g Sanctum, a circular room at the highest peak of the castle where the ceiling was open to the swirling, violet-tinted clouds of the Wastes. The air was thin and bitingly

her skin prickle. "Control is a lie the packs tell themselves to feel safe," he said, his voice echoing against the obsidian walls.

was still fragile, a new tool

oom. As he moved, the shadows pooled around his boots like liquid ink. "It is the ability to ex

into her own consciousness, she hit a wall. It wasn't the rejection bond, and it wasn't the silence. It was a new, pulsing hea

clutched her stomach. A sharp, rhythmic t

d to her midsection, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air. His golden eyes widened,

her skin flickering wildly. "It feels like... like s

is own Alpha energy into her. He recoiled almost immediately, his breath hitching. "It isn't a week. To a Pureblood, time is as flu

erhaps even days. The "Secret Heir" she hadn't even known she carried-Kaelen's child-was being

ice trembling with a mixture of fear and n

s your training. You are providing power for two now. If you don't learn to shadow-walk, the sheer volume of en

ening. "Focus on the pain, Elara. Don

ought of the child within her-a child conceived in a moment of what she thought was love, only to be or

it, letting the golden spark of the heir merge with the silver fire of the white wolf. The

ice in her he

one with the cold air and the dark stone. For a second, the world vanished. There was

the room. She was perched on the very edge of the obsidian battlement

sudden intake of freezing air. She had d

the sheer, blurring speed of his Rogue strength. He looked at her with

gues spend decades trying to cross a room.

well-tuned engine. The pain in her stomach had subsided into a dull, manageable thrum. "I can fee

ry. "He has every right to be. He is the son of a King and a Godde

ust performed... it left a trail. A pulse of Pureblood energy that even a blind Al

amond-like edge. "Let him spend every night looking at th

e need to move faster. The Council will be meeting at the neutral grounds of the Blood Springs in three days. They

tion," Elar

cts his fated mate without just cause forfeits his right to the bloodline. If we can prove you are

d th

ueen, we don't just take his title. We take his pack. We take his

was a pulse of power that turned the air around her into a shimmering haze of gold and si

isturbance. Elara didn't flinch. She simply looked into the darkness and whispered a sin

So