*** Ariana’s POV
The crisp morning air carried a sharp bite as I tightened the laces on my sneakers, steeling myself for the run ahead. My usual pre-run peace was disrupted by the sight of my guards waiting near the tree line. Mika, Jake, and Jorge? That was a new mixup. They looked casual, but something about their body language felt… different.
Mika stepped forward as I approached. “Good morning, Lady Miria,” he greeted, his tone warm but measured.
“Morning,” I replied, nodding towards Jake and Jorge. “Mixing it up today? What’s the occasion?”
“Master Oren’s orders,” Mika said smoothly. “He wants us to get used to working together more fluidly. Changing up the routin
*** Ariana’s POVDinner was a lost cause.Despite the ache in my muscles and the hunger gnawing at my stomach after training, I could barely eat. Every time I lifted my fork, I felt his gaze on me, subtle yet heavy. Draven didn’t say a word, but his presence in the dining hall was enough to leave me unsettled. Or maybe it wasn’t him at all, but my own foolish heart.It had been just over a day since the near-kiss, yet the memory of it lingered like a fire too stubborn to extinguish.I finally gave up, abandoning my plate with barely a dent in its contents, and slipped quietly from the dining hall. If Draven’s eyes followed me on the way out, I didn’t dare look back to confirm it.The
*** Draven’s POVThe crisp night air bit at my skin as I prowled along the pack's border, the rhythmic pounding of my boots against the frozen earth doing little to drown out the chaos in my head. My patrol tonight wasn’t necessary—my warriors had the border secured—but Kronos was restless, his snarling demands echoing through my mind.Go to her. His voice was a growl, insistent and sharp. She’s ours.I clenched my fists, forcing the wolf back. No. Not tonight.I’d already made a fool of myself earlier at dinner, watching her like some lovesick pup while she pointedly ignored me. Miria sat at the farthest table, her head bent low over her plate as if her food was the most captivating thing in the world. She didn’t even spare me a glance when she left, he
*** Ariana POVThe cool forest air bit at my cheeks as I adjusted the straps of my training gear, my boots crunching softly on the carpet of leaves beneath me. Three days had passed since the fire, and though my lungs no longer ached with every breath, the faint scent of smoke still clung to my memory, as if it had seeped into my very bones.Everything had felt off since that night. The packhouse had been cleared, and most had returned to their quarters, but the alpha floor remained sealed off for repairs. I’d spent the past few nights at Draven’s personal residence—a luxurious and unnervingly quiet space—but I wasn’t even sure where Draven himself had been staying.Not that it mattered. Distance was exactly what I needed.I avoided him at meals, preferring the relative calm of the hospital where I busied myself tinkering with herb-based protocols for Dr. Alexander to experiment with. It was safer this way—for both of us. My feelings were a tangled mess of confusion and something dan
*** Ariana’s POVThe forest was a silent accomplice, the air chilling my skin as Mika’s lifeless body lay crumpled on the ground. His blood seeped into the earth, pooling in a way that made my stomach turn. My breaths were shallow, hitching with the weight of realization.“Ariana.”The voice cut through the silence like a blade, my name sounding sing-songy.I froze. That name—my name.Not Miria.Oren stepped out of the shadows, his smirk chilling and predatory. A large revolver swung casually at his side—a sharp, acrid, smoky smell rolling on the light breeze my way from the still hot barrel.
