MOLLYKane didn't bother to use his words anymore. The second I heard the cock of the rifle, I stopped hesitating and fully stepped out.My head was blank as I gently closed the cupboard behind me. I looked ahead at Kane, my heart in my throat. He had his rifle pointed at me and there was something in his eyes that broke my heart. Hurt. Betrayal. My eyes watered at the sight of him.I wanted to say something, anything but I feared that I would say the wrong thing. What could I even say at a moment like this? We stayed like that for a while. Kane looked at me as though he was seeing me for the first time and he couldn't understand what he was seeing. I wracked my brain for what to say and how to say it. How do I spare myself from his wrath? What do I do to get rid of the hurt and betrayal that was naked in his eyes? The only way was to blackmail him. I decided. I will blackmail him emotionally and spare myself.“Yaz made me do this,” I blurted. It wasn't like I was selling Yaz out
YAZ'S POV As I stepped out of the car, my heart leaped with a triumph I’ve long awaited. I closed my eyes, taking in the moment. Soon, this world—this kingdom—would bend to my will. I could already taste the fear I’ll instill, the respect I’d demand. The reign I’d dreamt of was just within reach.A low chuckle escaped me, and I caught some of the guards throwing puzzled glances my way. Let them wonder. Soon enough, they'd understand. My reign wast some distant dream. It wasn't just within reach—it was a few strokes of ink on a piece of paper away.I spotted the head of my bodyguards approaching with the black leather bag, the one containing the file Molly got for me. My smile widened. I could almost feel the crown on my head. Just a signature, and it would all be mine.“I'll accompany you,” he says, stopping before me, and bowing slightly.I wave him off. “No need,” I told him with a grin. “Today, I want to do this on my own.” I yook the bag from him. I turned and headed for the pa
COLE'S POVI had barely sunk into the couch in my chambers when I heard a knock at the door.I closed my eyes, exhaling heavily. Can’t I get a moment of peace? Of solitude?The knock came again, sharper this time. Urgent.“What do you want?" I snapped, my patience hanging by a thread. I silently hoped it wasn’t Yaz. He’d walked past me earlier, saying nonsense like the fool he was, likely still drunk from his nights out.“It’s me," a voice replied.For a moment, I frowned, rubbing my temples. The voice was familiar, but with all the Alpha duties mother had been drilling into my head, I couldn’t place it immediately.“Alpha? May I come in?”Then it clicked. I bolted upright and walked to the door, pulling it open to reveal my most trusted spy. He was drenched in sweat, his breath labored as if he’d just escaped death itself.I gestured for him to enter, glancing down the hallway to ensure we were alone. "What's happened now?" I asked "Who’s trying to kill who this time?"“It’s Yaz,”
COLE'S POVHours had passed since my confrontation with Yaz. After leaving his chambers, I’d gone to the only place that usually brought me peace, if only for a moment. But even my canvas, with its half-finished painting and the silent muse posing nude before me, did nothing to calm my nerves. My hand trembled as I attempted to paint, the brush slipping and ruining the curve of her figure.Frustration flared inside me. For the first time, not even the strokes of my brush could ease the uneasy feeling inside me. The documents, the mounting danger, Yaz's threats - it was all too much. I tossed the brush aside and stormed out, knowing that painting wouldn't solve this problem. Not today.I needed a distraction, something to take my mind off the chaos that Yaz had unleashed. Perhaps burying myself in the pack's endless reports would clear my head. But as I walked back to my chambers, the sight of smoke rising in the distance made my heart race. I quickened my pace. “What’s happening?” I
COLE'S POVI had made my decision. There was no going back now.I walked through the palace gates. I knew Yaz would be there, waiting, savoring every moment of his so-called victory. He always relished the chance to gloat, to twist the knife even deeper.And there he was, standing in the middle of the throne room like he owned it already, feet spread apart and with a gun in his hand. His smile was as vile as ever.“Ah, the Alpha graces us with his presence,” Yaz sneered, rubbing his thumb along the metal of the gun. “Here to hand over your title, or here to die trying to keep it?”“Cole, no!” A voice cut through the tension.I turned sharply, my heart freezing in my chest. My mother knelt to the side, her hands bound behind her back. Bruises covered her swollen face, and the whip marks across her arms and legs turned my stomach. Her torn dress and disheveled hair, streaked with dirt and leaves, told the story of how they’d dragged her here, how they’d broken her. Pain gripped my ches
COLE'S POVIt was madness. It was a suffocating whirlwind of chaos. Every day, it felt like the pack was sinking further into the depths of hell, loyal or not, all of us were trapped under Yaz’s tyranny.Yaz had become a monster. A tyrant in every sense of the word. He killed without hesitation, and each day, new rules were former. Cruel rules. He had turned everyone into slaves. Pack members' homes were ransacked, their food hoarded for himself. The only ones who ate were those who bowed before him and slaved to meet his impossible standards.The sight of children, once full of life, now dragging their small bodies through hard labor broke me. Their tiny hands once meant for books and laughter now cracked and bruised from the work that had been forced upon them just so their families could survive. How could anyone be this cruel? Even the young were not spared his wrath.I had anticipated a reign of terror, but never like this. Not even in my darkest thoughts had I imagined he woul
YAZ'S POVI stood before them like a supervisor surveying his disciples. They were a sea of cowards trembling at my mere presence. Their heads bowed, their bodies rigid with fear. The power I felt in that moment surged through me like a drug, intoxicating, overwhelming. They feared me, and rightfully so. The scent of their fear was more potent than the blood spilled at my command, and I reveled in it."Raise your heads," I commanded. A few flinched, but they obeyed. Slowly, one by one, their heads lifted. Eyes still averted, they dared not meet my gaze. Weaklings. That’s what they had become under the pathetic rule of Kylian and Cole. Their reign had bred softness. The Moon Goddess. I sneered at the thought. A lie they clung to. The moon goddess was a fairy tale to they used comfort themselves in their pathetic existence. But I? I was no myth. I was here, real and strong. I was the only god they would ever need."You’ve been lied to your entire lives," I began, pacing slowly before
OSCAR'S POVI could still smell the blood on my hands—thick and suffocating. It wasn’t the familiar blood of animals I’d butchered to feed the royal family, nor was it my own. No, it was the blood of others. The innocent ones. The ones I had tried—and failed—to save alongside the healers. The blood of those whose lives slipped through my fingers with their dying breaths haunting me. I had to get out. I couldn’t stay in a kingdom where lives meant so little, where we were butchered like animals. If I stayed any longer, I knew it would be my turn next. There was no escaping that reality.The tall trees stretched high into the sky. The forest was familiar, like the back of my hand, but tonight, it felt more like a cage. I had been running for hours, leaving behind the kingdom that had become my prison.My lungs burned. Every breath was a painful rasp as I forced my legs to keep moving. I couldn’t afford to stop. Not even for a moment. If I did, they’d find me. They always did. The Alpha