LOGINLucian’s POVI rode at the front of the column with Nyx in front of me, my horse moving hard beneath us. The wind cut across my face as we pushed toward the estate. Guards flanked both sides. I kept my voice low but sharp as I gave orders. No one was to leave their post. Every gate was to be doubled. Scouts were to ride the roads immediately. I did not raise my voice. I did not need to. The men moved faster when I spoke like this.My chest felt tight. I had promised Nyx justice. I had promised her Edric would not walk free but now he was gone. I had underestimated the reach of the man behind this. The thought sat like iron in my stomach. I had let her down.We reached the estate in under an hour. I dismounted before the horse fully stopped. Thorne was already waiting. Elara stood beside him. Nyx was further back, her face pale but steady. I met her eyes for only a second before I turned to the others.“Council room. Now,” I said.The emergency meeting was already forming when I entere
Nyx povI woke up while it was still dark. I sat at the window and watched the estate grounds. The grass lay still under a heavy grey sky. Today had arrived. I felt the weight of it settle in my chest. It was not grief. I had already moved through that in the northern ruins but it was not triumph either. Triumph felt too small for this. This was heavier and older. A reckoning that had waited nineteen years finally standing at the door.The maids came at first light. They helped me into a deep formal dress, the color of the Luna. It was nothing like the white I wore on the day I was forced to marry. I sat quietly while they worked. My mother’s ring rested on my finger. Mara stirred warm inside my chest.*We finally get justice* Mara said.“We do.” I thought about the vault, the letter, and every step that had brought me from that hidden panel at four years old to this room. It had been a long road and I was ready to finish it. The door opened and Lucian stepped inside. The maids bowed
Edric POV I sat in the center of the great hall with my hands bound in front of me. The stone bench felt cold beneath my legs. Pack elders lined on both sides of the long table, their faces set like carved masks. Guards stood at every exit. The air smelled of old wood and tension. I kept my back straight as I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me break.I heard the doors open at the far end. Nyx walked in with her snotty Alpha behind her. She wore dark green again, the same shade she had worn the night before. Her chin was lifted and her steps were steady. When her eyes met mine across the room, something hot and ugly twisted in my chest.*I could have killed her when I had the chance.*The thought burned through me. One clean strike years ago and none of this would be happening but instead I had kept her alive. I had used her and sold her. Now she stood here as Luna of Ironfang, looking at me like I was already dead.Kane rose from his seat at the center of the table. Hi
Nyx POV I woke up the next morning with a clear purpose. The dungeon waited below the estate, and the conversation I needed to have belonged only to me. I told Lucian over breakfast that I had to do this alone. He looked at me for a long moment, his eyes searching my face. “I will be outside,” he said quietly.“No,” I replied. I held his gaze without blinking. He studied me again, then nodded once. He stayed upstairs. This moment was mine.I walked down the stone steps alone. The air grew colder with each level. Torches flickered along the walls, casting long shadows that danced across the floor. My footsteps echoed softly. When I reached Edric’s cell, I stopped just outside the bars.He sat on the bench, his back against the stone wall. He looked up at the sound of my approach. Something moved across his face. Not fear. Not yet. It was the same calculating expression he had worn every time I entered a room in his house. He was deciding what I was worth at that moment. An old habit w
NYX’S POVThe air in the dining hall had grown thick. Every word spoken at the table carried weight now. I sat beside Lucian, my back straight, my hands folded calmly in my lap. The Calloways still wore their polished masks, but cracks had started to show. Edric’s smile no longer reached his eyes. Isolde kept glancing toward the doors as if measuring escape routes. Ren shifted in his seat, loud confidence fading into nervous energy.Lucian rose slowly. The movement drew every eye in the room. He signaled to two guards who had waited silently near the entrance. They stepped forward carrying a wooden box. Lucian opened it with deliberate care and lifted out the first document.The healer’s report.He held it up so the pack elders seated at the ends of the table could see it clearly. “This is the medical record from the night my former mate Lysandra died,” he said. His voice stayed even, but the room grew quieter with each word. “It describes a young woman matching Nyx’s description. Ext
NYX’s POV I stood in front of the tall mirror in my room and smoothed the fabric of my gown one last time. The color suited the occasion. Dark enough to hide secrets, rich enough to remind everyone I now belonged here. My hands stayed steady, but my stomach twisted with a mix of anticipation and old rage. Tonight the Calloways would walk into this estate believing they still held power over me. I intended.. to prove them wrong.Lucian waited for me in the corridor. The moment I stepped out, his gaze moved over me slowly. “You look breathtaking, little Storm.”I managed a small smile. “Thank you.”He offered his arm. “They are coming. Are you ready for this?”I took a deep breath and slipped my hand through his arm. “Yes. There is nothing I want more.”“Wonderful.”Thorne and Elara joined us near the entrance. Thorne looked every inch the beta, sharp and watchful. Elara carried herself with quiet strength, though I caught the tension in her shoulders. We formed a united front as we wa
POV: Nyx (First Person) “THUD!!” I hit the ground hard and found myself on the floor. My heart was going so hard I could feel it in my jaw. My clothes were soaked through. My throat felt like I'd been screaming. I hadn't been screaming. I would have heard myself. I pushed up onto my hands an
POV: Nyx I had performed in front of difficult audiences before. The Calloway pack gatherings, Edric's business dinners, where I was expected to be present and invisible simultaneously. Ren's friends, who had made a sport of finding the exact thing to say that would crack my composure in public.
POV: LUCIAN The door clicked shut behind her, and I stood frozen right there in the middle of my room like some idiot who had forgotten how to move.Her scent still filled the air. Warm and complex, wrapping around me in a way that made my wolf sit up and snarl for more. I did not breathe for a lo
POV: NyxThe reception ended and the maids came for me. Again.Three of them, appearing at my elbow with the seamless timing. They guided me upstairs without making it feel like guiding, which was its own kind of skill, and the bath was already drawn when we got there, steam rising from water that