*** Draven’s POVI couldn’t take it anymore.Three days had passed since the fire, and every one of those days felt like an eternity. I’d told myself to give her space as it seemed obvious she wanted some.This morning, I gave in.Crossing the threshold of my home, I let her scent wash over me like a balm. The smell of Miria in my home was enough for me to drop fang.Feeling my mating fangs slide against my tongue, I almost turned right back around, suddenly fearful that Kronos might pounce the instant we saw her.Kronos purred in satisfaction, she’s ours.“Down boy, or we’re leaving,” I warned Kronos who reluctantly retracted our fangs after a lengthy internal struggle.The guest room was the only bedroom on the first floor and had been appointed as Maria’s room so the medical team could have easier access to her for treatments. Heading that way, I could see her door slightly ajar. The bed was made, the room neat and tidy, but it was empty.I closed my eyes, reaching out through the
*** Draven’s POVThe southern border was chaotic.I could see the telltale shimmer of magic distorting the air even before I reached the clearing, like ripples on a still pond disrupted by an unseen force. As I crested the ridge overlooking the chasm, the faint hum of power tingled against my skin—a sensation I hadn’t felt in years. Portals.“Status?” I barked through the mindlink, directing my question to Simon.“Portals keep opening and closing over the chasm,” Simon responded. “Nothing’s come through yet. It feels… off.”Off didn’t even begin to describe it. I leaped onto the ridge that overlooked the natural barrier—a deep, winding chasm carved by the river below. The sound of rushing water echoed faintly, blending with the eerie silence of the night.Portals shimmered sporadically across the gap, their deep blue hues lighting up the darkness in short bursts. They opened and closed, almost rhythmically, as though someone was toying with us.“Anything on the other fronts?” I asked
*** Ariana’s POV“This is just the beginning, Ariana,” Jake said, his voice low and menacing. “By the time we’re done, you’ll wish you’d stayed dead.”“Now, now, Jake,” Oren cooed… “He does want her alive-ish and she’s not a great healer”.“What he wants with a piece of beta bait, is beyond me”, Jake spewed hatefully, mocking me as a worthless female unable to attract a ranked mate.Oren’s warning seemed to register in some way with Jake as he at least lowered me enough for my feet to catch the ground. “We need to get out of here now,” Jake said, turning to Oren. Jake's grip on my throat forced me to face him and I couldn’t see what oren was doing behind me… but I could hear it and feel it.“Aethel, Aethel, late pateat, nunc resideat porta,” holy hell, Oren’s a halfbreed! I could feel the air around us getting colder as Oren repeated the chant a second and third time.The cold was gradually replaced by a tingling, electric feel… something like static electricity building.I’m not su
*** Ariana’s POVMy world spun as adrenaline coursed through me, but I had enough presence of mind to scoot away from the pained, gurgling sounds coming from what could only be Jake. The noise was grotesque, wet and hollow, punctuated by the occasional shallow wheeze.He lay about fifteen feet away, his face contorted in silent agony. The cuffs that had dangled from his chin earlier were gone, but one of his legs was missing—severed not so cleanly, the gruesome stump bleeding profusely.The missing limb wasn’t far. It rested, disturbingly intact, in the massive jaws of a wolf—a wolf so enormous it defied belief.It didn’t take much to recognize him. Kronos.Draven’s wolf.A shudder ripped through me, half from relief and half from disbelief. My mind struggled to process what I was seeing.Why was Kronos here?Draven had gone to such extremes to have me “handled.” Mika had died protecting me. Oren had killed packmates to cover their tracks. And now, Kronos was here, tearing through war
*** Ariana's POVThe corridor outside Ariana’s room felt eerily silent as Cirian stopped at her door. For once, his expression was less predatory and more... calculated. His words during lunch still lingered in her mind, sharp and bitter as the wine she hadn’t touched. He tilted his head slightly, watching her as if trying to decipher her thoughts.“I trust you found the meal to your liking?” he asked smoothly, his tone deceptively casual.Ariana crossed her arms, leaning lightly against the doorframe. “It’s strange,” she said, forcing calm into her voice, “to have such a fine meal in a place that’s so drenched in blood.”Cirian smirked, unbothered. “Ah, but doesn’t blood fertilize the richest soil? Makes everything... thrive.” He stepped back, gesturing toward the door with a flourish. “Rest, my dear. Tonight promises to be enlightening.”Without waiting for her response, he turned and strode down the hall, leaving Ariana staring after him. Enlightening, he’d said. Everything with hi
*** Draven’s POVMiria.The scent of antiseptic stings my nose first, followed by the sterile coldness of the room. The steady beeping of machines grates against my senses. My body feels heavy, my limbs slow to respond, but the fire in my chest is all too real.Miria.Kronos stirs inside me, a restless, prowling presence. His growl echoes in my mind, a single word cutting through the haze.Miria.I lurch upward, my vision blurring as the room spins. The last thing I remember is the forest—the gunshot, her scream, the way the light caught in her eyes.Mate.
