LOGINCALEB’S POVI was genuinely, deeply sorry.Every single defense mechanism inside my brain screamed at me to make up another lie. I wanted to tell her that I had stolen the page from her book simply to betray her, to hand it over to my father, to ruin her life. That would have been so much easier. It would have kept her at a safe distance. But having her so close to me, smelling the sweet vanilla scent of her skin, and hearing her speak to me in that soft, desperate voice—it broke something inside my chest. I couldn't bring myself to torture both of us any longer. With the last bit of strength in my aching arms, I reached up, drew her close, and wrapped my arms tightly around her.Thalia didn't hug me back. She remained completely stiff in my embrace, her body frozen like ice. I didn't blame her. I knew exactly why she couldn't bring herself to comfort the boy who had caused her so much misery. But I held on anyway, burying my face in her shoulder.“I am so sorry,” I choked out, th
THALIA’S POVPanic exploded in the courtyard. In a split second, everyone rushed forward and surrounded Caleb’s limp form on the dirt. I dropped to my knees right beside him, my hands shaking so hard I could barely coordinate my movements. He looked deathly pale, his skin turning an ash-gray color that made my throat tighten. I reached out, my fingers trembling as I pressed them against his neck to check his breathing. I didn't have any kind of healing abilities, but I had to try. I had to do something.As I pulled back the collar of his shirt to check his pulse, my breath caught. His skin wasn't smooth. It was covered in deep, jagged, angry red scars that webbed across his chest and shoulders.“Look at his skin,” Jamie breathed, crouching down on Caleb's other side. He reached out, his fingers hovering over the marks. “These aren't normal wounds. These are severe internal damages. Caleb... he looks like he has been practicing for something. Something highly dangerous.”My heart ham
THALIA’S POVBefore the sun even cleared the horizon, I was already awake. I sat at the small wooden desk in the corner of our room, the dim candle casting long, dancing shadows over the pages of the book of forbidden practices. I kept flipping through the worn text, my eyes scanning the faded ink over and over again. The message was always the same. If I wanted to break the ancient barrier, I could not do it as a weak pup. I needed to assume my full wolf form. I needed the raw, unyielding power of a full shift to smash the magic dome.To make things worse, my sleep had been completely ruined by a series of relentless nightmares. They were entirely unfamiliar. The faces of the people around me were totally different, and the architecture belonged to another world entirely. In the dreams, a catastrophic fight broke out and the moonclaw relic was violently shattered. I vividly saw the three glowing halves falling through the darkness.Waking up, the heavy message felt loud and clear.
CALEB’S POVWatching Ragnar kiss Thalia was pure, unadulterated torture.Seeing his hands near her, seeing the way she eventually stopped resisting and let him close—it made a wild, dangerous surge of jealousy explode in my chest. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to storm across the training room, grab Ragnar by his throat, and pry them apart by force. But I couldn't move. I had absolutely no right to step in. I was the one who had brought her nothing but tears, terror, and pain. So, before they could notice me standing in the shadows, I turned around silently and walked away. I climbed the stone stairs all the way to the high rooftop of the main building, needing the biting morning air to cool the fire in my blood.I stood at the edge of the roof, my eyes fixed on the shimmering, translucent barrier that locked us in. Suddenly, the phone in my pocket began to vibrate. Ever since the board opened up the internal lines for emergency use, I had access to my device again. I p
RAGNAR’S POVWhile I was down in that freezing water, the physical numbness was nothing compared to the sharp, tearing pain in my chest.There was a dark truth I had not told Thalia yet. In my pack, if an Alpha wolf finds his true mate and does not mark or claim her within two months, the bond begins to turn sour. The rejection poisons the soul. It causes a constant, dull ache in the heart, and eventually, the Alpha will go completely, violently feral.The two-month mark was dangerously close. I wanted her so badly it physically hurt. Every time I looked at her, my wolf roared beneath my skin, begging to tear through and take what was ours.But no matter how much she froze me out, I swore to myself that I would always stay right by her side to help her anyway. Once we dragged ourselves out of the pool, Miss Lyra gave us no warmth and no rest. She stood over us like a tyrant. “Do not even think about sleeping,” she commanded, her sharp voice echoing off the damp stone walls. “You wi
THALIA’S POVMiss Lyra did not waste any time. The moment the general assembly was dismissed, she led the six of us away from the main field, taking us to a private, enclosed courtyard hidden deep within the training complex. The stone walls here were high and thick, completely cutting us off from the rest of the school. The atmosphere between us was suffocating. Devon kept his distance, nursing his bruised ego and glaring at me from the corner of his eye. Caleb stood like a frozen statue, his dark eyes fixed entirely on the stone floor, while Ragnar kept trying to catch my eye. I stubbornly ignored all of them.Finally, I couldn't take the quiet anymore. I stepped forward and looked directly at our instructor. “Why did you pick the six of us, Miss Lyra? What is the actual reason?”Miss Lyra didn't even look back at me as she took off her heavy outer cloak. “You do not need to ask questions, Thalia,” she said smoothly, her voice chillingly calm. “You will find out exactly why you ar
THALIA’S POVMy hands shook so violently that I could barely open the wooden door of my wardrobe. It was strictly forbidden to possess any outside communication devices within the academy walls, but I had smuggled in a secret phone before leaving home, keeping it hidden away for an absolute emerge
THALIA’S POVI hadn't meant to say what I did to Ragnar but it just came out. I wanted to apologize, to say sorry but he was hiding things from me. And right now, I felt like even Caleb was hiding things from me. A lot was happening at the same time and I hated it. I saw the pain in Ragnar's eyes
RAGNAR'S POVI stared at Thalia for a long moment after her question. “But what if it doesn’t work?”Her voice had gone quiet and uncertain. Almost small. I crossed my arms and leaned back against the bedpost. “Then we figure something else out.”She blinked at me. Then narrowed her eyes suspicious
THALIA'S POV The second bell rang through the academy like a warning shot.I exhaled sharply and climbed down from my bed, quickly shutting the forbidden arts book before sliding it back under the mattress.My hands hovered over it for a second longer than necessary. I needed to know if Ragnar and







