(Dual POV)
Leonardo's POV
War never changes its scent.
It's always the same — iron and smoke, the wet rot of mud churned beneath boots and blood. When the wind shifts, you can almost taste the fear hiding beneath it. The wolves smell it before the men do.
My soldiers stand in formation across the ridge, their eyes glowing faintly in the dusk. Beyond them, the enemy banners flicker crimson against the fog. The eastern packs have gathered under a stolen sigil — the twisted crown of Voren.
The one I once called brother.
I tighten my grip on the hilt of my blade, the pulse in my palm syncing to the low rumble in my chest. The wolf within me prowls restlessly, whispering end it. But I can't. Not yet.
Not while the throne still stands behind me.Not while she still waits within its walls.
"Your Majesty."It's my Beta, Carden, his face streaked with soot. "The flank is holding, but barely. They're using suppressants."
Suppressants. That word burns more than the wounds ever could. It means the rebels are cutting through pheromone instinct — turning beasts into men with no leash, no limit.
"Let them come," I answer, voice low, calm. "We'll see how long their courage lasts when the moon rises."
He nods, but there's a shadow in his eyes — the same doubt I've seen in every soldier who's followed me since the civil war. How many more kings will die before peace returns?
I raise my sword to signal the charge, but then — a sting.Deep beneath my skin, at the base of my neck.
The mark.
It flares once, then fades to a hollow throb. My breath stutters.
Evne.
For the first time in days, I feel her presence — distant, faint, terrified. My knees nearly buckle as the bond twists painfully, stretching thin. Something's wrong.
Before I can focus, the horns blare.
The battle erupts.
Steel meets flesh. Wolves shift mid-sprint, their bodies tearing into fur and claws as the first line collides. I follow — sword flashing, scent of ozone bursting from my aura. Every swing sends ripples through the battlefield. My instincts take over — efficient, merciless.
But every time I blink, I see her face.Her eyes.The way she said promise me you'll come back.
And the mark burns again — weaker, this time.
No.
Not now. Not her.
A blur moves at the edge of my vision. Too fast. Too silent.
Then a flash of silver — a blade coated with suppressant venom, cutting through the chaos. I turn just in time to block, but the steel bites into my shoulder. The pain is immediate, searing.
Voren steps out from the smoke.
He hasn't aged a day. His hair, still the color of winter, glints with blood as he grins. "You've grown careless, old friend."
"Careless," I spit, "or merciful."
He laughs — and in that sound, I hear everything that was lost: comradeship, betrayal, the ruin of kingdoms.
"You should have died that night," Voren says, lunging again. "Instead, you hid behind walls and women."
Rage surges. My aura erupts, cracking the ground beneath us. For a moment, even the battlefield goes still.
I strike — faster, harder. Sparks fly, steel screaming against steel. But the suppressant in my veins is spreading. My strength falters, vision doubling.
Somewhere in the storm, I hear her voice.Faint. Pleading.
Leonardo, please—
My wolf roars inside me, shattering through the poison's hold. For one brief, terrible moment, I am both man and beast — blade in one hand, claws in the other. I drive him back, step by step, until his eyes flicker with the first flicker of doubt.
Then another explosion tears the air apart.
The ridge collapses.
The last thing I see before the smoke consumes me is the horizon — red and black, like the crown of a dying god.
And then — nothing.
Only silence.
(First Person POV)
The mark went cold.
I woke that night gasping, clutching the back of my neck as if I could hold the fading warmth there by sheer will. The ache spread down my spine like frost.
Something had happened. I knew it.
The palace was eerily still — too still. No messengers had come. No horns. No word. Only whispers slipping through the servants' quarters, claiming the Alpha King's forces had been pushed back.
I told myself it was a lie. It had to be.
But by dawn, the mark stopped pulsing altogether.
That's when I broke.
I tore through his study — papers scattered, maps ripped from the walls. I found the half-burnt journal he'd kept hidden beneath a false drawer, the one I'd once glimpsed but never dared open. Inside, between the ink stains and blood smears, were notes written to no one — letters never sent.
"If I die, tell the council nothing. The kingdom must not fracture again."
"If she finds this — Evne, forgive me. I am not the man I pretend to be. I never was."
"My wolf chose you long before I understood why."
My throat tightened. I pressed my hand to the ink, smearing it as if I could feel the shape of him there.
"No," I whispered. "You promised me."
The bond may have faded — but something deeper stirred. Instinct, wild and unrelenting.
The kind only an Omega could feel when her Alpha's heartbeat faltered.
Before dawn's first light broke, I was already dressed in his cloak, the scent of him still clinging to the fabric. My body ached — the same ache that always came before a storm of heat, but sharper this time, carved through with grief.
As I passed the great hall, the council guards tried to stop me.
"Lady Roman," one began, bowing. "The King has forbidden—"
"The King isn't here," I said, my voice calm, deadly quiet. "And if he's still alive, he'll need more than your permission to survive."
The soldier hesitated — then stepped aside.
Outside, the sky was bleeding crimson. The scent of smoke drifted on the wind. Somewhere beyond those mountains, Leonardo was fighting for a throne that was already devouring him.
The mark didn't lie.Even faint, it still hummed in my bones, guiding me toward him.
I looked once over my shoulder — at the palace, at everything that should have kept me safe. Then I whispered to the empty dawn,
"Wait for me, Leonardo Ivankov. Don't you dare die before I find you."
And with that, I ran — into the cold wind, toward the distant howl rising from the borderlands, where a king's fate and a bond's promise would soon collide.