LOGINAlexander POV We moved along the inner path that ran between the wall and the first row of old trees. The estate grounds were quiet, but I could feel the watch-presence of the guards positioned throughout. She had this place in order. She always had things in order, even when she was barely holding them."Kael came himself," I said."Yes.""What did he say?"She was quiet for a pace. Then, "He told me to ask Elina about the night my father died."I processed that without reacting."And did you?""Yes."I waited."It wasn't your pack," she said.Three words. Which hit in a quite and precise way. The ground of twelve years of complicated history shifted beneath that sentence. I could actually sense it internally. I looked at her. She was not looking at me yet. She was looking at the path ahead, walking with the measured step of someone carrying something very carefully."Louve," I said."Someone inside our pack killed him, but maybe someone from the panther shifters" she said. "We don'
Lynx POVAustin's message arrived at half past four in the morning. It was three sentences long. And this was direct, the way he always wrote when something was serious and he was trying not to alarm me until he had more information.Movement at the Louve estate last night. Kael himself. Everyone's alright — I think. Call me.I called him without waiting any more time. He picked up on the first ring."How bad?" I asked."No casualties. They came to the wall and Kael spoke directly to Louve. Then they left.""He spoke to her himself," I said."Apparently." Austin answered.I stood at the window of my house, looking at the city in the grey early morning. The streets were empty. The atmosphere felt nice and dangerous at the same time, in ways that could not be understood by a normal human being. The lights were still on in the buildings across the road, the ordinary lamp-lit windows of people sleeping through what had, apparently, been a significant night."What did he want?" I asked."W
Alexander POVI arrived at the mansion before dawn. Odin had called me at three in the morning. The call was brief, and tense, the way he called when something was serious. Panther movement at the estate. Kael himself. There were no casualties. No breach. But something had shifted. I could hear it in his voice without him saying it directly. I drove through the dark, the road familiar even without streetlights, the forest on either side pressing close and old. By the time I pulled through the gates, the first grey light of morning was beginning to touch the eastern sky.Louve was waiting for me in the front hall. And that, immediately, told me more than Odin's call had. My sister did not wait. She acted. She moved. She appeared in the aftermath but rarely at the beginning because she had always been five steps ahead of every conversation before it started. For her to be standing in the entrance hall at half past four in the morning, waiting for me specifically, that meant something ha
LouveShe was in the upper corridor when I found her. Standing near the window that overlooked the rear grounds, still watching. She must have heard the alarm and come out immediately, because she was dressed and fully alert, her silver eyes scanning the grounds below. She heard me coming. And turned before I reached her. One look at my face and something changed in hers. She knew."You spoke to him," she said. It wasn't a question."Kael." I stopped in front of her. "He said to ask you about the night my father died. He said to ask you why you stayed. He said to ask you about a bargain made before I was born."The corridor was quiet. Everyone else was still occupied at the outer walls or securing the lower floors. For this moment, it was just the two of us. Elina looked at me for a long time. Long enough that I knew the answer was going to be something I wasn't ready for."Sit down," she said quietly."I'll stand,” I said.She accepted that without argument. She turned to look out th
Louve POVThe moment the alarm sounded, I was already awake. Not because I heard it first. Because my wolf had already risen inside me, pressing against my skin like something old and furious demanding to be let out. I had been lying in bed staring at the ceiling for two hours, listening to the mansion settle around me, listening to the distant patrol movements, listening to the particular quality of the night that told me something was wrong even before the alarm confirmed it. When the horn sounded from the northern watch post, I was already out of bed and reaching for my jacket.The corridor was chaos by the time I stepped into it. Guards moving in both directions. Two of the pack warriors running toward the outer gates, one pulling on his armor. The house attendants had sealed the interior doors. I could hear voices from downstairs; organized, controlled, but quick with urgency. Elina appeared from the end of the corridor. She looked at me and immediately knew I was already ahead o
Austin's POV The Pack Hall felt different the moment I stepped inside. It was much quieter than I expected. The kind of atmosphere that settled into your bones before anyone even spoke. The kind that told you something had already gone wrong. I pushed through the massive wooden doors and immediately noticed the crowd.Pack warriors, scouts, and senior members. Even elders who rarely left their private quarters. Every seat around the circular chamber was occupied. And that alone was enough to make my instincts sharpen.Something serious was happening. At the center of the room stood my father.Alpha Caden.His expression was unreadable, but the tension in his shoulders gave him away.Lynx was already there, leaning against one of the stone pillars with his arms crossed.His eyes found mine immediately."You made it.""Barely," I muttered.Lynx gave me a brief nod before his attention returned to the room. Whatever was happening, it had his full focus. And that worried me, because very
Morning in the city, as the atmosphere showed signs that rain may fall. The city moved as if nothing had happened.Cars rolled through the streets, vendors shouted to attract customers, and the smell of roasted coffee drifted from small cafes along the sidewalks. Office workers hurried past one ano
Elina POV It's been a while since Louve left the mansion. The mansion fell back into its usual silence. A cold mist must have begun to spread across the courtyard, curling around the stone statues and ancient trees that surrounded the estate. The air carried the scent of damp earth and pine. The a
Lynx POV Since Louve left, I had come to think as I walked deep into the living room. The city lights streamed through the glass windows, casting long shadows across the polished floor. This was exactly why I had come here first: peace. The family mansion would have been the opposite—questions, or
Louve POV I groaned as the harsh rays of sunlight seeped through my closed eyes, forcing me to roll sideways. My eyes fluttered open slowly. As soon as I flapped my eyes open, for a moment I didn't remember where I was.Then the scent reached me.Rosemary…. And himMy heart skipped.I turned my he







