Alpha Jackson's POV The glass in my hand felt cool against my palm, the liquid inside swirling as I contemplated my father’s words. The shadows danced along the walls, mimicking the turmoil within me.“You seem lost in thought, Jackson,” my father’s voice cut through the silence. He was here to take care of me, and so far, he has been doing just that. He took a slow sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving me. I hesitated, the weight of his earlier statement still pressing down on me. “What you said about the woman who would unite the Lycans and the Wolves... do you truly believe it’s them? Kai and Katherine?”His gaze sharpened, sensing the doubt that lingered in my tone. “I don’t just believe it, son. I know it.” He set his glass down on the table between us, leaning forward slightly. “The signs have been there for years. Kai’s influence has grown stronger, and Katherine... she’s more than just a Light Seeker. Together, they’re a force that could change everything. Force us down t
Elera's POVI had been loyal to King Kai for years, through wars, betrayals, and the rise and fall of alliances. And now, this? A prison cell?The iron bars seemed to mock me, a reminder of how easily trust could be shattered. I had given everything to Kai. Every decision, every sacrifice, was made in his name. And now, here I was, a prisoner in the very kingdom I had helped to protect. My breaths came in shallow, angry bursts as I tried to make sense of it all.I didn’t hear the door creak open until it was too late to compose myself. Azra stepped into the dim light, his expression unreadable. The sight of him only fueled my anger further. He was the one who had brought me here.“What is the meaning of this?” I demanded, my voice echoing off the cold walls. “What the hell is going on, Azra? Why am I in jail? What crime have I committed?”Azra raised his hands in a placating gesture, his usual calm demeanor doing little to soothe the rage burning inside me. “Elera, you need to relax. I
Claire's POV The night was unnervingly still. I could feel it. It was darkness creeping closer, something greater than any predator we’d ever faced. My instincts told me it was more than a hunt for Katherine. It was a hunt for power, for something that could rip the world apart if it found the right hands. Or the wrong ones.I was still staring out at the horizon, trying to pick apart the shadows for answers, when I heard the door creak open behind me. The footsteps were familiar, even before I turned around.“Kai,” I said, not bothering to look at him.“We have a problem,” he said, his voice tight.I finally turned to face him. Kai’s face was lined with tension, and his jaw set in that grim way that told me whatever news he brought was worse than usual. I raised an eyebrow, waiting.“The shadow hunters,” he continued, “they’re moving into the lower cities. Faster than they have ever done.”My heart skipped. I had been dreading this. The shadow hunters were ruthless, a merciless band
Katherine POV. Elera was waiting inside, and I knew the confrontation that awaited would be anything but easy. Not even my experience with Alpha Jackson could prepare me for how I felt when I thought about the situation I was in and how I would get out of it. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath before I took the first step. The prison smelt badly and I could see that the worst of criminals were probably kept here. My footsteps echoed down the narrow stone corridor, the guards at either side barely sparing me a glance. They knew who I was, and none of them were foolish enough to cross me. But today, it wasn’t their judgment I feared; it was Elera's.Elera was kept in the farthest cell, isolated from the rest of the prisoners. She was dangerous and unstable after everything that had happened, and I couldn’t blame her for that. Not after Dexter. Not after what she had done.The cell door came into view, and I felt my heart lurch. I hadn’t seen her since that night, since the chaos
Kai's POV I missed Katherine already; she had gone to see Elera today so they could talk about everything. I sent some of my guards to secretly watch over her because I knew that if she knew, she would refuse it. A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. It was Azra. “Enter,” I called, already knowing that whatever news he brought wouldn’t be easy to swallow. Azra had taken Claire to see Elera after Dexter’s murder. He’d been gone for most of yesterday, and now, as he stepped into the room, his face was as grim as I expected.“Your Highness,” he said, bowing slightly before taking the seat across from me.“What did you find?” I asked, my voice steady, though I braced myself for the worst.Azra sighed, running a hand through his dark hair before meeting my eyes. “It’s complicated, Kai. When we arrived at the pack clinic, Claire immediately sensed something... off about Elera’s wolf.”I tensed. “Off, how?”“She said Elera’s wolf was troubled, restless, but pure. Her relationshi
Kai's POVThe hospital hallway felt like it was closing in around me, each second stretched by the uncertainty of what lay behind those doors. I pushed through the waiting room, not caring that I'd been told to stay put. Katherine was in there, and that's all that mattered. "His royal Majesty, wait!" one of the nurses tried to stop me, but I brushed past her, the need to see Katherine overpowering everything.The doctor stepped in my way just as I reached her room. "Your Highness, you need to calm down," he said, his voice steady but strained. "She's stable, but you can't go in just yet. She fainted, and we're trying to""Trying to stabilize her? She fainted?" I repeated, my voice incredulous. "That's not enough. I need to see her." My pulse pounded in my ears. Katherine never fainted. She was strong—too strong for something like this.The doctor's eyes flickered with nervousness. "We're running tests, but it looks like she's just stressed. Shock, perhaps, but she's out of danger."I
