Mag-log inVioletMy legs felt like jelly with every step I took toward the front. I almost felt sorry for myself. I had stood in front of the royal council once, staring at all those faces that were much colder than these people I called family. But back then I had been a nobody.Just a royal mate…This was different. Every person watching me had decided I was going to save them, and that burden was much heavier to carry.I finally stopped walking and immediately wished I hadn’t, because now I could clearly see everyone looking at me. Kylan most of all. His eyes hadn’t left me once since they found me.“Uhh…” I started, immediately hating the way I sounded. My hands trembled a little as I looked down at the three sheets I was holding, and I pulled in a deep breath.I couldn’t help but think about the promise I had made to myself in that hut. About the daughter who was supposed to be able to do the impossible too.That’s why I lifted my head. “Okay,” I breathed out. I cleared my throat and made
VioletI sat on the cold floor of mom and dad’s hut and had been sitting there for hours now.I didn’t know how many, but it felt like forever. It was long enough that my legs had gone stiff underneath me. I had hoped a plan would just come to me, or maybe if I’d stayed quiet enough and looked at the ceiling, the answer might drop into my lap.The pressure was so suffocating, my mind had gone completely numb from it. There was this emptiness, and the harder I pushed, the worse it got.“Please,” I whispered to no one in particular. “Just help me. Please…”My eyes drifted over the scraps of paper spread out on the floor around me. It was two words, three words, and then nothing. Everything had been crossed out. It was like a math problem that needed solving, only I was actually good at math.Every now and then, before I could make things worse for myself, I’d get up from the floor and pace around. The time had come again.I paced around the hut, fidgeting with my hands as deep breaths l
VioletAs soon as I opened my eyes, I pressed a hand to my chest and gasped for air. It felt like I had been underwater, even though it had only been my own mind.My breathing calmed as I looked into a pair of brown eyes. Kylan was still sitting in front of me, quietly watching. “Wait. Just give me a second.” I lifted a finger.He gave a slight tilt of his head, waiting patiently.“I don’t know if it’s my own mind that made me feel so lightheaded,” I complained, pressing my palm to the side of my head. “Or the conversation I just had with Lumia.”A quiet hum escaped him. I squinted at him, expecting him to say something back. Perhaps a complaint about the equally stubborn Valerius. He didn’t. I noticed he had already been sitting there by the time I opened my eyes.“I’m guessing yours didn’t go so well,” I decided for myself. “We already expected this, of course. That’s why you’re not surprised.”He pressed his lips together, shaking his head as a single brow lifted. Then a sheepish c
VioletThis time it happened rather fast. One second I closed my eyes, and the next I found myself in that in-between place again. Inside my own head.I looked down at my hands, opening and closing my palms as I got used to the feeling again. Then a weak howl came from somewhere ahead, and I finally lifted my head.It was Lumia. Who else? It could only be her. She lay stretched out on the ground, her tail flicking like she wanted the attention. Her head was turned away from me like I wasn’t worth the effort at the moment.Despite her act, she looked really calm. Too calm for my liking, considering everything that was going on.‘Lumia?’This time she responded with a bored purr. A sympathetic smile reached my lips, and I reached out for her dark fur. Then I came back to my senses and pulled my hand back.I took a deep breath, taking a few steps toward her instead. ‘You’ve heard, then,’ I said. ‘About all of it?’ A small laugh slipped out of me.‘Of course you’ve heard,’ I muttered to m
VioletI just stood there, blinking while hoping I had misheard him. Who wanted an apology from whom?An apology from our wolves?My head instantly turned to look at Kylan, and he did the same. It was one of those looks where we both just knew how ridiculous all of this was without having to exchange a single word.The mighty Baelor, the cruel self-proclaimed God of the underworld, wanted an apology. I suppose Kylan most likely repeated the same nonsense inside his head because a chuckle slipped out of him.I felt one bubble up in me too, and chuckled right back at him. Then neither of us could hold it in, and we burst into full laughter.“You’re a funny one,” Kylan told Varius. “I knew there had to be a sense of humor buried somewhere in there.”I let out another short laugh, wiping my eyes for a second. But when my eyes locked on Varius’s again, it had become obvious that he wasn’t laughing. He hadn’t even cracked a smile.He just stood there, patiently waiting for us to finish. Tha
VioletMy eyes darted back and forth between them.I could either go with Aelius and start building the plan I didn’t have or go with Varius and watch over Kylan while he faced Baelor again for the first time.Both of them were important to me, but I could only do one, and I couldn’t do the other at the moment.“Well?” Aelius pressed.“Well…”The words wouldn’t leave my mouth because I already knew my answer. To be honest, I’d known from the moment I was asked, and now all I could do was hope he would understand why.My throat had gone dry. I swallowed, but it went down wrong, sending me into a coughing fit. A chuckle escaped Kylan as he gave me a few pats on the back.Aelius watching me the whole time didn’t make the situation any better. A barely visible frown appeared on his face. “So you have made your decision,” he said. “I see.”His eyes weren’t angry. There wasn’t even disappointment in them. It was more the look of someone who had already seen it coming and wasn’t too surprise







