LOGINI stare at Eliana like she has just grown two heads, but I do not say a thing. Not yet.“He is waiting,” she adds. “Let me take you to go meet him.”Still, I say nothing. But the name finally rings a bell. Orion. It’s the same name Isadora had mentioned earlier in her conversation with King Sven. The representative of the Alphas of the South. I know why he wants to meet me; after all, Eliana had mentioned it during our last conversation. He wants to know if King Sven is indeed a Fae.I take a step backward, but my back collides against the wall, stressing my neck. My jaw sets into a hard line. “I am not interested, Eliana,” I say, my voice cold and flat. “I don’t care about your visionary leader from the South. I don’t care about Orion. I have enough monsters to deal with without adding another one to the list. Find someone else to play your games with.”I turn to walk away, but Eliana steps directly into my path, blocking the exit with a strong hold on my shoulder. Her expression is
The last time I was on my knees right in front of King Sven was the day Carter died.It’s a day that will forever haunt me, branded into my memory as a monument to my own incompetence to show how useless, weak, and incapable I was to save a poor, innocent boy. I was forced to watch as King Sven casually tore his life away. Yet, even as his life snuffed out, Carter had smiled at me. Those wide, terror-stricken eyes had tried to reassure me that he didn’t blame me nor Kyle. Most of all, I remembered the lone tear that had trailed down his cooling cheek.Carter is dead. He gave his final breath to protect me and Kyle, and I refuse to let that sacrifice become a footnote in King Sven’s tyranny. I can’t let Kyle be next.“Please,” I beg, the word cracking around my bandaged throat. Warm tears well over my lashes, spilling hot and fast down my cheeks. “I will do anything. Absolutely anything. Just please, spare his life.”King Sven does not budge. He stands there like a statue carved from w
“Kyle cannot even kill a cockroach, so what do you mean he killed eleven people?” I yell before I can stop myself.Isadora gives me a long stare, before looking away from me to King Sven. “I have dispatched royal guards to the Shadow moon pack because our people are frenzied at the thought of a rogue Fae being loose,” she tells King Sven, completely brushing me off as though my query deserve no response. “I also gave a kill on sight order.”“No. You cannot do that. He is my brother, and I know him better than anyone in this Kingdom or anyone living, and Kyle would never hurt anyone. Like I said, he cannot even hurt a cockroach,” I plead, desperation seeping through the crack of my voice. I cannot let anything happen to Kyle… he must have been falsely accused. Knowing the hatred the people of Māui, and werewolves in general have for my kind, it’s plausible. “Investigate properly before accusing him. He already has a bounty on his head… he won’t be stupid enough to do that.”“You are ru
King Sven stiffens for a fraction before breaking the kiss, eyes boring into me as though I have grown an extra head, which I might have because there is no way I just kissed him and I did not even feel the need to pull away.Unlike the first time I kissed him, I did so because I felt like there was a need to comfort him. And I immediately regretted it. Not today though. This kiss feels different. It feels right.“I would not ask why you did that,” he says, calmly.His dark green eyes gradually circled with rings of fiery gold. The last time I saw his eyes like that was also during our first kiss — or peck, in King Sven’s words – and it was because I had compared him with his mother. It makes me wonder what triggers his golden eyes, but I don’t ask. Quite frankly, now isn’t even the right time to. Not when I still want to kiss him, but the look in his eyes confuses me.Does he hate me? Is that why he broke off the kiss? Just the thought makes my heart cry—“You still kiss like you did
Maggi watches from a distance as the royal physician attends to my swollen ankles, the chains sitting on top of it. The old man wraps them in a bandage, after applying an ointment that stung more than I expected. The same ointment was applied to my neck before being wrapped, now I know I look like someone being choked by a bandage.“No pressure should be exerted on these ankles unless you are keen on losing them, which I am pretty sure you are not,” The man jokes, grey eyes filled with kindness as he stares at me. It’s rare to meet someone who shows me kindness, much less a royal physician. He places my leg gently back on the bed and begins to pack his things. “I should leave now, but I would give you some pain relief medicines and a balm. Your legs should be treated like brittled glass, so I prescribe you apply the balm twice a day. And in the next three days you should be fully healed, same goes with your neck.”“Thank you,” I say, meaning every bit of it. “For attending to someone
OLIVIA’S POV.King Sven’s eyes remain locked on me. Fear is ever-present in them, surprising me, but now his lips are moving. He is whispering words I can’t hear. I try to read his lips, but it’s useless… then he smiles. The smile is warm and reassuring.For a moment, I forget the agony. I forget that I am in a battle of life and death, bleeding out from my neck. I tune out the roaring crowd. It’s just me, King Sven, and that smile. It's almost as if he believes I can win this losing battle.“Fight…” I mumble to myself, eyes still glued to King Sven. “Fight!”“The least I can grant you is a final speech, so…” Lotus says, snapping me out of my Sven-induced trance. His weight on my back crushes me into the dirt. He is deceptively heavy. “Any last words, my gullible darling?”“No,” I spit, tearing my gaze away from King Sven. But my mind races, wondering what the King tried to tell me right on the brink of death. “None?” Lotus chuckles. “I am trying to be nice so I can make your end pai
“Mate? A Fae?” One of the Gammas says.“Impossible. A Fae cannot be mated to a werewolf. She lies,” another says. This time, a female Gamma. “Fae's are known for lying, but this is just pure blasphemy against our King.”There's an amused look on Maggi’s face as she listens to every bad thing the Ga
I never knew King Sven had a godmother—let alone an aunt. But now I understand why her green eyes feel so familiar. They're the exact shade as his. Sharp. Piercing.Maggi turns to Kane with a playful smile. “Leave the girl with me,” she commands.Kane hesitates, clearly reluctant, but bows and leav
I carry the now empty tray Isadora brought to me yesterday evening to the general kitchen. As I walk, the dread of seeing Kane again gnaws at me. His threat from yesterday lingers in my mind, and I fear I won’t be able to control myself if he touches me again. The thought of what I might do terrifi
The air is thick with the stench of blood. The acrid scent clings to my skin and to the very air I breathe. The crowd’s roars echo in my ears, a haunting reminder of Carter and his family's execution. I’m still standing, my body held upright by the guards at my sides, though I barely notice them a







