Evans’ POVAs I staggered out into the chilly night, the temple doors burst open behind me, pushed apart by the weight of invisible powers. My legs shook under me, my vision became blurry, and my lungs heaved. The sign was deeply engraved into my skin, and the relic's mark still burned against my palm, throbbing with an unsettling brightness. It was more than a brand. It was a claim. A curse. I wasn't prepared to face this reality. As the world tilted, I grounded myself by pressing a hand against the rough stone wall. My mind was **a storm,** whirling wildly within my skull. The **war,** the **betrayal,** and the **burning of kingdoms** that the relic had shown me were more than just flashbacks. **They were cautions. ** Like spectral tendrils, the whispers curled into my ears as they **slithered** through the trees after I left. * "Selene..." * I froze. A breeze that shouldn't have existed wafted the name across the temple ruins. The air was heavy with something in
Evans’ POV Garrick's words stung like poison in my ears. * "I know how to manage your power." * There was a trap. It was inevitable. But my wolf **whimper** and my mark **throbbed** told me that he wasn't lying in some way. The Nightclaw fighters surrounding me tensed up, their weapons clenched, poised to attack. In a veiled warning that he would **not** put up with an attack, the Alpha's eyes sharpened and his posture changed slightly. But Garrick had no intention of fighting. What he desired. Sharp eyes sparkled with amusement, and his lips twisted into a knowing sneer. "I can see the doubt in your eyes, Selene," he said in a silky deep voice. "You don’t trust me, but you’re starting to wonder, aren’t you?" I didn't respond. Like a predator **stalking its prey**, he approached slowly and deliberately. "Have you not sensed it? Your blood's pull. The power within you is becoming more powerful and uncontrollable," he added. "But you still don't get it. You are
Evans’ POVAs Garrick's words slithered into my head, it felt like the world around me shrank. "Do you want to see the truth, Evans?" No. I didn't. However, my silence was sufficient. Taking a step closer, Garrick grinned and said, "Too close, too suffocating." His angular features were rendered even more menacing by the deep shadows cast across his face by the flickering torches around the temple walls. He tilted his head and pondered, "You hesitate," perhaps. "Afraid of what you might find?" My nails were digging into my palms as I balled my fists. "I don’t trust you." "Good." He grinned more broadly. "That means you’re learning." No one dared to move, yet the Nightclaw warriors stood tense, their weapons still out. The quiet warning from the Nightclaw Alpha's eyes was directed directly at me. Avoid doing this. However, I felt a need to know the truth that I was unable to articulate. I swallowed hard and glanced back at Garrick. "If you try anything—"
Kieran’s POV The temple was oppressively tense. The old stone walls were covered in lengthy, shaky shadows as the candles' light wavered violently. Evans—Selene—stood in the middle, her fists locked at her sides, her breathing erratic. The aftershock of whatever had just occurred was still affecting me. My wolf was prowling anxiously beneath the surface of my skin, tingling from the force that had burst between us when I touched her. I was uneasy about more than just the power, though. It was her. She had something hidden.She had avoided staring at me ever since she awoke from that blinding vision. Her eyes were far away and her jaw was clenched, as if she were ensnared in a conflict I couldn't see. And whatever she had seen in that vision had changed her, I knew that much. I moved forward a step. "What did you see, Evans?" She didn't respond right away. With a sigh, she turned slightly and looked around the temple walls as though looking for a way out. At las
Evans’ POVThe tension-filled air pressed down on me like a crushing burden. The Nightclaw stronghold's stone hallways seemed smaller than before, with the walls closing in on me as I moved. Even though my heart was pounding in my ears, I made myself keep my shoulders level and my resolve unwavering. Kieran was unable to comprehendHe would never. I could sense him standing behind me, his intense stare piercing my back like a flaming flame. I knew better, but his steps were heavy, deliberate, controlled. Right now, Kieran is under control. "Evans." His voice broke the uncomfortable quiet between us with a sharp tone.I ignored him and kept walking. "Evans, stop." His hand shot out, gripping my wrist before I could get any farther. A spark of something hot surged through my veins at the contact—power, or rage, or something far more dangerous. I turned to face him after tearing my hand free. I yelled, "What?" As Kieran moved closer, his tall figure cast a shadow ove
Evans’ POVThe Nightclaw temple was filled with incense smoke, which coiled about the darkened room in spectral tendrils. Flames flew furiously from the ceremonial torches, casting shadows against the stone walls. With their faces concealed by dark hoods and their deep chanting echoing in my bones, the elders formed a perfect circle. I stood in the middle of it all, my heart thumping in my chest. That was it. The ritual that would decide whether I was a fraud or the Lunar Queen reborn was the Ritual of the Nightclaw. The Nightclaw Alpha had stated that; *you had to take the test. The reality will only become apparent when you confront yourself.* As a matter of fact, I was not prepared. My eyes darted through the strange room as I tried to fathom the event that clouded me, struggling to pull off from the cuff that tied my wrist. “I am not ready for this.” All the words fell on deaf ears, every movement still on the chant they resonated.My eyes filled with tears streaming
