Adrian’s POV When Pippa’s light retreats, there’s almost nothing left of the part of the forest that surrounds us. The water in the stream boils and hisses softly as it releases steam into the atmosphere. Dying trees stand out starkly against the blue skies, their skeletons now nothing more than a memory of her fearsome power, the blackened grass and plants will never come back to life. This part of the forest is dead forever. All but three of our enemies have been turned to dust, floating away on the breeze. The survivors – Edith, Niall, and Finian – are huddled together, clinging to each other like terrified toddlers. When they realise they’re not dead, they scream and try to get up, but Pippa bound them to the earth. They will die where they sit. I stare at my mate in wonder and terror. I’ve heard stories about wrathful Undines and the havoc they’ll wreak when they’re truly angry. Seeing it with my own eyes is a different story, though. I don't know if I should be scared or pro

Adrian's POVWe don’t make it back to our camp until late the next morning.We were too tired to keep going, and Monty found an out of the way place where we could spend the night. The little holiday cottage was empty and boarded up for the winter, but we barricaded ourselves in regardless.Early the next morning, while Tammy and Pippa slipped away to wash, I asked Monty if Joseph ever contacted him to tell him where we were. The old wolf shook his head woefully. “No, but we followed them two mages, heard them talking. Edith said the spell would spit you out where the Cambion feels safest. I figured either the farm or the church.”I nodded, and watched through two slats of wood as my mate returned with her friend, hoping that I’d be able to give her a home where she’d feel safe one day.We pull up to the camp and I shake Pippa awake. “We’re here,” I say softly.My mate rubs her eyes like a sleepy toddler and looks past me out of the window. The Betas and Gammas are on one side of the

Adrian's POVI return to the hotel to get my clothes and dress before I jog bag to the camp, where I’m shown to the biggest tent in the place.It reminds me a little of something I used to see in medieval war movies, when the king had the biggest tent, fully kitted with a fireplace, bed, desks, chairs, and everything else he needed. Except that my bed is an air mattress, and my fireplace a wonky and dangerous looking gas heater. My table and chairs are a camping table and two fold-up chairs.In the middle of the tent, next to the lethal-looking gas stove, is an old copper tub for washing, with what looks like an old, but clean, area rug right next to it. “Where on earth did you get all this stuff,” I ask Monty as I take a seat on one of the camping chairs.“Some of it be from the hotel…the Alphas’ Omegas brought in the mattress and sleeping bags and such.”“Do you know yet who arranged all this?”“Aye. All the Alphas worked together like. I found some trucks hidden in the woods too.”

**TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter is rough. Proceed with caution.** Caspian's POV I walk through the empty palace to the throne room where Julian and Gerald wait for me. They’re on either side of the throne, both of them with the same frozen grins on their faces. Fucking useless motherfuckers. Neither of them told me about the herbs that could kill my child, and Julian actually had the gall to beg for the midwives’ lives. The two of them really think I don’t know what they’ve been planning, but I am on to them. Just as soon as I’m done with Adrian, they’ll die too. Of course I have to hold up the illusion that I trust them, and when they least expect it…BAM! death. They deserve it. Once everyone knows their place again and order has been restored, I’ll appoint new, loyal Betas and Gammas “Good morning,” I say to the two grinning wolves. “Any word from our spies?” “No, Alpha,” Gerald says. “How about my mate?” I ask and look straight at Julian. “Heard anything from her?” The grinn

Adrian's POVI find Pippa in our tent after the memorial service. She’s sitting on the deflating air mattress, staring out into nothingness. “Are you okay?”“No.”“No,” I echo her. “Neither am I.”Death doesn't usually bother me. I've sat next to many people, offering guidance and support as they watched loved ones depart from this world. I've conducted as many, if not more, funeral services, but today I could feel the wolves' grief as accutely as if it were my own, and I nearly fell to pieces. We've seen too much death too fast.I fall on the mattress next to Pippa, hitting the ground under us with a jarring thump. “Mattress is deflating,” she says. Her voice is monotone, almost dead. “What happened?”“These things deflate. I’ll ask Monty to-”“No,” she interrupts me. “To my life. How the hell did I end up here? In this place? Surrounded by death and blood and chaos.”Watching the cremations were the hardest on her. I felt her shock and pain when the wolves lit the funeral pyres. We