*** Ariana’s POVThe hospital café feels incomplete, much like everything else around here. Half the walls are unpainted drywall, their seams taped but not yet sanded. A few tables are scattered around the space, mismatched chairs filling in the gaps. Exposed beams stretch across the ceiling, reminding me of how exposed I feel sitting across from Cirian. Cirian sits across from me at one of the few functional tables, his coffee steaming in his hands. The sharp scent of fresh paint and sawdust hangs faintly in the air, almost masking the herbal notes of my tea.A waiter sets down a small plate of biscuits between us, offering a polite nod before retreating to the far side of the café. We’re mostly alone here, the quiet punctuated only by the occasional sound of construction—hammering, a power drill whining, muffled voices echoing down the halls.The setting is intimate, leaving me nowhere to hide. I lift my tea to my lips, the heat brushing my face, and take a slow sip, buying myself
*** Ariana’s POV…extermination of rogues.A feeling of deja vú settles over me.I can hear the same phrase being repeated in my head but it’s in my father’s voice.I have the sensation of being younger, the days when I would sit on his lap while he worked in the office.Bad actors.Was my father a bad actor?Cirian moves us along, showing me more—the beginnings of a school, a workshop bustling with activity, a communal space where wolves share food and laughter.“This isn’t just a home for rogues,” he says, gesturing to the buildings. “It’s a chance for
*** Ariana’s POVStepping out of the packhouse behind Cirian, I’m greeted by a crisp breeze that carries the sharp scent of pine. We must be farther north than Draven’s pack.Cirian glances back, his steps slowing. “Shall we?” he asks, extending a hand.I don’t take it, but I follow him. That’s answer enough.Despite my best intention to stay calm and civil, the cold bite in the air feels like an apt comparison to my mood.Waking up to Cirian sitting at the end of my bed and chit-chatting at me through the bathroom door while I was changing still has me off-kilter.Thank the Goddess I had swapped out the nightclothes Elara had chosen for me before going to bed.The ground crunches softly beneath our boots as we walk, the wide path leading deeper into the settlement. Ahead, buildings come into view—rows of them, neat but unpolished. Their wooden frames look sturdy, their construction deliberate. Wolves move between them, talking in quiet tones, some carrying supplies, others watching
*** Ariana’s POVElara’s words cling to the air, heavy and wrong, like the echo of a song sung off-key.“I can’t wait to see him again,” she says, her voice soft and distant. The smile on her lips is as fragile as the flame flickering in the hearth, but her eyes… her eyes are the real betrayal. There’s nothing behind them but static.I shift my weight, the creak of the wooden floor grounding me against the surreal tilt of the moment. “When was the last time you talked to James?” I ask, keeping my tone light, almost casual.Elara’s hands, busy smoothing invisible wrinkles from her dress, falter. She blinks, her expression flickering with something—confusion? Uncertainty? “Right before he left,” she says after a pause, the vagueness in her voice like a half-formed thought.The answer settles into my chest like ice water. There’s no time stamp on that comment, nothing specific to anchor it. I know James has been dead for over a month.“And Cirian,” I say slowly, tilting my head as if the
*** Ariana’s POVThe door clicks shut behind me, and I turn automatically, scanning for a lock. My fingers skim the edges of the wood, searching the smooth surface in vain. Nothing. Not even a latch to bar the door from the inside.I exhale in irritation, stepping back to take in the room, my gaze darting from the chest against the far wall to the chair near the fire. Both seem flimsy options to block the door, but I’m already calculating how much noise they’d make if someone tried to come in uninvited.At least I’d have a warning.Pivoting quickly, my breath catches—no, halts altogether. There’s someone sitting on the edge of the bed.“Elara?” I blurt, my voice sharp as I take a reflexive step back. “What the hell?”The woman perched before me doesn’t flinch, her head tilting slightly as if I were the intruder.“Miss Ariana,” she says softly, her lips curling into a small, fragile smile. It’s disarming, but only because it doesn’t erase the dark circles under her eyes or the hollows i
*** Ariana’s POVCirian leans back in his chair, fingers tracing the rim of his wine glass. The soft candlelight flickers across his face, sharpening the angles of his jawline and casting shadows under his eyes.“You know,” he says, a faint smile tugging at his lips, “the first time I saw you, I thought you were going to kill a man.”I blink at him, startled by the statement. My fork hovers over the plate as I meet his gaze. “What?”His smile lingers for a moment, but there’s something wistful in his expression. “It was outside your pack’s border. I’d been tracking a rogue, hoping to bring him into my fold, but I lost him in the woods.”The fi
*** Ariana’s POVThe candlelight flickers softly across the table, its warm glow catching on the edges of the dark wood. The food smells incredible—roasted meat, buttery vegetables, and a faint hint of herbs I can’t place—but I can’t bring myself to eat.Cirian seems perfectly at ease, enjoying his stake like it’s Sunday dinner with the family. His glass of wine sits untouched beside him, though he glances at it occasionally as if debating whether to take a sip.“You’ve changed,” he says suddenly, breaking the silence.I glance up sharply, my fork still hovering over my plate. “Have I?”He smiles faintly, setting his knife down. “Yes. You carry yourself differently now—more confident. More… focused.”The compliment feels like a trap, and I carefully lower my fork back to the plate. “Life has a way of doing that to people.”