Kieran’s POVIt was too quiet. There would be a storm. It's one of blood and war instead of wind and rain. Gazing into the dense treeline that encircled us, I stood at the edge of the Nightclaw camp. Something felt wrong beneath the smell of damp earth and pine that filled my lungs. Beneath my skin, my wolf shifted uneasily, growling in warning. *An event is imminent.* Evans— or Selene, as they now called her— I was still unconscious from the rite when I turned to face the temple. She had fallen, her breath shallow, her body soaked with perspiration, and the Nightclaw elders had brought her inside. She was evolving. Before I left Darkmoon, Briony had told me that Evans' awakening may be dangerous, not only for her, but for everyone around her. For the preternatural world. The burden of that warning now weighed heavily on my shoulders as I gazed out into the limitless forest in front of me. Garrick had stated, "We should move her," prior to my leaving him in the main wa
Evans’ POvLike a second skin, darkness clung to me. My limbs dug into the chilly stone below me, and my body felt heavy. My lungs burned as if I had been drowning, and I gasped for air. The air was thick with the smell of smoke, blood, and something foul, and it covered my throat. Upon opening my eyes, I saw that the world was in ruin. I was shattered the Nightclaw stronghold, the place that had taken me in, that had called me by a name I could hardly comprehend. The bodies of warriors who had once stood tall and uncompromising now nothing more than lifeless husks were strewn all over the temple grounds. Dark and motionless, as if the land itself had been mortally wounded, blood pooled between the cracks of the stone. With my head spinning, I pushed myself to my feet. The ritual and the excruciating pain I felt after the relic burned its mark into my palm were the last things I remembered. Then there were the murmurs. The visions. *You weren't supposed to live.* I wishe
Evans’ POV Even though the woodland was quiet once more, the storm inside of me continued to rage. My body buzzed with the lingering strength that wasn't really mine even after th scuffle was over and the Eclipse warriors had fled like shadows slipping through night crevices. I didn't know if it had ever existed. The heat that was still seething beneath my skin was not much relieved by the chilly night air. I had to fight every breath I took to suppress the energy, act as though nothing had changed, and ignore the fact that my wrist was still burning. However, I was aware that I wasn't the only one that noticed. Kieran was keeping an eye on me. His eyes, like twin shards of ice, had been fixed on me since the end of the battle, penetrating the darkness. It weighed heavily on my back, and I could feel the tension between us churning with unanswered questions. Focusing on the firm weight in my hand, I strengthened my hold on my dagger. I'll do anything to get grounde
Evans’ POVIt was too quiet at night. Silence was a predator that lurked just before turmoil broke out, but I had learned to trust it. The smell of pine and damp earth filled the air, but there was something more there as well. A hint of deterioration. A caution. Every muscle in my body tensed like a spring as I gripped my daggers tighter. The others gathered around me, anxious, anticipating. The warriors of Eclipse were near. I sensed it—a weight against my flesh, an invisible force scuttling through my bloodstream. A glimmer of motion. In between the woods, a shadow passed my vision. I whispered, just loud enough for the warriors beside me to hear, "Remain vigilant." I heard knives unsheathing with a gentle click. A few feet away, Kieran's presence served as a reassuring anchor despite the stress from our previous conflict at his room. However, I was unable to consider that at this time. A sigh. A change in the atmosphere. Then….A haze of movement. The ini
Evans' POVI could sense a problem as soon as I entered Kieran's quarters. He was standing by the fireplace, the walls framed by sharp shadows from the flames. He had his back to me, his fists clenched, his shoulders tense. The tense atmosphere in the room was oppressive. I gulped the lump that had formed in my throat, hoping my heart would calm down. With caution, I whispered, "Kieran," scarcely raising my voice above a whisper. He didn't look around. His eyes still blazed to the outskirt of his room. There was a dense, oppressive silence between us. I stepped closer, but his voice sliced through the silence like a sword before I could get close. "For what length of time were you going to conceal this from me?" I went cold. He spoke in a tone that was worse than anger. It was tinged with pain, treachery, and an untamed, raw quality that was hidden beneath the surface. I took a swallow. "What did I keep from you?" He laughed sharply and without humor. "Evans,