Katherine’s POVThe sterile white light overhead blurred as I blinked my eyes open. I struggled with the blinding lights in the room and I struggled to adjust my sight to it. I opened my eyes slowly and turned my head. Kai was seated with his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes were red and the exhaustion was quite visible. Considering the eyebags under his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and I could feel the weight of his worry pressing down on me, even in silence.I groaned in pain as I tried my best to sit up, but my muscles screamed in protest. Kai noticed instantly, springing to my side before I could adjust the pillow beneath me. His face softened with relief as he leaned down, his voice hoarse from what must’ve been a sleepless night.“my love, how are you feeling?" He asked me.I tried to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. I glanced to the side and saw Tricia, curled up on one of the clinic's chairs. She was asleep, snoring slightly as her chest moved up and
Roma's POVThe palace felt eerily silent, like the calm before a storm. My mind raced as I paced the room, glancing nervously at the door. Katherine was still at the hospital, and King Kai had asked us to return. I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that clung to me like a second skin.Claire sat across from me, serene as ever, her fingers tracing patterns in the air. She always had this way about her, a kind of stillness that made it seem like nothing could ever shake her. But I was different. I wasn’t like Katherine or Claire, who were born with power, forged by destiny. It was just me. And right now, “me” felt helpless."Roma, relax." Claire’s voice broke through my anxious thoughts. She looked up from whatever spell or divination she was working on. "The safest place for us right now is here. In the palace."I frowned, biting my lip as I stared at her. "Are you sure? What if... what if the person hunting Katherine’s friends comes for us too?"Claire came to the window, where I sto
Katherine’s POVThe sun hung low in the sky, casting a pale golden light over the training grounds. The last day of my training, and I still hadn’t seen Kai. It had been three days since I last heard from him, three long, agonizing days of silence. Each moment without a word from him gnawed at me, a dull ache that deepened with every passing hour. Where was he? Why hadn’t he come? Even Tricia has been asking of him nonstop, Roma had just been moved down to where we were and she has been the one taking care of Tricia on my behalf. I should’ve been focused on my training, but my thoughts constantly wandered back to Kai. The connection we shared, once so clear, felt distant now. I knew he had his reasons, and his responsibilities, but it didn’t make his absence any easier to bear. Every attempt to channel my inner light, my supposed gift as the Light Seeker, was met with resistance. The power inside me felt muddled, out of reach, like trying to catch water slipping through my fingers.
Kai's POVThe forest surrounding Alpha Jackson’s hideout was eerily quiet as if even the wind was holding its breath. I moved silently, the soft crunch of leaves beneath my boots the only sound. No guards, no patrols, nothing that suggested Jackson was even concerned about being found here. Bold. Or foolish. But Jackson had always been both. It was how we had become acquainted in the first place. I reached the clearing, and there it was: the old stone cottage that Azra had described, hidden deep within my kingdom’s borders. A fitting place for someone trying to hide in plain sight. I couldn’t help but smirk at the audacity of him, slipping into my kingdom without so much as a word of notice. But I wasn’t surprised. As I approached the entrance, the door swung open, and there he stood. Alpha Jackson. He looked the same, nothing had changed about him. “King Kai,” he greeted, his voice smooth and dripping with false humility. “What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t expect a visit from the
Kai's POVThings were beginning to calm down in the low towns, but, even, I could not let the worry go. I knew that the problem was not close to being over yet. I knew that much of the peace was because I had hidden Katherine away. Keeping her out of sight, away from those who might want to use her or, worse, destroy her. She was training privately with Claire, learning how to control her power as the Light Seeker, and it seemed to be working. But how long could I keep her hidden? How long before the world found out who she truly was?The thought weighed heavy on my chest as I made my way to the secluded house where Katherine was training. A part of me wanted to tell her everything, to be fully honest about the dangers swirling around us, but I knew I couldn’t. Not yet. She had enough on her plate without the burden of my fears. The air was crisp as I approached the safe house, the setting sun casting long shadows across the stone path. As I entered, I could feel the soft hum of Kat
