“Akela, get inside me. Now!” Aidan called his wolf back and Akela didn’t resist because he knew it wasn’t an unfounded command. As things stood, Aidan’s safety... or at least his life, could be guaranteed, but the only way he would be protected was inside his lycan. After all, he was living proof of Aidan’s disobedience to the laws his own parents had enforced on the lycans for centuries.“What did you do, Aidan?!” the king shouted, turning to his son just as the guards finished clearing the temple of the Goddess.Confusion reigned and rumors of what had happened that night would spread like fire on dry powder. In the center of the orchestra only the king and queen, Aidan, Myra, and General Nader, who did not dare leave his daughter alone in front of the wrath of Caerbhall Casthiel, remained.“What did I do? I won my wolf! And I’m not ashamed to admit it,” Aidan answered with determination. “The only thing I regret is that I spent six centuries torturing him instead of making him a pa

No one knew exactly how the fire that engulfed half the royal house had started, but the following day the New York Times carried the news on the front page that the residence of one of the oldest and most respected families in the city had burned to the ground.The truth was that it was not a big deal, but it certainly meant that Rhiannon of Isrion’s words had struck a chord in the minds of many lycans, or else no one would have dared to start a fire since no one was buying that it was an accident.“I hold you responsible for all this!” the king shouted to Erea as the losses and defectors were listed, especially those who had openly rebelled against them and left with Rhiannon.“You can also hold me responsible for the crown on your head,” the queen replied, “that you are so reluctant to pass on to our son.”The king answered with a grunt, but if in times of peace quarrels were not a problem for them, this had just turned into a war, and everyone was pretty sure it would be an import

Rhiannon could understand perfectly why that lycan did not want to accept the Keqzhara. It was difficult for someone used to being free to suddenly find himself bound to a destiny he had not foreseen, and something must be said: the Keqzhara spears were a destiny in themselves, they were the constant path of the protection of the lineage of Isrion, and it was a path that did not admit detours once it was the spear that chose you.Unfortunately, the strongest of the Keqzhara had chosen, and she had chosen him, only the Goddess knew why. In the end, it became impossible for him to bear it any longer, and he had to reach out to touch it... but no one, in years, had seen a partial transformation like that.Milo emerged on Maddox’s skin and his spirit remained there, restless and ready, darkening as he joined the Keqzhara in a strange way. Rhiannon recoiled, for that kind of power, or rather, that potential for power she had only seen in one other wolf since she had left the Watchtower...

“I’m not sure I can answer that question for you.”‘I’m not sure I can answer that question for you?’ Was that all Maddox had to say?Rhiannon had turned that over in her head and Raksha’s a thousand times, until they had both fallen asleep, unable to understand why Maddox wore the exact same mark on his shoulder as Aidan and herself.She was sure she didn’t share the same kind of bond with him that she shared with Aidan; after all, the bond that linked her to Aidan had been meant to save her life. However, she knew her mark had been made by herself over the centuries, and Maddox having it had to mean something, right?“You’re driving me crazy,” was the first thing she heard in that early morning when she opened her eyes again.“I’m sorry. I guess I’m just too worried about this,” Rhiannon replied to her she-wolf.“More like you’re worried about everything else and you’re using this as a good excuse to escape it,” Raksha assured her.“Well... it doesn’t look like that’s going to chang

Brennan held him up as he cursed loudly, attracting the attention of Briccia and old Lidora.The priestess’s eyes turned as blue as her wolf’s as she examined the wound.“Silver bullet,” she murmured. “Do you feel very bad?”“They wounded her... they wounded Rhiannon...” was all Aidan could mumble, his eyes wild.“Calm down, she’s healing,” Briccia assured him, and his face took on a strange calmness. “But this is only the beginning. This means they’re already hunting her.”Aidan’s jaw tightened, feeling Akela howl inside him in despair. Briccia placed a hand over his wound and his eyes clouded over completely, losing all the brightness that her wolf's eyes had given her.“I’m so sorry to tell you this, but you’ll have to take sides,” the girl whispered in a sad voice. “The war is about to begin... and I’m afraid you won’t make it in time for the first battle.”And indeed, hundreds of miles away from them, the first hunt led by King Caerbhall against the resistance had already begun.