The northern border burns at dawn.
Not with fire. Not with war. But with silence.
I stand at the edge of the ridge, boots planted in the frost-laced soil, my dark eyes scanning the tree line below. The forest is still—no birds, no wind, no whisper of movement. Just the cold breath of the Carpathians and the distant howl of a lone wolf, calling for a pack that won’t answer. The sentries are gone. The watchtowers empty. The border wards—etched into stone and blood—have been shattered, their magic snuffed like candles in a storm.
And the scent—
Thick. Metallic. Ancient.
Vampire.
Not just any vampire.
Vexis.
“They didn’t fight,” I say, voice low, to the soldier at my side. “They vanished. Or were taken.”
He nods, face pale beneath his fur-lined hood. “No bodies. No blood. Just… gone.”
My wolf growls low in my chest. I don’t silence it. Let it rise. Let it feel the danger in the air, the weight of betrayal, the taste of something darker than war. This isn’t an invasion. It’s a message. A theft. A test.
And I know who it’s meant for.
Not Kaelen.
Not Amber.
Me.
—
I return to the palace at midday, my boots tracking frost across the stone, my cloak heavy with the scent of pine and blood. The inner sanctum is quiet—too quiet. No laughter from the training yards. No clatter of steel. No Omegas bustling through the corridors with baskets of herbs and linens. Just silence. The kind that comes before a storm.
I find Kaelen in the war room, as I knew I would.
Standing at the obsidian table, maps spread before him, his golden eyes sharp, his fangs just visible beneath his clenched jaw. Amber is beside him, her green eyes fierce, her magic coiled low beneath her skin. She doesn’t look up as I enter. Doesn’t speak. Just keeps her gaze on the parchment, her fingers tracing the edge of a blood oath sigil—Vexis’s sigil.
They already know.
Of course they do.
The bond hums between them—steady, strong, no longer a chain, but a current. And it’s not just theirs.
It’s ours.
“The border,” I say, stopping at the edge of the table. “It’s compromised. No bodies. No battle. Just… gone.”
Kaelen doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t look up. Just nods, one hand lifting to rub the scar on his neck—the one from Selene’s bite. A lie. A memory. A warning.
“Vexis,” he says.
“Yes,” I say. “But not with an army. Not with shadows. He took them. Alive.”
Amber finally looks up. “Why?”
“To weaken us,” I say. “To divide us. To make us question who we can trust.”
“And do you?” Kaelen asks, turning to me. “Question it?”
I meet his gaze—gold eyes fierce, searching. My Alpha. My brother. My king.
“No,” I say. “But someone else might.”
And then—
A knock.
Soft. Deliberate.
“Alpha,” a voice calls from the hall. “Lord Vexis requests an audience. He says it’s urgent.”
My blood runs cold.
Kaelen’s fangs elongate. Amber’s magic flares—green light spiraling from her fingertips, scorching the edge of the map.
“He’s not coming in,” she says, voice sharp.
“No,” Kaelen agrees. “But I’ll hear what he has to say.”
“Then I’ll be there,” I say.
He doesn’t argue. Doesn’t question. Just nods, his golden eyes flashing with something darker. Trust.
And I know—
This isn’t just about the border.
It’s about me.
—
The audience chamber is cold—stone walls lined with ancient tapestries, torches flickering low, the air thick with the scent of old blood and forgotten magic. Vexis stands at the center, cloaked in black, his pale fingers laced together, his ice-blue eyes scanning the room like a predator assessing its prey. He looks… unchanged. Ageless. Cold. But there’s something different in the way he holds himself. Not power. Not arrogance.
Anticipation.
“Alpha,” he says, voice smooth, like silk over steel. “How kind of you to receive me.”
Kaelen doesn’t answer. Just steps forward, boots echoing on stone, his presence filling the room. Amber is at his side, her back straight, her green eyes sharp. I stand behind them, silent, watchful, my hand on the hilt of my blade.
“You’ve crossed the border,” Kaelen says. “You’ve taken my soldiers. And now you have the audacity to stand in my hall.”
Vexis smiles. “I didn’t take them. I rescued them.”
“From what?” Amber demands.
“From you,” he says, turning to her. “From the lie you’ve built. From the bond that’s slowly killing him.”
Her magic flares—green light spiraling around her hands—but Kaelen doesn’t let her move. One hand lifts, presses against her back, holding her in place. Not to control. To protect.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kaelen growls.
“Don’t I?” Vexis asks. “I was there, Kaelen. I witnessed the blood oath with Selene. I saw the mark on her throat. I saw the shame in your eyes when you realized what you’d done.”
“And what of it?” Kaelen snaps. “It was a lie. A transaction. Nothing more.”
“And yet,” Vexis says, “the mark remains. And the pack remembers. And Amber—” his voice drops “—she wonders. Every night. Every breath. Every heartbeat. Is he truly mine?”
Amber doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t look away. Just stares at him—green eyes blazing, her magic coiled tight.
“You don’t know me,” she says. “You don’t know the bond. And you don’t know what we’ve survived.”
“No,” he agrees. “But I know what’s coming. I know what you are. And I know what you’ll become.”
“And what’s that?” Kaelen asks.
Vexis turns to me. “I know what he is.”
Silence.
Not just in the room. In the air. In the blood.
“Me?” I say, stepping forward.
He smiles. “Riven. Beta. Lieutenant. Loyal to a fault. But not, I think, to the right master.”
My jaw tightens. “I serve the Alpha.”
