LOGINVANE“State your name before I snap your neck,” I growled, my weight pinning the intruder securely against the cold kitchen floor.The person beneath me gasped, a small, trembling hand coming up to push weakly against my chest. “V-Vane! It is me! It is Sylvia!”I froze and felt the familiar shock that I felt when I touched her skin. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I looked down at her pale face.Her eyes were wide with terror, and her lips were trembling. My gaze flicked to the side, noticing the crumbs of bread and chicken scattered on the floor next to her head.I immediately released her, shifting my weight and stepping back to let her stand up.“I am sorry,” I muttered, the words feeling foreign and heavy on my tongue. “I did not realise it was you.”Sylvia scrambled to her feet, her breathing shallow as she backed away from me. She looked toward the door, her entire posture screaming that she wanted to bolt out of the kitchen and run as far away from me as possible.Before
SYLVIA“Lean forward! Do not try to swallow it down!” Vane ordered, his voice booming through the silent dining room as his large hands gripped my shoulders.I could not answer him. I could not even nod. My hands clawed at my throat as my chest burned from the absolute lack of oxygen. The edges of my vision were starting to turn a dangerous shade of black.Vane did not hesitate as he pulled me up from the chair, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind. He formed a fist, placing it just above my navel, and pulled inward and upward, but nothing happened.“Again,” he growled, more to himself than to me. A choked gasp escaped my lips, but the blockage remained stubbornly in place.I was going to die here, choking on a piece of venison in front of the man who had just announced our wedding that we never spoke about. Vane cursed, his grip tightening until my ribs felt like they might snap, and gave one final pull. The piece of meat finally flew out of my mouth, landing somewhere on
SYLVIA“Are you certain you do not require our assistance, Luna?” the young maid asked, her arms full of fresh towels as she hovered near the bathroom door.“I am certain. Thank you, but I can manage on my own,” I said, offering a tight, strained smile until she bowed and finally backed out of the room.I locked the door behind her and leaned my back against it, letting out a long, shuddering breath. The last thing I wanted was an audience while I washed off the grime of Estelle’s brutal etiquette lessons. My head still throbbed from the number of names, lineages, and history I had been forced to memorise, and let's not forget the number of times I fell over trying to balance five books on my head because I got five of her questions wrong. I almost gave up again, but I didn't want to give people more reason to talk about how incompetent I was to be Luna. Stepping into the steaming water of the large tub, I sank down until it reached my chin. The heat began to soothe my aching muscl
VANE“So the dam has been fixed, and the heating system underneath it is working again, so the water will not freeze over like before,” one of the elders said, going through the report of the past few weeks.I nodded, flipping through the pages of the copy that I had. “Good. We cannot afford the leak that happened and the low water supply for our people. What other news do you have?”Elder Brandon cleared his throat, shifting his papers. “The migration numbers are rising, Alpha. The famine in the lowlands is driving entire families toward our territory. Over fifty rogues and displaced pack members crossed the line just this week.”Murmurs broke out around the table. The elders looked worried, their faces drawn in tight lines. We were a place ridden with snow all year round, except for very few days, and so our preservation skills are top tier, and so good that we have enough resources to last us for years, in case of famine that chose to come to our land,s so it was no surprise that p
SYLVIA“Why do you not just lock me up in some tower with no doors or windows and get someone else to be your miserable wife?” I screamed at him, my chest heaving as my throat stung from how loud I was.“What?” Vane gritted out through his tightened jaw, his face twisted in a frown.“You heard me,” I said, anger still evident in my voice, but this time much lower. “I am not the kind of wife that you want, so get a busty woman who can pass all your stupid etiquette classes and be the one to do the coming-out ceremony instead of me. I am tired of the bullshit—”“ENOUGH!”I flinched backwards, my eyes widening as I realised that I might have overstepped.His eyes raked over my features with a dark gaze, and I could feel his murderous intent washing over me. My body trembled in response to the immense power that he released.He took a step toward me. I wanted to sprint the other way, but I could not. He took another step until he was right in my face, leaning down so our eyes were level.
SYLVIAI pushed myself off the floor and onto my feet, dusting my clothes and standing properly in front of him with my hands clasped tightly in front of my waist. Vane was standing in front of me, and he was shirtless. Was there ever a time he had a short on He was staring at me with a slight frown on his face, and my eyes were glued to his chest before tracing his entire body, and I noticed the sword in his hand. "You should just cut my head off," I said. "Get it over with."Vane looked taken aback by what I had said before he threw his head back, laughing, and it was way more than all the other times I had seen him do that. "I was training," he said, when he had recovered, his voice back to its usual flatness like the laugh had never happened. “Why would that be the first thing that comes to your mind? That I wanted to kill you? If I wanted to, that would have happened a long time ago, darling.” I opened my mouth and closed it, a bit flustered at the word he had just called me,
SYLVIAAiden walked very fast.I had to almost jog to keep up without making too much noise, which was harder than it sounded in a hallway with very polished floors and my heels with absolutely nothing to hide behind.He turned a corner, and I pressed myself against the wall, counted to three and t
SYLVIAI had pushed him too far.I knew it the moment his hand wrapped around my throat and my back hit the wall. The air left my lungs, and I grabbed at his wrist out of reflex, my feet barely touching the ground."I didn't take you for someone so outspoken." His voice was low, and his black eyes
SYLVIAMy lips parted, and I began to scream. I struggled harder, clinging onto air as if something would magically appear for me to hold on to. “Please…” I finally begged, but nobody came to save me. I felt myself land on the ground with a thud and a sharp pain rushing through my body, and godd
SYLVIAHis eyes… They were dark and held no light in them. I could barely hold back from throwing my body out of the window and letting myself die from the impact of the fall. When he grabbed my chin to look up at him, I thought my life was over and that the pleas of my mother to take care of me h







