Ivy's POVWhen I wake up, the first thing that hits me is the taste in my mouth. It’s sweet and tacky, as though my mouth has been filled with liquid sugar. I smack my lips as I open my eyes slowly. I’m greeted by the sight of wrought iron bars over my head, and above that, a starry night sky. Details come to me in pieces. I let out a ragged cough, mouth salivating as my tongue attempts to scrub away the sweet taste. I remember fragments of memory—being kidnapped from the palace. Threats leveled against Jason. A cage. A conversation with Elder Jet. A sickly-sweet potion forced past my lips. And after that, absolutely nothing. I groan as I do my best to prop myself up onto my elbows. My vision is still somewhat blurred. Dimly, I hear the sound of clicking, then the scraping of metal. I reach my hand out towards the bars in a feeble attempt to pull myself back up to my feet. But just as my fingertips brush against the cool metal, ice-cold hands wrap around my forearm, and I suddenl
Spencer's POV“I can’t just surrender!” The words fall out of my mouth in a jumbled rush, a blur of desperation. I can’t surrender. I can't give up my kingdom, my throne, just like this. I’m a warrior, a king, the strongest Lycan, I can’t just—I would. For Ivy, I would. But there’s still no proof that the witch will kill Ivy just yet, and trading in the kingdom is such a drastic decision that I need to make sure I have absolutely no other option before I make the call. Plus, there are measures I want to have put in place in case it really does come to that, ways for Gamma Everly or Wilson or Sylvia to regain the kingdom even if I do need to call off my men right now. A surrender could be a temporary thing, a way to buy time and secure Ivy before we rush right back into battle. Or maybe if I surrender, Elder Jet and the witch will kill me anyways, knowing the devastating effect it will inevitably have because of our mate bond and the Blood Oath Ceremony. Either way, whether or no
Ivy's POV“Make your choice, Prince Spencer.”I can feel the witch’s words against my cheek as she speaks. They’re as sharp and frosty as a frozen-over holly bush. The glass against my lips is tasteless, but I can smell the tangy green liquid from the bottle, and my throat already feels rather like it’s about to burn. If I drink this potion, there’s absolutely no chance of survival for me. I’m nowhere near at full strength. I’ve been dazed by whatever I was given earlier and weakened from my battle in the dungeons. Not to mention, I’m pregnant. Besides, it killed the Lycan King. I’d be wiped out in an instant. So Spencer really does have to choose between my life—no, not just my life, the life of his child, too—and his kingdom. I can see the turmoil of the decision on his face, the devastation it’s causing him. This is all of his greatest fears coming to fruition. Everything he’s tried to protect me from all along. If he chooses to surrender for me, I know he won’t be happy. He’ll
Spencer's POV“Ivy!”The scream tears from my throat, a sound of sheer desperation as the last of the green poison disappears down Ivy’s throat. It feels like it’s all a dream, all a nightmare, all some sort of devilish hallucination forced upon me to bring me to my knees and show me all my worst fears but this isn’t just my own anxiety anymore, it’s real life. “Ivy, how could you?” I ask, blinking back furious tears. Every single one of my senses is on high alert, waiting for whatever disastrous consequences come next. “Couldn’t let you—” Ivy lets out a ragged, hacking cough, already doubling over in the witch’s arms. “Couldn’t let you surrender.” “I’m not surrendering!” I shout, balling my hands into fists. “I’ll tear you apart limb from limb, Elder Jet, I’ll kill your witch, your men, every last force you have in your reserves…”“Oh, pay him no mind,” the witch says dismissively. She lets go of Ivy, who immediately crumples to the ground in a disheveled heap. “I have no idea if
Ivy's POVAs the darkness overtakes me completely, the last thing I feel is Spencer’s arms wrapped around me. All at once, the excruciating pain—the burning in my throat, the blood in my mouth, the fire that feels like it’s emanating all throughout my body—fades away. It feels like I’m falling through the endless darkness. I’m convinced that my eyes are open by now, and that my tears have faded away, but I still can’t see anything. I can’t feel anything, either, and I feel myself begin to panic as soon as I realize that I can no longer feel Spencer’s arms wrapped tights around me. I can’t smell him, can’t sense the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat. I’m left adrift in endless darkness, floating and falling and making my way to—To what?Is this death?Am I dead?I try to open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out at all. The darkness spirals and twists, a dizzying expanse of absolutely nothing. I’m lost, completely untethered, without even my wolf to ground me. And then, all
Ivy's POV“How… how are you here?” The words tumble out of my mouth, a haze of confusion as I look up at him. Spencer doesn’t look like he did on the battlefield–instead, his clothes are neat and clean, hair prim, face clean-shaven. Instead of wild, pained eyes from having spent far too long on the battlefield, he looks at ease and more relaxed than I’ve been able to see him in a long time. Spencer looks down at me with a soft, gentle smile. Too often these days, the way he’s looked at me has been tainted with a million other emotions–anger, maybe, or frustration, or longing. But now he’s staring at me just like he used to, like the stars are in my eyes and I’m all he wants to see. Honestly, he seems happy just to see me at all. “I don’t know,” Spencer replies with a shrug. He extends a hand out to me. “I don’t think I care, really. What’s important is you.” He furrows his brow and looks me over carefully. “How are you… how are you feeling?” I place my hand in his. The feeling is
