Novels by Piper redding

Rya's POVKael's words landed like a second blow, quieter than Aldric's fists had been but somehow worse.I watched him stand there, Aldric's beta, refusing the outcome the Grove itself had already recognized. Around him, Lycan warriors who had watched their king yield began shifting, some uncertain, some already siding with Kael's defiance. I understood, watching his face, that this wasn't ambition. He genuinely believed an Alpha beaten by anything other than raw strength wasn't fit to be followed, and that loyalty meant stepping in where his king had failed.Frost, still bleeding from the fight, straightened beside me anyway. "The terms were binding," he said. "Your king agreed to them before witnesses.""My king is no longer fit to set terms," Kael answered. "I act in his name."I felt the crowd's mood shift, felt how close we were to watching everything we'd just survived collapse into a second war within minutes of the first one ending. Kael had brought enough warriors with him

Rya's POVEver since Frost told the council he meant to challenge Aldric himself, the vision had been creeping back into my sleep, a little sharper each night. At first I told myself it was only the fear talking, the ordinary kind, the kind any mate would feel watching the person they loved walk toward something that could kill him. But fear didn't usually come with this much detail. It didn't usually show me the exact angle Aldric's final blow would land, or the exact moment Frost stopped getting back up. By the third night, I stopped pretending it was nothing.The vision came back the night before the fight, sharper than it had ever been.I was standing in the Sacred Grove again, watching Frost go down under Aldric's weight, watching the moment his strength finally ran out. I woke sweating, gasping, my left hand pressed against m chest while my hand already reaching for him before I was fully conscious, needing to feel that he was still there, still breathing, still warm beside m

Frost's POVFor six nights now, since Rya started coming back to herself, I'd been having the same dream, the same handful of fears on repeat---losing my place as Alpha, losing her again, in some new way I hadn't prepared for, standing in front of the pack with nothing left to offer them. I never told her about any of it those first mornings. Old habit, maybe, or just not wanting to put weight on her while she was still finding her footing again. But six days of waking up with my heart pounding and saying nothing started to feel like exactly the kind of hiding we'd promised each other we were done with.So that morning, I told her about the dream first.We were lying in bed, early morning light just starting to come through the window, and I almost let the moment pass the way I used to. The old instinct was still there—keep it small, don't burden her. But we had promised each other something different now, so I made myself say it out loud."I dreamed I lost the Alpha position," I tol

Rya's POVThe first thing I noticed was the smell. Smoke, spilled wine, and underneath both, blood that hadn't happened yet but somehow already filled the air.I knew where I was before I opened my eyes. I didn't want to look. But the trial didn't care what I wanted, so I opened them anyway.The court. The well lit torches on the walls, the long table, faces I'd known for years — people I'd trusted, people I'd suspected, people I'd never really looked at closely because I'd been too busy surviving. None of them knew yet what was about to happen.Then I saw myself. Younger, colder, wearing the look I remembered from the inside—that sealed-off fury that I had felt, back then, like the most honest thing I had left. I watched her move through the room and I already knew every step, every outcome. I couldn't stop any of it.The trial made me watch closely. I saw a woman who seemed to have a foresight of what was goin to happen before anyone else and tried to run. She didn't make it.I had

Frost's POVWhat manner of monolith!I had heard stories of the Shadowmaw, the accounts of it being a primordial and eldritch presence that had a very pivotal influence on the balance of this earth. Yet none of them had adequately prepared me for the reality of standing in its presence—in the sheer ancientness of it. It occupied space in a way humans could not. Even the very air in the space felt limited, as though the entity itself was my sustenance. It regarded the both of us with something that was not quite an interest or indifference. "And you are not alone..." It spoke out of the shadows, referring to me. I was still searching for it—desperately, scanning the sky just to catch the tiniest glimpse of what it looked like. "But your reason for your sudden arrival concerns only you... not another""No!" I retorted, my voice sharper and fiercer than how it should have been. For a moment, I felt as though I must have angered it. But I had grown to expect the unexpected. "Whatever it

Frost's POVNever had I depended and hoped on the severity of the mate bond the way I did at that moment. I was desperate, eager to find her. Whatever thing she thought she was doing, i had the strongest feel within me that it wouldn't end good. And it was high time I stopped relenting, and pushed for what I really wanted. I stood at the window of my study long after Lia had gone quiet behind me, and I closed my eyes and reached for the mate bond. I was deliberate, intentional, calm, all to reach her. In a moment, I felt her. I found her. She was there, distant, but feeling her made me feel lightened. Without hesitation, I moved out from the SilverFang with Lia, Oscar, and Sera. I simply followed the thread of her through the bond the way I had always followed my instincts. She was at the Ashen wastes, the very place she had gone a few weeks back to confront the Shadowmaw. Did she intend to do it for the second time? Oh Rya!The land here had a particular quality of exhaustion, as

