MasukEMIL'S POV Juna stood just inside the greenhouse doorway, one hand resting lightly against the wooden frame. A soft cream-colored dress swayed around her ankles as she smiled. "There you are." She walked toward me. "I've been looking everywhere." "I've been busy." I hadn't realized how tense my shoulders were until instinct made me take half a step backward. "I noticed." Her smile remained gentle, though her eyes searched my face."You've hardly left your office." Guilt settled heavily in my chest, memories of how I had yelled at her in the court yard few days ago… I ran a hand through my hair. "There was a lot to sort out." "I know." She stopped beside me. "That's why I didn't disturb you." Silence settled between us. She glanced around the greenhouse. "It really is beautiful here." "It was her favorite place." The words escaped before I could stop them. Juna's smile faltered for the briefest moment. "It'll look even better with time." She reached for my
EMIL'S POVTwo days.I'd buried myself inside my office for three days. Between the royal trade agreement, reports from the eastern mountain range, and the mountain mission itself, there had been more than enough work to keep my mind occupied.It hadn't worked.Every document I signed somehow reminded me of another one she used to organize before it ever reached my desk, and new discoveries of how hard she had been working while I was gone for more than a year didn’t help.By the morning of the third day, even Briar had fallen unusually quiet."Running away won't change what happened.""I know." The words left my mouth before I realized I'd spoken aloud. The office had begun to feel too suffocating.With a sharp exhale, I shoved my chair back and stepped into the corridor.The pack house bustled around me exactly as it always had. Servants hurried between hallways carrying baskets of clean linens. Warriors crossed the courtyard toward the training grounds. Somewhere in the distance,
EMIL'S POV If we weren't the only ones searching, then that changes a lot of things. "They're confident we'll recover it before week's end." Blake added quickly, I gave a distracted nod."Good." my gaze focused back on the papers before me, there’s supposed to be a harvest in the coming week. The plans here doesn’t show anything about the farms to be harvested. Shit. I run a hand through my hair, trying my best to stay on track. Blake’s eyes drifted across the papers covering my desk, before settling on a familiar parchment lying near my elbow. His expression changed. "...Where did you get that?" I followed his gaze to the royal trade agreement. "The King." The answer left my mouth almost absentmindedly. "He came to Silver Claw and just gave that away?" Blake asked reading through the opened lines "He took Malia." "He what?" I looked up, Blake wasn't angry– yet. His brows had furrowed into a confused arch. "He gave us the royal trade routes." I slid the agreemen
EMIL'S POV"What the hell is this?"The sharp scent hit me before I even looked up.A timid omega standing near my desk flinched so hard the tea in her hands nearly spilled over the rim of the cup."I-It's the tea you requested, Alpha."I frowned."I asked for—" The words died in my throat. My gaze settled on the steaming cup, Dark brown and bitter! Nothing like— my tea. I hadn't asked for the usual pack’s tea. I'd asked for Malia's tea.The one she brewed whenever reports piled too high across my desk. The one she'd spent weeks adjusting because she insisted the herbs helped with headaches and kept my mind clear during negotiations.I'd never questioned how she made it, I'd simply expected it to appear whenever I needed it.I looked back at the trembling omega her glassy with tears as she waited for my next words. Probably, Unsure whether she'd already failed the task.I run a hand through my hair.I picked up the cup again, One sip.The bitterness coated my tongue almost instantly. I
MALIA'S POVLady Evelyn waited patiently while I stood in the middle of the room, taking everything in."This suite has been prepared for you," she said with a polite smile. "If there's anything you require, simply ring the bell beside your bed."I barely heard her, as my eyes wandered instead.Sunlight poured through towering windows draped with emerald curtains. A fireplace occupied one wall, though it sat empty under the afternoon warmth. Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, filled with volumes whose titles I couldn't even begin to read from where I stood.As I moved further, a pair of glass doors stood open, revealing a stone balcony overlooking gardens so vast they disappeared over rows of flowering trees. There was even a sitting area and another doorway... A bathing room larger than the bedroom I'd shared with Emil.Silver Claw's Luna suite had always been considered luxurious… but this… this place made it look... ordinary.I almost felt guilty standing inside it. Evel
MALIA'S POV The council chamber doors shut behind us with a heavy thud. Only then did I realize I'd been holding my breath. I let it out slowly, my shoulders sagging with it.“Three out of ten.” The deep voice beside me made me glance sideways.“Excuse me?”“Your performance.”“Performance?”“You were supposed to convince council members you belonged here.”I wasn’t proud of my acting back there, but was ranking my acting skills the first thing he could talk about after what just happened?"Everything went well in the end, didn’t it?" I say trying to catch up to his long strides down the hall. "It did." Relief barely had time to settle before he added, "I expected better." “Better?"Draven didn't slow his pace. His hands were clasped behind his back as he strode through the corridor, every servant we passed lowering their heads before he even reached them. "You allowed the council to dictate the pace of the meeting."My brows shot up. "They were firing questions at me from every d
MALIA’S POV. There’s a crowd outside the pack house, even wolves that are supposed to be on patrol, lined up in groups. But I’m not surprised. News travels faster than wind around here. I reached into my glove compartment, spraying the special perfume I kept there— the familiar scent maskin
MALIA’S POV“You cheated on your mate?”The question didn’t just land between us. It settled there, heavy and certain.For the first time since it happened, the reality of what I’d done rang loudly in my head. It should’ve pulled some kind of reaction from me.But I didn’t flinch.I didn’t even loo
MALIA’S POV “Drop the gun, Malia.” His voice came out low and sharp enough to slice through the cabin. But I only tightened my grip around the silver gun, flicking the safety off with trembling fingers. My chest rose unevenly as another wave of dizziness hit me, though I refused to let him see
MALIA’S POV Morning sunlight spilled through the curtains, warm against my skin. For a second, I forgot everything. The tension. The accusations. Draven. Then the weight around my waist tightened slightly, dragging me back to reality. Emil. I stiffened. His face was buried against the cro