Spencer's POV“Could you love me in death, despite what I’ve done?”Despite everything that’s happened between us, those words still hit me like a punch to the gut. Could I love her in death? Moon Goddess above, how does she not get it? All my anger, my pain, my frustration, my fury, my devastation–I feel it so fiercely because I can’t stop loving her. I couldn't stop loving her if I tried. And I’m terrified to leave this place in our minds, this safe space where she’s alive and well and I can see her, because I know the moment I go she’ll be dead and I’ll have to face the world without her. I’m not ready for that. How am I supposed to do that? I move my hands from Ivy’s shoulders all the way down to her hands, finding comfort in the feel of her skin as I do. There’s a warmth to her. She radiates peace and calm and all that is good in the world. None of this is real, but it feels close enough to me. “Oh, Ivy,” I tell her softly, squeezing her hands. “Of course I could still lo
Ivy's POVWhen Spencer kisses me, the rest of the world drops away. He kisses me with a burning need, a hunger. I can feel it in the way he grabs my hips like a lifeline, in the way his arms wrap around me and I’m pressed so tight against me our hearts beat in unison. There’s a desperation to how we kiss. It’s like we’re both on fire. Like we both know we’re only stealing moments from the world. My hands make their way under his shirt, scratching his back ever so slightly, and when Spencer moans into my open mouth, it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. I’m his, and he is mine. Maybe we only have so long together. Maybe the number of minutes we’ll share isn’t actually so large. But we’ve left our marks on each other, worked our way into the chambers of one another’s hearts. Spencer is my everything, and as his tongue overpowers mine with ease, as my fingers tangle in his soft hair, it’s an undeniable truth of the universe that this is how things were always supposed to be.
Spencer’s POVAs my claws tear through the ice-cold flesh of the witch’s body, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly pierces the air. With a fierce cry, the witch tries to wrench herself from my grasp, but she only succeeds in dragging her body along my claws, worsening her own injuries. Blood splatters on the ground and onto my paws. It doesn’t feel like blood normally does, though–it’s cold like freshwater and feels oddly slick, almost oily. I pull my lips back over my teeth and growl viciously, searching for the witch’s neck in this darkness. “You beast!” The witch wails like a banshee. I can see her eyes glinting reflectively like a cat’s in the darkness. As we hit the ground, one of her antlers breaks and falls off. “Do you have any idea how powerful I am? You don’t have the faintest whisper of a chance against me, you brute–” I curl my claws inward, deepening the wounds further, and the witch lets out another ragged scream. Suddenly, the darkness in the room all seems to slither t
Spencer’s POV“Run!” My warning to Alpha Fierro echoes through the darkened office seemingly unheard. As the shadows continue to creep around my field of vision, obscuring everything from view, my heart thuds in my chest. Never before had I been scared of an enemy until encountering the witch. I shift fluidly into my wolf form, powerful arms and legs rippling with muscles, fangs and teeth sharp as daggers. My growl is a low, warning rumble in the base of my throat. Despite my heightened sentences as I continue to peer ahead, ears trained to detect the slightest sense of movement, I still have no idea where the witch is. “Reveal yourself, coward!” I shout, my voice echoing through the room. “You betray your honour by slinking around in the shadows.” The witch’s laugh, low and melodious, fills the air. There’s a haunting coldness to it. “Honour is a werewolf construct,” she says. “And it’s so unlike a proud, foolish warrior to consider it a cowardly action to win a battle with intel
Ivy’s POVThe longer I stay in the hospital bed, the more I can feel myself beginning to crumble. The pain is ceaseless in its intensity, great waves of agony that crash over me without letting up for even a second. I can’t scream, can’t cry, can’t move. I’ve given up on trying to call in any of the nurses when the flareups get too bad–all they’ll do is look at me sadly, scared of doing anything to make me worse, scared of simply standing by and watching the queen die. There’s an IV flowing an endless stream of pain medication into my veins, which is helping somewhat, but it’s not enough. All I can do is feel this. Until it kills me, I suppose. I have no idea where Spencer is–after he rushed out of my room unexpectedly like that, he never came back. I’ve heard some whispers floating around the hospital about a great escapade, about the looming creep of a plague sweeping through the kingdom. If it really is a plague, I hope more than anything that Tala didn’t catch it from me. If