"The light is already inside you, Katherine. You just need to let it out." Claire said as a light began to illuminate my chest and formed a circle, shining steadily with its rays shining in the room. My training with Claire had begun privately a few weeks ago. I have been putting my all into learning how to channel my light. I closed my eyes and willed my heart to beat slower as if to slow time. My purpose, My title is the Light Seeker. It had not been easy at first, but here I was doing it. Taking it one day at a time. I was beginning to feel the warmth as it spread through me. And the truth was that I had not felt so good about myself in years. Not until I discovered that.The room around me brightened, the shadows in the corners retreating as the light from within me spread across the space. I felt the same deep within me as everything started to gain clarity.Claire stepped back, a satisfied smile curling on her lips. “You’re getting the hang of it, Katherine. I knew you had it
Kai's POVThe cold steel of the balcony railing bit into my palms as I absorbed the latest news. My mind was a turbulent sea of thoughts and decisions. Every one of my instincts screamed that we were on the brink of something catastrophic. The shadow hunter attack was a stark message, and I could not afford to underestimate the threat.“Azra,” I call out, my voice cutting through the tension of the hospital morning. We had barely slept until we were sure that Roma was in stable condition. He turned to me, his expression taut with concern. “I need you to secure the citadel immediately. No one in or out until further notice.”Azra’s eyes widened slightly, but he nodded without hesitation. “I’ve already taken the liberty of informing the guards. What else do you need, my king?”I took a deep breath, my weak attempt to quell the rising sense of urgency. “We need to find the warlock. If he’s under the shadow hunters' control, he’s a crucial part of their plan. His location could lead us to
Kai's POVThe hospital balcony was usually not the place I would imagine that I was going to be tonight. The events of the last few weeks burdened my mind so heavily that I felt like there was no way out of it. But I could not afford to think like that. I wrapped my clothes tightly around myself as the cold wind blew, even at that, I could feel the heat emanating from my body. Katherine could have been seriously hurt and each day, this crazy person came close to the woman that I loved the most. The thought of what would have happened if anything had gone wrong at the prison was not something that I enjoyed thinking about so I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath to steady my head. Azra ran to the balcony, his face etched with tension. His usual calm demeanor was replaced with urgency, and it immediately set my nerves on edge. I turned to face him, keeping my face as neutral as possible. “What’s going on?” I asked; my voice was sharp and hard. “Why are you here?” I demanded. Hi
Roma's POVThe palace felt eerily silent, like the calm before a storm. My mind raced as I paced the room, glancing nervously at the door. Katherine was still at the hospital, and King Kai had asked us to return. I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that clung to me like a second skin.Claire sat across from me, serene as ever, her fingers tracing patterns in the air. She always had this way about her, a kind of stillness that made it seem like nothing could ever shake her. But I was different. I wasn’t like Katherine or Claire, who were born with power, forged by destiny. It was just me. And right now, “me” felt helpless."Roma, relax." Claire’s voice broke through my anxious thoughts. She looked up from whatever spell or divination she was working on. "The safest place for us right now is here. In the palace."I frowned, biting my lip as I stared at her. "Are you sure? What if... what if the person hunting Katherine’s friends comes for us too?"Claire came to the window, where I sto
Katherine’s POVThe sterile white light overhead blurred as I blinked my eyes open. I struggled with the blinding lights in the room and I struggled to adjust my sight to it. I opened my eyes slowly and turned my head. Kai was seated with his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes were red and the exhaustion was quite visible. Considering the eyebags under his eyes, it looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and I could feel the weight of his worry pressing down on me, even in silence.I groaned in pain as I tried my best to sit up, but my muscles screamed in protest. Kai noticed instantly, springing to my side before I could adjust the pillow beneath me. His face softened with relief as he leaned down, his voice hoarse from what must’ve been a sleepless night.“my love, how are you feeling?" He asked me.I tried to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. I glanced to the side and saw Tricia, curled up on one of the clinic's chairs. She was asleep, snoring slightly as her chest moved up and
Kai's POVThe hospital hallway felt like it was closing in around me, each second stretched by the uncertainty of what lay behind those doors. I pushed through the waiting room, not caring that I'd been told to stay put. Katherine was in there, and that's all that mattered. "His royal Majesty, wait!" one of the nurses tried to stop me, but I brushed past her, the need to see Katherine overpowering everything.The doctor stepped in my way just as I reached her room. "Your Highness, you need to calm down," he said, his voice steady but strained. "She's stable, but you can't go in just yet. She fainted, and we're trying to""Trying to stabilize her? She fainted?" I repeated, my voice incredulous. "That's not enough. I need to see her." My pulse pounded in my ears. Katherine never fainted. She was strong—too strong for something like this.The doctor's eyes flickered with nervousness. "We're running tests, but it looks like she's just stressed. Shock, perhaps, but she's out of danger."I