was still

e sky as if thanking

aina didn't know how long she

Though weak, her body was still warm, still alive. Her thick lashes

.Ra

ion. She wanted to cry out in rel

whispered, "You must protect t

tell Mira that the boy she had risked

le. "Mira, don't talk. I...I'll find

os... Lord Darius led his forces in. He's killi

cted as much, but hearing it conf

n't let her n

it into a bundle and placed it under Mira's he

et Kai's gaze. He had emerged from the flowers, his small frame stiff wit

d in a silent si

turned

mattered. The future of the pack rested on his shoulders no

ut she couldn't let her nie

rters, she was met with a sight t

d had been a

once white marble tiles now painted a sickenin

nized som

from the servant's quarters. Little Rhea, who had once held

acant eyes stared up at the

enched h

i and Mira become pa

that Lord Darius enemy h

d bring them here, they could rescue

e, she sprinted

air. Every step brought her closer to danger,

ha

sh sliced th

em of her dress, pinn

a fr

to

ice sent a wave of

iffed the air and then

scent hit her nose

ognise that s

Shadowfang Pack. His sharp, chiseled features were like a statue carved from stone, but the

marred his b

saw it, her whole

ck to that night, two years ag

rary, sorting through ancient texts by l

hit her follow

ontrolled

os

os

er ran down

tu

slammed ove

ng on the marble floor, spa

t, she saw a pair of gl

rumbled aga

pped around her like a trap. He gripped her collar wi

uddenly exposed to

she was too sh

t of his body p

Her nails raked against his arms, her legs kicked, but it

grazing her skin. His hands left bruises wherever the

eart poun

o

ded on the inkstone ne

d him, she

had

echoed throug

the side of the attacker's head.

asped f

g barely sixteen, but his golden ey

a

one so tightly that his knuckles

her

ano

d across the

rangled scream. The deep wound on his forehead gushed blo

night, the young heir would hav

been buried. Sw

tlefield, his victories too great to allow

denly stripped Axel of his inheri

on, Raina had ne

bear the touch of ot

had been Kai, the b

embers of Darius's household visited, she h

ad thrown them

e

o

rozen, her br

he fear. Th

ame rush

he moment their eyes met, she felt like

d into a slow,

ry gleam flicke

ho had finally

orst

as hi

n the library, she had known. And in tha

hadn't

nearly forced

time, that same hung

the overwhelm