Evans PovTension permeated the war chamber's atmosphere. The weight of the revelation seemed to descend upon us like an unbreakable storm cloud, and the walls, adorned with faded banners and old maps, appeared to close in. Standing in the middle, Lucien's glittering eyes were piercing with power. Even though he was always an imposing presence, there was something about his posture today that seemed different—tense, cautious, as though even he wasn't sure how to say the words that would make all the difference. Briony's face next him was unreadable. She had always been hard to figure out, a lady who kept secrets like weapons and was selective about when and how to reveal them.They had both decided to share one of the most deadly realities of all tonight. With a calm but foreboding tone, Lucien started, "The return of the Eclipse King is not merely a possibility." "It is unavoidable." I tightened my jaw. "And what does that mean exactly?" Briony remarked, her emerald ey
Evans povThe night was restless and long. The cool air cooled my perspiration as I sat by the open window with my fingers locked around the material of my cloak. Shadows flashed and danced like ghosts of the past as the moon's silver light spilled across the wooden floor. Or perhaps future ghosts. The mark that connected me to Draven was still there on my wrist, a dull, pulsating warmth. I could have ignored it at first because it had started off as a whisper of heat. However, it now burnt like a brand, telling me that I was selected by fate with each heartbeat. Fate. That was a word I detested. I had fought my entire life against the expectations of who I should be and what other people wanted me to be. Yet here I was once more, imprisoned by an unseen force from which I was powerless to free myself. I wouldn't give up, though. I had made up my mind. Kieran. Love, devotion, and guilt were among the feelings that rushed through me at the mere mention of his n
Evans’ POV Prophecy weighed me down like a noose, getting tighter every second. It was evident in the way Kieran's gaze pierced me, probing, asking, and requesting something I was unable to provide. The revelation had broken him, and the stillness that followed was more agonising than any charges that were yelled. With the fire in the hearth flickering wildly as though it, too, could sense the storm building inside Kieran, the room was filled with the smell of cold iron and burning wood. He had his arms folded across his chest, his broad shoulders rigid, and his palms so firmly clenched that I thought I could hear the slight crack of his bones under strain.At last, he muttered, "You don't believe this," in a low, controlled voice that had a hint of desperation and sharpness beneath the surface. I took a deep breath. I was unwilling to accept it. Even though the name Draven seemed like poison to me, his presence had become entrenched in my thoughts, fantasies, and sense of self. I
Kieran’s POV The battlefield was a graveyard of silence. The Eclipse warriors had vanished as if they had never been there, leaving only the scent of blood and death in the air. My chest heaved as I struggled to regain control over my body, my limbs still weak from whatever power Draven—the Eclipse King—had been used against me. But it wasn’t the pain that burned through me the most. It were his words. *You were never meant to be her mate.* *She belongs to me.* Every word from Draven dropping as though I was a baby without any words.With anger burning through me like wildfire, my hands balled into fists. That someone had the audacity to claim Evans still made my wolf growl in defiance. My friend. Except... I looked over at her. She was still there. She was motionless as she gazed at the location where Draven had vanished. The odd glow of the symbol on her wrist was still there, pulsing. I could see how her breath caught in irregular gasps and how her fingers trembled be
Evans’ POVLike a death omen, the smell of blood and burning permeated the air. Far away, screams rang out, a clamor of anger, suffering, and conflict. I was in the center of it all, my body throbbing with energy I had never really released before, my pulse thumping in my ears. The battlefield was filled with the clash of steel and the snarls of nightclaw warriors as they engaged the intruders. This time, there were more members of the Eclipse Coven, and they moved and attacked with precision. Their purpose was to take me, not to destroy. I wouldn't allow it. With his claws shining in the moonlight and his teeth exposed, a rogue sprang at me. Before I could think, instinct took over and my body moved. His claws just missed my throat as I sank low, feeling the rush of air. I spun and rammed my palm into his chest with a burst of sheer power. My contact sent him flying backwards like a shockwave. His body went limp as he hit the ground with a terrible snap. I stared at my h
Kieran’s POV As I paced outside the Nightclaw council chamber, the air was heavy with the smell of moist ground and burning wood. Within, the elders discussed the outcome of Evans' trial in quiet tones, which were a mixture of fear and respect. I balled my fists. Beneath my flesh, my wolf skulked, restless and uncomfortable. Evans had gone through the sacred ordeal, and I had seen her stumble through images that made her relive her worst nightmares. She had seen me standing over her body at the conclusion of it. When she came out, her mark throbbing on her wrist, her breathing ragged, her eyes locked onto mine. The unspoken words between us had been more powerful than any blade, even yet she had remained silent. Did I really have to betray her? The doors of the chamber creaked open, and the Nightclaw Alpha, Cedric, stepped out first, his face carved from stone. His piercing golden eyes locked onto mine, unreadable. Behind him, Briony and the other elders followed, their exp