Spencer’s POVThe crowd of rebels erupts into shock and disgust, and for just a few moments, another wave of chaos ripples over the now-still battleground. “I’d never speak to that traitor!” “I’d sooner die than let some betrayer try to make me anything like him.” “They’re trying to brainwash us!” I let the complaints ring out for just a few seconds more before opening my mouth to speak. “ENOUGH!” I roar, bold shout crackling over the amassed crowd like thunder. I clench my hands into fists as I look over all of them. “This is what you’re getting,” I say. “I’ve told you all you need to know. Warriors, take them to the dungeons.” The warriors all nod once before finally escorting the captured rebels off the battlefield. I breathe out a steady sigh of relief as I watch them depart, finally letting myself relax somewhat as finally the threat is ushered away. Ivy comes up beside me and squeezes my shoulder. “You said all the rebels would get the chance to speak with Alpha Leo?” She
Ivy’s POVAs Spencer kisses me, it feels like everything wrong in the universe has finally righted itself. He kisses me softly, sweetly, like he knows we can finally linger in these gentle moments without having to worry about whatever is coming next. Spencer’s hands are chaste, one resting on my waist as the other tangles into my hair. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and return the kiss passionately until my lungs start to scream for air. Spencer is the one who finally pulls away. I look up at him, eyes fluttering open and slightly dazed as his hand moves from the nape of my neck to my cheek. He caresses my face lovingly, gazing deep into my eyes with an expression of profound concern. “Are you going to be okay, Ivy?” He asks softly. “After everything that happened…” “I’ll be fine,” I assure him quickly, smiling gently at him. “I’m healed now, thanks to the Moon Goddess. I feel healthy. The worst of it is all behind us.” “Our child…” Spencer begins tentatively. “I feel good
Spencer’s POVAs I watch a tall woman in a lab coat grab Ivy’s arm, an instinctive jolt of panic rushes through me. “What–what’s going on?” I ask, immediately scanning the surroundings for any indicator that Elder Jet’s forces may have somehow made their way back into the palace. “Who is that?” “One of Doctor Danbury’s assistants,” my mother assures me quickly. “After everything Ivy’s been through, we need to ensure that your heir is still alive and well within her. We should really discuss what’s going to happen once she begins to show, and how we can cover up for how Ivy is carrying your child despite your impending marriage to Delilah.” I purse my lips and look towards Colin at the mention of my previous engagement to Delilah. Does she not know about you two? I want to ask him. He seems to read the question etched across my features, because he shakes his head almost imperceptibly. I suppose I can understand Colin’s reluctance to tell our mother about the change in nuptials–af
Spencer’s POVYou’re the next Lycan King. As my mother’s words ricochet around the room, it’s hard not to feel like I’m taking someone else’s place. For so long, this was my father’s crown, and no one was prepared to lose him so soon. But as I look around the room, slowly, gradually, it begins to feel more and more right. Despite their usual snark and sarcasm, both Sylvia and Colin look gravely serious at this moment. They both look up at me with evident respect, and I know that despite the troubles I’ve had with my siblings in the past, they’re here to support my ascension to the Lycan throne. My mother, too, as she returns to her seat at the table, is looking up at me proudly. She smiles faintly as the crown continues to rest on my head and wipes her eyes. “I know you’re going to do great things, Spencer,” she says softly. “And I’m terribly sorry for the lack of ceremony today. I promise that once the date of your coronation does finally roll around, you’re going to get all the
Ivy’s ’s POVJust as Doctor Danbury’s assistant begins to spread the ultrasound gel over my exposed stomach, the door to my hospital room bursts open. I gasp, head whirling towards the door. Much to my surprise, it’s not just Spencer that greets me in the doorway–it’s the entire Lycan Royal Family, as well as Delilah and Beta Wilson. My face flushes, and I feel oddly vulnerable in front of everyone. I want to roll my shirt back down and hold my hands over my stomach protectively, but I don’t want to mess up the gel. “What… what’s going on?” I ask hesitantly. “How is it?” The Lycan Queen asks the assistant in a sharp voice. “How’s the baby? Is it still okay?” “And how’s Ivy?” Spencer presses anxiously. He approaches my bedside and sits down next to me, taking my hand in both of his and squeezing gently. His gaze rests anxiously on the ultrasound machine to my left beside the assistant, though the screen isn’t displaying anything just yet. “Give me just one second, Your Highnesses
Ivy’s POV“How far along is she, Doctor Danbury?” The Lycan Queen’s question breaks up the solemn silence brought about by my child’s heartbeat. Doctor Danbury looks up from her notes in surprise before shifting her attention over to the queen, eyebrow raised. “About twelve weeks, Your Highness,” she replies. “She’s just at the end of her first trimester.” “And do we know the baby’s sex?” Spencer and I purse our lips, both exchanging meaningful glances. We both heard what the witch said when she threatened my pregnancy–we both know she prophesied that the next Lycan Heir is a boy. And while I don’t trust the vast majority of what she said, I don’t understand why she’d lie about this. Neither of us says anything to the Lycan Queen just yet, though.“That information won’t be discernible until usually around the eighteen to twenty-two week window,” Doctor Danbury explains. “Seeing as the baby’s internal organs are still being developed.” “Alright,” the queen muses. “Twelve weeks–w
Ivy’s POV“What about Delilah?” The Lycan Queen’s tremulous, panicked voice fills the room. Her lower lip is trembling, and her eyes are wide with shock and disbelief. Both Doctor Danbury and her assistant Loretta seem profoundly uncomfortable with the drama and chaos unfolding in front of them, but neither of them quite seem to know how to leave, either. I want to leave, too. I’m just about fed up with the queen’s endless entitlement and futile attempts at control. But as Spencer slips the engagement ring into my finger, I’m forced to reckon with the fact that since this is the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, that means spending the rest of my life with his family, too. Spencer gets up off the ground and brushes his pants off before taking a seat on the corner of my bed. He gives Colin a pointed look, clearly prompting him to explain the new situation. Colin clears his throat. “I–um.” He looks away, uncomfortable and nervous. But Delilah reaches over and takes h
Spencer’s POVIn the days following the final battle against Elder Jet and his forces, things have finally returned to some semblance of normal. The official coronation still hasn’t happened yet–that will take place following my wedding to Ivy, which is only two days away now. But the entire Lycan Kingdom recognizes my role as king following my father’s demise, and no one would dare challenge me on my newfound authority. We’ll be holding a service for him, too, as a part of the coronation. His loss will be felt by the entire Lycan Kingdom, to be sure. My father was a good and just king. But we can’t spend the rest of our time wallowing in his absence. Not when there’s so much that needs to be done now. As the gorgeous hues of a vibrant sunset bleed through my office’s window, I shuffle through the stack of papers and reports on my desk. They’ve all been faxed over from Beta Wilson, who, in the days following the battle against Elder Jet, has been travelling to werewolf packs all o
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