his investigations quietly. He didn’t trust anyone not even Aegon, who had become increasingly unstable. He dug through old records of magical rituals involving mate bonds and the Jewel of Light. What he found chilled him to the bone. Ther
She mustn't dieNico’s POVThe pieces didn’t fit. at least, not the way everyone else seemed to force them to. Ingrid’s condition, Aegon’s erratic behavior, Vimon’s sudden distrust of Dagna, and the disappearance of the Jewel of Light… all were signs of a puzzle no one wanted to solve. But I couldn’t ignore it. Not anymore.He had been watching and observing from afar for so long enough.It began the moment he saw the haunted look in Ingrid’s eyes after she collapsed in the storeroom. He had been one of the first to find her, though she never saw him. He stayed hidden, watching as her body trembled from an invisible pain no one could understand. That kind of agony wasn’t physical. It was something darker, deeper.Something supernatural.Nico started his investigations quietly. He didn’t trust anyone not even Aegon, who had become increasingly unstable. He dug through old records of magical rituals involving mate bonds and the Jewel of Light. What he found chilled him to the bone. Ther
KANE’S POVI stared at Vimon, her words echoing like war drums in my head.They’re trying to kill her… Dagna. Wally. They’ve been planning it for weeks. Using Aegon to do it.I wanted to believe it was a nightmare, some sick fantasy born out of Vimon’s anxiety—but I knew better. I trusted her instincts more than my own. And the way her voice had cracked—raw, trembling with tightly leashed rage—told me this was real.Too real.“How long?” I asked, my voice low. Too low.She swallowed hard. “Three nights. We’re two nights in.”Two nights in. Moon Goddess, we were running out of time.The room around me blurred. I gripped the edge of the desk, trying to keep from smashing everything in sight. That bastard Wally he should’ve stayed dead. And Dagna… Dagna, the girl I once tolerated because she’d been part of our pack. Because I had believed she was simply misguided. But this? This was evil.And Aegon. My son. My heir.He was being used turned into a weapon against the very woman fate had b
The FallAegon’s POVI don’t remember every detail. My mind was a haze and part rage, part numbness, part wanting to forget. She whispered things in my ear, things that sounded like promises and poisons all wrapped in velvet. She touched me like a curse.“She left you once. She’s always going to choose pain. Always going to punish you for the bond.”“She’s my mate.”“Then where was she when you needed someone? When you were drowning in guilt and carrying the weight of the pack alone?” Dagna leaned closer. “You deserve someone who’ll choose you. Fully and Obsessively.”It was manipulation. I knew it., every word was a carefully placed as a dagger.Still, I was tired. Tired of fighting battles I couldn't win, of carrying anger I couldn’t resolve, Of hurting Ingrid and myself.And then, like a trap snapping shut, Dagna pulled me into an empty room, locked the door behind us, and kissed me like she already owned my regrets.I didn’t stop her falling into the trap like a fool.And I gave
SHATTERED the SILENCEIngrid’s Point of ViewThe moon had risen high, its light shining on the tops of the trees outside the window. The night air had a strange heaviness to it, one that settled in my chest like an unmovable rock. I had been restless all evening, pacing round my room, trying to calm the unease that had crept in.Something was wrong. Deeply, unshakably wrong.I tried to mind link Aegon through the bond, but it was silent. As if he had shut me out completely.That wasn’t unusual, not anymore not with the wall he had been steadily building between us. But tonight, it felt like the final straw.I left my room, hoping to get some air, maybe find him, or at least catch Kane or Vimon and distract myself with some unnecessary conversation. The corridors were dim, and the torch casting long, lonely shadows that danced with my anxiety. I made my way to the west side of the manor, where I knew Aegon often retreated after a long day. But he wasn’t there.Nor in the training groun
The First FallAegon’s POVThe hospital corridors were quieter than usual, dimmed with the fading sunlight slipping through long windows. A hush hung over the place not of peace, but of restrained anxiety. Being here always left me unsettled. It reminded me of duty, of wounds I couldn't see or heal, of responsibilities too heavy to bear without cracking. But today, it felt heavier.Maybe because I hadn't spoken to Ingrid since the argument. Maybe because I hadn’t explained myself. Or maybe because I knew I was starting to lose my grip on everything.I came to check on a warrior who'd been injured during a rogue ambush near the southern border. The incident wasn't major, but protocol demanded my presence, so here I was, signing off a report with a mind a thousand miles away.“Alpha,” a nurse greeted, her tone respectful, but I barely nodded. My thoughts spiraled, looping endlessly through memories I couldn't suppress the feeling of Ingrid’s trembling hands, her confused eyes, the crack
The first night Wally was waiting when I returned to the safehouse.He asked " is it done???“Yes,” I answered, wiping Aegon’s taste from my lips with disgust. “He didn’t even ask why I was at the hospital.”“You’re sure it worked?” he growled.“He didn’t resist. Not really,” I replied with a smirk. “You should have seen his eyes. All that guilt, confusion—it makes him weak. And that makes Ingrid weaker.”Wally chuckled, though his grin was jagged. “Then the clock has started. You’ll need to get him again, twice more. On the third night... the mate bond will break her from the inside out. Her body won’t be able to handle the pain.”“Good.” His lips curled with satisfaction. “Two more nights, Dagna. Then she’ll die.”“And what if she survives?” I asked, folding my arms.“She won’t,” he said flatly. “Especially not with the power of the Jewel in my possession. You focus on seducing him. I’ll handle the rest.”I raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure it’ll work?”He slammed a crystal shard on