Spencer’s POV“Alpha Fierro, I need you to focus up.” The words are harsh as they leave my mouth, but I’m not trying to be malicious, although it’s true that things desperately need to get moving. The longer I spend in the Sunclash pack, the more on edge I feel. Every wall in sight feels like it’s closing in on me, and I can feel the sickness permeating the air. There’s a heaviness to this place now, an endless sense of dread. I have a feeling that this ground will carry the weight of all its deaths for a long, long time. “Scour the office for anything that seems out of place,” I say. “If your Beta was in charge of the pack in your absence, it’s likely that he was the one putting any preventative measures into place. He may have tried to find a cure–hopefully there are signs somewhere around here.” I look down at the man’s corpse, the papers clutched in his fist and the expression of profound horror on his face. “I read his reports. He seems to have been a confident, driven man. I’
Spencer’s POV‘I think a considerable number of people managed to leave, contaminated or not.’ The longer Beta Wilson’s words echo through my mind, the more I begin to realize the scale of the potential disaster we might have on our hands. Where would any contaminated werewolves go? To the surrounding packs, most likely, and from there, the plague could spread from pack to pack to pack endlessly, ultimately becoming a worldwide pandemic…I whirl around to look at Alpha Fierro. “What was your relationship with other packs like?” I ask him urgently. “If any of your pack members were to turn up there looking for help, would they receive it?” “Probably, yeah,” Alpha Fierro says. “We tended to keep things as peaceful as possible. Unless there was very clearly something wrong going on, no one would have any reason to turn any of our members away.” I curse silently under my breath. “Keep heading towards the pack house,” I tell Alpha Fierro, already starting to walk away from him and back
Spencer’s POVMost of my skin has already been covered by my day clothes, but in the few places I’m not, I can feel the hazmat suit’s crinkly plastic resting against me uncomfortably. I shudder as the plastic continues to shift. It clings uncomfortably to my skin and is far from stealthy, causing a loud rumpling sound to ring out with every step. I’d hoped that we could carry out this surveillance with at least the slightest bit of stealth and decorum, but as the entire haphazard team of us begins to make our way into the Sunclash pack, it becomes more and more evident that that’s just not going to happen. Through the suit’s bulbous plastic dome, I make eye contact with Doctor Danbury, clearly far from amused. She purses her lips, and I can see my own frustration mirrored on her face as we continue to lug equipment around. “I know,” she says, coming up to walk beside me. “Believe me, I hate the suits too. Easily one of my least favourite parts of this job. But whatever wiped this p
Spencer’s POVAs we all sit in the back of a sleek, high-speed limo, I can’t help but feel thick tendrils of dread curling throughout my stomach. Every second I spend away from Ivy feels like I could be missing her final moments, and the fear over what could happen to her is making me sick. “The hazmat suits will be uncomfortable,” Doctor Danbury warns, holding up a hideous yellow baggy bodysuit. The plastic crinkles under her touch. “And the tanks on the back are going to poke weirdly. It’s no fun to wear, I know. But we still don’t quite know the extent of the toxicity of the environment we’re about to enter, so right now, safety is of the utmost importance. It’s possible that we’ll be able to take the suits off once I’ve run a couple tests and deemed the area safe, but I have no idea yet.” “Whatever it is, it seems to be highly contagious,” Alpha Fierro says somberly. Doctor Danbury nods. “The last thing we want to do is bring an uncontained plague back to the Lycan Kingdom, so
Spencer’s POVJust as Beta Wilson and Alpha Fierro make their way out of my office, I see Alpha Leo slip through the doorway. He looks much better than he did the last time I saw him–there are still the occasional cuts and bruises marring his skin, a couple ridged scars in the process of forming, but Alpha Leo seems to be walking without much pain. His posture is straight and his gaze is keen. He looks at me tentatively as he approaches my desk, and I can tell he’s just the slightest bit on edge. “Your Highness,” he says uncertainly. “Alpha Leo,” I reply. “Um, what can I do for you?” Alpha Leo asks nervously. I shuffle a stack of papers on the desk together. “As I’m sure you know, we’ve suffered considerable gaps in our staff,” I begin. “Specifically in our military and guard positions. One of the most notable absences is Captain McAndrews, as I’m sure you remember quite well.” Alpha Leo blanches. “Right,” he mutters. “The work you did during Elder Jet’s invasion was exceptiona
Spencer’s POV“The Lycan Kingdom will come to your aid at once.” Clearly, the ease with which I offer my support comes as something of a shock to Alpha Fierro. His eyes widen, and his face breaks into an expression of gratitude. His posture already seems straighter, like a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “Really?” Alpha Fierro breathes out. “Thank you, Your Majesty. Truly, I’d nearly given up hope on receiving any sort of aid at all–I’d almost started believing the rumours…” My eyes narrow. “The rumours?” I repeat coldly.” Alpha Fierro blanches. “Well, I–of course, I never really believed them. But I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your vast reach of influence that some werewolves have been saying things about the Lycan Royal Family that have been rather… out of line. Ever since Elder Jet and his rebellion, things have been different. But I–that’s not important! What I’m trying to say to you right now is thank you, Your Majesty. From the bottom of my heart.” I remain si