PRIMOS ALEXANDER’S POV
They felt the shift.
My Kyrexeis. My Lykois. My Syntagmas. They moved without my command.
Without my permission.
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The moment I left the room, the courtyard had turned into chaos, I could smell the unrest before I even got there. Dozens of them, trained men, elite guards circling like they were answering an alarm only they could hear.
One of the Syntagmas stepped forward, chest puffed. “Primus, we know the Luna is inside. Let us see her. We only wish to
make sure she’s not harmed as we smell a threat.”
The Luna.
They had called her that. Not traitor. Not thief, Not spy.
I struck him. Hard.
His body flew across the clearing and I didn’t even care to look if he was alive or not. Then everywhere went silent.
“You listen to me,” I growled, holding on to the Core Fang soo tightly that I felt I would crack. “You move when I say move. You protect whan I say protect. You question me again and I won’t stop at a warning”
My claws had pushed halfway out. My eyes burned golden. I looked around, daring any of them to step forward but no one
moved.
Good.
Let them remember what fear tasted like, Because ever since she opened her mouth, everything’s been unraveling. But, their actions reminded me of something, the day I found her inside that tree.
That night I felt something shift and I ran out, with beasts besides me. Shifters I didn’t call ran with me that day. All because of her. That was her first cry, her first summ
No. I stopped on my track. It was way before that,
When the vines first attacked, she stopped time. During the coronation, she did the same and even made other beasts attack Gaia instead of fleeing completely.
Ireleased an evil laugh. It was all beginning to make sense now. This white little thief.
The Core Fang pulsed in my hand like it could feel the betrayal I carried. It had changed, drastically. Each second that passed as I walked to my chambers left a cooling, yet stinging and burning sensation on my palm. She had tampered with
The storm had followed me. Thunder cracked overhead, loud enough to rattle the windows. When I reached the door to my chambers, I didn’t knock. But immediately I shoved it open, thunder boomed behind me.
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Chapter 56
Levi was kneeling.
Aquamarine was crying.
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The light from the window flashed across her pale face. Her robe was damp with sweat. Hair stuck to her cheeks. She was curled into herself, pressed into the wall like she wanted to disappear. Levi sat beside her, murmuring something I couldn’t
hear.
1 stepped inside slowly, shutting the door behind me with a sharp click. Levi rose. He didn’t look at her again. Didn’t argue.
He met my eyes, jaw tight. He walked past me without another word.
The door closed.
Now it was just us.
The Owner and his Little Thief.
The Primus and His….. Primus.
The room was burning.
Or maybe it was just me.
Heat clawed up my spine, pressure mounting in my skull, steam practically pouring from my nose as I tried to breathe, tried to stay human. But my heart pounded too fast. My hands shook with rage. My skin felt too tight.
My claws wanted to rip through her lies. My fangs scraped against my tongue, aching to bury into something. Anything. H could still hear her breathing, short and uneven. Her body trembled as thunder cracked again.
I remembered.
She hated storms.
I didn’t care.
I walked to the table and dropped the Core Fang back onto it with a loud thud. The sound made her flinch.
She looked up at me, her white eyes wide and glimmering with confusion. With fear.
And it only made me angrier.
Her lips were swollen from biting, trembling like they couldn’t decide whether to beg or argue. Her face was red and stained with tears. Her hands were chapped, bruised, scraped raw from the metal she’d worked with. The same hands that touched my Core Fang. The same ones that held power now.
She looked broken.
But it was all a trick. All of it.
“You look the part,” I said coldly, pacing. “Fragile. Helpless. But I know better now.”
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Chapter 56
I dragged a hand over my jaw, veins bulging along my arms as I fought to hold myself in place. I was trembling. From betrayal. From restraint. From the ache in my chest that I still hated acknowledging.
“You think I don’t see it?” I snapped, stepping closer. “Those tears? That soft voice? The way your lips tremble like you’re
the victim?”
“I didn’t,” she whispered, taking little steps back. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Don’t.” I snapped. “Don’t even start. This is your fault,” I said, each word like a slap. “They questioned me. My men. My pack. They came looking for you, like I’m some threat. Like I’m the enemy.”
Her mouth parted, but no sound came out.
“You did that. With your little outburst. With your command. And that mark–it’s not something I can just rip off.”
“And the worst part?” I said. “I still feel you in my blood. Like you belong there. Like no matter what I do, I’ll always feel your bite under my skin.”
Her body shivered. She backed up a step, one bare foot slipping slightly on the floor. Her lips moved again, but her voice
cracked.
I hated her.
I hated the way she still looked like mine.
“Gaia,” I said tightly, “she was right about you.”
Her eyes widened.
“You fell from the balcony that day just to get attention. You faked being too weak to shift, didn’t you?” I spat. “You broke her bracelet just so she could unleash her magic. You framed her. You pretended to be dying just so you could gain my
trust.”
“No, I didn’t-”
“You faked your near–death experience just to see how much I would fall. And the second I slipped, you took advantage of
it.”
Tears streamed down her face again. But I didn’t stop.
“You know,” I hissed, voice low and rough, “I thought maybe, just maybe, things would be different with you. But I was
wrong”
Her lip quivered again. “Alexander, 1-
“I fought for you. I killed for you. Men, Elders.” I sneered.” Even when the Order warned me. Even when they wanted you to read other scrolls, I prevented them because I didn’t want them to find out that you can’t read. That you couldn’t shift. I still defended you.”
I slammed a hand into the stone beside her head, caging her between me and the wall. She jumped,
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“Levi? He gave everything. Even after I punished his mate for your mistake, he stayed loyal. For you.”
She whimpered. “I didn’t mean to-”
“I trusted you,” I growled. “More than Levi. More than anyone. And this… this is what I get?”
Her knees buckled slightly. Her breath was unsteady. Her entire body shivered under the weight of my fury.
“This,” I said, backing away only to pace like an animal, “is something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
1stopped. Turned.
“You want power?” I said. “You want to be the Primus?”
Her head shook violently.
“Too late,” I spat. “From now on, you’ll be treated how you deserve.”
I stalked back toward her till she pressed herself into the wall, her eyes wide, terrified.
“Nothing but a breeder,” I said darkly. “And when I’m done with you, I’ll send you back to the ruins you crawled out of and not in one piece.”
She gasped like I’d slapped her.
Good.
I wanted her to feel it.
All of it.
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