NARRATOR'S POVThree months later…It started slowly.A strange warmth blooming beneath Mira’s ribs, something she couldn’t quite name. She was at the training grounds, watching the younger ones train, talking quietly with Lira, when the first wave hit. It was sharp and sudden, curling through her veins like fire.She froze, her breath trembling.What was that?Her body answered before her thoughts did. Her lips parted, a shaky exhale leaving them as her knees nearly buckled.“Mira?” Lira noticed immediately. “Are you alright?” she asked.“I… I think…” She swallowed hard. “I think something’s wrong.”“What do you think it is?” Lira demanded, reaching out to support her.Mira hesitated, but she knew exactly what it was.She had read about it, had witnessed a few, had prepared herself unconsciously for this moment. She had never experienced it, but she knew what it felt like.This, this heat soaring through her, full and uncontrollable, pulling the mate bond so tight it almost hurt, mea

MIRA'S POV“Thank you for a chance at redemption.”I stared at the note in my hands, brows furrowed, my chest swirling with things I couldn't name.I turned to Zephyr who had been in the room when we came in. “What exactly happened to her?”“I can't tell,” he answered. “But she's over ninety. I'm thinking the old age finally caught up with her because she lost her powers.”I sighed. “May her soul rest in peace.”“May her sacrifice be deemed worthy enough,” Thane said.I squeezed his hand in my hold, feeling everything he could feel through the mate bond. “We should at least conduct a befitting burial for her,” Thane said.” I put you in charge of it, Nathan.”He nodded. “I'll take care of it.”“Let's go, Mira.”I followed Thane, glancing one last time at Cassidy's pale, blue, wrinkled body. She had done wrong all her life, but she was wise enough to take a step back and seize the chance at redemption. Like Thane said, I hoped her sacrifice was worthy enough to give her the peace she n

The next hour, the entire pack filled the central clearing. Wolves of every rank — elders, warriors, young ones, even the allies from other packs who had shown up to visit the awaken Alpha. Whispers rippled when Thane stepped onto the raised platform.He looked steady and strong, fully in control.Mira stood at the side with Lira and Nathan, hands clasped so hard her palms ached.Thane scanned the crowd slowly, letting the silence stretch. “I'm sure everyone standing here right now is aware of the havoc that was impending upon our pack. A havoc I arrested by making a sacrifice many of you might deem careless, and probably stupid.”“I’ve been hearing things,” he continued, voice clear and firm. “That I’m too weak to lead after the ritual. That being in a coma for a whole week makes me unfit. That you all need new leadership.”A few wolves lowered their eyes, others looked guilty. Some stared back defiantly .Thane nodded once. “You have every right to question. That is the responsibili

‘He’s awake’, was all Mira could think of as she sprinted to Thane's room, Nathan and Lira closely behind her. The nurse’s call had barely faded when she burst through the infirmary doors, breathless, heart hammering so hard it drowned every other sound. She didn’t even notice that she wasn't the only one in the room. All she saw was Thane. He was awake, sitting upright, blinking slowly as if adjusting to the world again.“Thane?” Her voice cracked.His head turned instantly, eyes finding hers as though he had been waiting for that exact moment. A small, tired smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Hey, Mira.”That was all it took for her knees to go weak.She reached him in three steps, stopping right beside the bed. She was trembling, hands hovering over him, afraid to touch in case this was another dream.“You’re real,” she whispered.Thane chuckled, the sound hoarse. “Last I checked.”Without thinking, without delay, she threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shou

I parted my lips to speak, but Nathan beat me to it. “Mira, please don't get mad. We're so sorry. It just happened. We didn't mean to...” “Nathan, can you let me talk?” I cut him short.He pressed his lips tightly together, before nodding.“I'm happy for you two,” I said. “Forget the fact that I'm not smiling and jumping and squealing like a ten year old,” I glanced at Thane. “You know why. But I'm really happy for you two. I think you make the perfect pair.”They exchanged a look, turning back to me with raised brows. “You're not… you're not upset?”A dry chuckle escaped my throat. “Why would I be upset?”“I mean…” Lira began, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, nervously. “The fact that we hid it from you, and that you and Nathan once had… uhhh… a thing going on..”I scoffed. “Is that what you want take me for, Lira. A bitter ex? I'm not even an ex. Nathan and I…” I sighed. “Let's just say we do better as a team, than as lovers.”“True.” Nathan agreed.“This guy here, is

I hurriedly wiped the tears off my my face, sniffling. “You don't have to clean your tears, child.”Cassidy entered, her steps slow and careful. She looked exhausted. Her skin was pale, dark circles adorning her wrinkled eyes. Her hair was dampened with sweat, yet she stood tall.I swallowed hard. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice almost unrecognizable. “Why are you roaming free in our pack? After everything you did? After Alexa?”She let out a snort, totally unfazed. “Don't worry. I'll be thrown into the dungeons after now, I just had to check up on,” she nodded at Thane, “him.”“Stay away from him,” I warned, my instincts flaring high.She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Relax. My magic has been taken away from me. It's why I look like shit.”My brows furrowed. “What?”She chuckled, rather unnecessarily. “No one performs a ritual like that and retains her magic.” Her voice lowered. “It's all gone now. I'm just a human now, lesser than you are.”I blinked, confuse