LOGINANWEN'S POVFenric's heated gaze locked onto mine.For a long moment, he simply stared at me, saying nothing. I held his gaze and waited.At last, he spoke."I can't," he said, his voice low with restraint. "Not yet."I didn’t expect his response. It left me cold, completely stunned.Only then did I realize my hands were still holding his rigid length. They slipped away."Why not?" I asked, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice. "A few moments ago, that's exactly what you were trying to do."A shadow crossed his face.He reached for me, sliding an arm around my shoulders to help me sit up."I wasn't myself," he said quietly. "I barely knew what I was doing."I looked away, but he gently cupped my face and turned it back toward him. "I could seriously hurt you," he whispered. "Or worse...""I know," I said. "I knew what could happen to me the moment I was brought here. I've been dreading that day ever since. But now... I'm just tired of being afraid. Tired of wondering whether
ANWEN'S POVThe grass was cool beneath my knees, damp with the evening dew, but I barely noticed.All my attention was on Fenric—on the way he sat before me, so still, so impossibly tall that even seated, I had to reach up to cup his face in my hands and draw him down to where I waited.He didn't resist.Those silver-gray eyes of his—intense, predatory, endlessly watchful—never left mine as I pulled him closer.I could see the careful restraint. The lingering trace of wildness in his gaze. But it no longer came from the full moon's madness.It came from want. From desire. I pressed my lips to his.I started gentle, coaxing, silently urging. I moved my trembling mouth against his, soft and seeking. For a moment he remained still, letting me claim the moment.Then his lips twitched into a small smile, and finally parted them for me.When he finally kissed me back, I deepened it immediately, mirroring the hunger I'd learned from them—nipping at his lower lip, letting my tongue explore t
ANWEN'S POVI stirred when my back met something damp and cold.The sound came next—the violent, unmistakable rip of fabric. My eyes flew open, my heart hammering against my ribs.Above me, the full moon hung bloated and pale in a velvet sky, bathing everything in silver light. I groaned as pain lanced through my skull, a dull throb blooming across my head where I'd struck the floor in the tower.Wincing, I turned my head and took in my surroundings.A clearing.I was lying on dew-slick grass.This wasn't the part of the forest I knew. It was deeper, wilder—a forgotten corner of the Whispering Woods. I could feel the forest's disorienting magic pressing in around me.Finally, I lifted my head.Fenric—or rather, his lycan form—loomed over me. He just tore the last shred of my gown, the fabric surrendering with a whisper. I was completely bare, exposed to the night air that kissed my skin with freezing lips."Fenric," I whispered, curling into myself. "No."He was on me before I could
ANWEN'S POVA howl stirred me from sleep. Fenric's howl.It wasn't the volume that woke me. Nor the way it clawed at the fortress walls, scraping painfully through my ears.This howl was different.It wasn't filled with rage. It was filled with pain. With grief.It pierced straight through my heart, threading itself between my ribs like a desperate plea. And somehow, impossibly, it felt as though Fenric was calling for me.My eyes fluttered open.Darkness still cloaked the chamber, broken only by moonlight spilling through the windows and the open balcony doors.I couldn't have been asleep for long. The lingering warmth on my skin, where Brammon and Rhydan had touched me, was proof enough. My body still hummed with a pleasant soreness from earlier. And the damp, pulsing memory of the pleasure they had so expertly coaxed from me remained between my legs.Brammon's arm lay heavily across the mattress behind me. Rhydan rested on my other side, his breathing slow and even.Both of them w
ANWEN'S POVI took a deep breath and crawled toward Rhydan. The furs scraped my sensitized knees, my punished backside stinging with every movement, but I barely registered the discomfort. I knelt before him, looking up through my lashes, my throat tight with uncertainty.I swallowed hard, then reached for the laces of his trousers—already loosened, I realized, already waiting for me. My fingers fumbled only slightly as I worked them free, pulling the fabric down, down...He sprang free, heavy and veined, bobbing slightly with his pulse.I wrapped my hand around the base, marveling at the heat, the silken steel of him. A few clumsy strokes drew a sharp exhale from above. Emboldened, I leaned forward and took him into my mouth.He tasted of salt and musk and something uniquely Rhydan—smoke and embers. His grunt was guttural, involuntary, and behind me, Brammon groaned his approval. I took him deeper, relaxing my throat, moving faster, my head bobbing as I sought to draw out more of th
ANWEN'S POVMy skin warmed, and it had nothing to do with Rhydan's heat radiating beside me.I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat had suddenly gone dry, and no sound came out. Then Brammon's gruff voice curled too close to my ear."I'm waiting for an answer, Anwen." His breath stirred the fine hairs at my temple. "Do you want us to distract you?"And as if to remind me precisely what that "distraction" entailed, he dragged his tongue along the shell of my ear. My thoughts scattered like startled birds, my brain tangling around the sensation, the texture of him, until I was gasping out the word before I could stop myself."Yes."Brammon chuckled, dark and satisfied. His hand found the hem of my nightgown, hiking it up with agonizing slowness, his palm skimming the inside of my thigh. My toes curled instantly, my back arching off the furs beneath me."I would love to," he murmured.Then he stopped. His hand halted just before the aching flesh that cried out for his touch, hovering
ANWEN'S POVI jerked awake at the sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer.For a moment, I didn’t recognize where I was. My mind lagged, still wrapped in the fear and exhaustion of the night before.I shifted—and nearly struck my head against the wood above me. That’s when I remembered. I was under
ANWEN'S POVI went completely still.The fight drained out of me all at once. Even if any had remained, it would have been useless. There was no point struggling anymore.This was always going to happen. The only reason I’d ever been brought here.I have survived longer than most. A small, bitter m
BRAMMON'S POVI heard him before I saw him.The crack of wings split the air above my labyrinth, sharp enough to shiver through the stone beneath my feet. A heartbeat later came the reckless dive, ending in a heavy thud on the balcony overhead.I already knew—he was in a foul mood.Either Galenor h
ANWEN'S POVAt some point, the crying stopped not because I wanted it to, but because there was nothing left in me to give. My chest still hitched now and then, but the tears themselves had run dry.I was exhausted from it. And it wasn’t even the collar that broke me. It was Arlo.Arlo, dragged awa







