As Caspian led Elara through the massive iron gates, the sentries-men and women with eyes like flint and scars that told stories of a thousand battles-did not bow in the way the

Elara's hand. He led her through vaulted corridors draped in tapestries of forgotten wars, his stride purposeful and protective. Elara felt like a ghost wa

hed them open, revealing a chamber that was less a bedroom and more a sanctuary. Fur

in his eyes, making them burn with an intensity that made Elara's breath hitch. "The Silver Mo

in you. Usually, that hole kills an Omega. They wither and fade because they define themselves by the bond. But you..." He reached out, his glo

to force a sound out. She wanted to ask why. Why sav

ell me who to love and how to rule. They called me a monster until I became one. And you? They called you silent until

Nightshade and Moonstone. It will heighten the fever. Your shift isn't happening because your human mind is still

isgusted sneer. She thought of Tanya's boot in the mud. She thought of the eighteen years

t was inst

hitting the furs as a guttural gasp finally broke the silence of her lips-a raw, hollowing sound of pure agony. Her skin began to g

as standing over her, his own wolf pushing against the surface of his skin, his claws extending

she was in a vast, frozen tundra beneath a black sun. In the distance, a wolf waited. It was enormous, its fur the

ommanded, its voice

ht, the word frac

east roared,

rst shift. But this wasn't the rhythmic cracking of a standard transformation. It was the sound of a seal shattering. Her spine le

has shift, seen Kings transform, but he had never seen a Pureblood reclamation. Th

the screami

countered, her coat a brilliant, snowy white that seemed to absorb the light around her. When she opened her eyes, they were no longer b

tion of war. The sound vibrated through the Obsidian Fortress, shaking the very foundations of t

him, her movements fluid and lethal. She stopped inches from his chest, sniff

ck, soft fur of her neck. "There she is," he whispered, a rare, genuin

heat, the wolf vanished, and Elara lay gasping on the furs, her human form returned but changed. Her skin

way it never had before. She felt the weight of the silence she had carried for te

n," she

t was the most beautiful sound the Rogue King had ever

er shivering shoulders. "Your voice is a weapon, Elara. U

setting over the distant borders of the Silver Moon territory. She could still feel the phantom ache where Kaelen had ripped t

ice growing stronger, more resonant. "I want

his golden eyes reflecting the dawn of a new, bloody era. "He wi