“Do you?” Vexis asks. “Or do you serve the woman who broke the curse? The witch who healed him? The mate who stands beside him when you stand behind?”
I don’t answer.
Because he’s not wrong.
Not entirely.
“You’ve always been in the shadows,” Vexis says. “Watching. Waiting. Protecting. But never leading. Never claiming. Never being seen.”
“I don’t need to be seen,” I say. “I need to do my duty.”
“And what if your duty changes?” he asks. “What if the Alpha falls? What if the bond breaks? What if the witch betrays him?”
“She won’t,” I say, voice low.
“And if she does?” he presses. “If she destroys the Heartstone? If she frees the curse? If she kills him in his sleep?”
“Then I’ll kill her first,” I say. “And if you think I won’t—” my hand tightens on my blade “—you don’t know me at all.”
He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t look away. Just smiles. “I don’t need you to kill her. I need you to see her. To question. To doubt. To wonder if the bond is real. If the love is real. If you are real.”
And then—
He steps closer.
Not to Kaelen.
Not to Amber.
To me.
“Join me,” he whispers. “Not as a traitor. Not as a spy. But as a man who sees the truth. Who knows the bond is a lie. Who knows the witch is a weapon. Who knows the Alpha is dying.”
My wolf snarls in my chest. My fangs elongate. The air around me shimmers with heat, with power, with the raw, unfiltered rage of a Beta defending his Alpha.
“No,” I say.
“Think,” he says. “You’ve served him for decades. You’ve bled for him. You’ve killed for him. And what has it earned you? A shadow. A silence. A life in the dark.”
“It’s earned me honor,” I say. “And loyalty. And the knowledge that I’ve stood beside a true Alpha.”
“And if he’s not?” Vexis asks. “If he’s weak? If he’s broken? If he’s been manipulated by a witch who came here to destroy him?”
“Then I’ll stand beside him anyway,” I say. “Because that’s what a Beta does. That’s what a brother does. That’s what a man does.”
He doesn’t argue. Doesn’t threaten. Just steps back, his pale fingers lacing together once more.
“Then you’ll die with him,” he says. “And the witch. And the pack. And the bond. All of it, burning to ash.”
“Then let it burn,” I say. “But not before I tear your heart out with my bare hands.”
He smiles. Cold. Cruel. Like the sound of breaking glass.
“We’ll see,” he says. “We’ll see when the past rises. When the truth is revealed. When the bond shatters.”
And then—
He’s gone.
Not with smoke. Not with shadow.
With a whisper.
And the silence—
It screams.
—
Kaelen doesn’t speak as we leave the chamber.
Doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t pull away. Just walks beside me, his heat searing through the space between us, his scent wrapping around me like a vow.
And Amber—
She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t fear. Just walks behind us, her magic humming beneath her skin, not wild, not uncontrolled, but aligned. With the bond. With her purpose. With us.
But I know—
Vexis wasn’t lying.
Not entirely.
Because I have wondered.
Every night. Every breath. Every heartbeat.
What if the bond is a lie?
What if she destroys him?
What if I’m not enough to protect him?
And now—
He knows.
Not because I said it.
But because the bond tells him everything.
—
We reach the war room in silence.
Not the tense, hostile quiet of our early days, but something deeper. Calmer. Like two warriors who’ve just survived a battle and don’t need words to know they stood back-to-back.
Kaelen turns to me. “You didn’t hesitate.”
“I didn’t need to,” I say.
“And if he’d offered you power?” Amber asks. “A throne? A kingdom? A mate of your own?”
“I don’t want a throne,” I say. “I don’t want a kingdom. I don’t want a mate.”
“Then what do you want?” Kaelen asks.
I look at him. At the man who pulled me from the battlefield with a broken spine. Who carried me through the snow. Who poured his blood into my veins to save me. Who made me Beta when others said I was too weak. Too broken. Too human.
“I want to stand beside you,” I say. “Not because I have to. Not because of duty. But because you’re my brother. My Alpha. My king.”
He doesn’t smile. Doesn’t laugh. Just reaches for me.
One hand grips my shoulder—hard, firm, real. The other presses against my chest, over my heart. “You’re not just my Beta,” he says. “You’re my brother. My blood. My pack.”
And the bond—
It sings.
Not with war.
With truth.
—
Later, in the quiet of the guest chamber, I find her.
Not Amber.
Not Selene.
But the girl.
The fae spy.
She stands in the shadows, her silver hair loose, her violet eyes sharp, her scent laced with something darker. Secrets.
“You heard,” I say.
She nods. “Vexis offered you power.”
“And I refused.”
“And if he offers it again?”
“I’ll refuse again.”
She steps closer. “And if he offers it to me? To use against you?”
My jaw tightens. “Then you’ll refuse too.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll kill you,” I say. “But not before I make you see what I see. What I fight for. What I love.”
She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t look away. Just stares at me—violet eyes blazing—until, slowly, she leans in, presses her forehead to mine.
“Then let me stand with you,” she whispers. “Not as a spy. Not as a weapon. But as the woman who sees you. Who knows you. Who loves you.”
And the bond—
It sings.
Not with war.
With truth.
—
But in the shadows, far beyond the Vale, a figure stands atop a crumbling tower, the wind howling around him.
Lord Vexis.
His pale fingers trace the edge of a black dagger, its runes glowing faintly. His eyes—like ice—scan the horizon.
“You refused,” he whispers. “You chose loyalty over power. Brotherhood over rule.”
He smiles.
“But you haven’t faced the past yet.”