Drew The night finally arrived. The night of our big battle. The night we would face Tobias, the night my best friends would reclaim the kingdom as the rightful rulers. We had everything set. Everything in place. Everyone in place. Each of us with our part to play, each of us only knowing as much as we needed to know in order to make sure the entire plan couldn’t leak out. We approached the palace grounds, Lukas in the lead with Dave beside him, Juniper with her hands bound in iron shackles, mine bound in silver etched with magic blocking runes. We both wore our same clothing from the night of the ceremony, although Alessia distressed them a bit. We looked as though we had been on the run with nowhere to hide, with nothing but the clothes on our backs. “I am here to see King Tobias,” Lukas declared, as we stopped at the gate of the pal

Finn Get in, get Adam, get out, see my family. That was what I kept repeating to myself as we traveled through the secret tunnels, following Damien as he navigated them from memory. He had spent his childhood exploring them with Eric, the two of them using them to play pranks on the palace staff and their parents, and then hide from their unsuspecting victims. I could imagine Drew and Lukas doing the same, if they had grown up here, and I could picture our kids keeping the tradition — sneaking through the passages, trying to hide from their responsibilities or training — but we had to defeat Tobias first, in order for that to happen. We were as quiet as possible, using nothing but our own abilities to see in the dimly lit tunnels. Veronica held onto Damien’s hand, and Lyssa had Lukas’s, since their night vision wasn’t as strong as ours, and I was bringing up the rear, ready to roast any enemies who tried to follow us. Not that there was anyone around to follow us. The palace was s

Lukas “This is between you and me, Tobias,” I said. “No one else has to die.” Tobias raised his brow at me, his face the picture of surprise. I kept my composure as I uttered my next words. “I, Lukas Daniel Aidamir, challenge you, Tobias Arnold Bancroft, for the throne of the kingdom of Volkor.” Tobias gave me a calculating look, and then lowered his gun, handing it off to Felicity. “A challenge?” he questioned, and I nodded. It was my backup plan, but between letting my mate die or fighting a bogus challenge for something that was rightfully mine, I would always choose the challenge. I could defeat him. I had to defeat him. Our lives depended on it. I glanced to the side, and Juniper gave me a weak smile, her green eyes completely devoid of their usual gold. I was not sure if it was from the iron cuffs or from her fear for our futures, but I wanted this to all be over so I could see it return. I had to finish this, and I had to finish it quickly. “What are your terms?” Tobias a

WARNING GRAPHIC DETAILS IN THIS CHAPTERLukas“I love you, Lukas,” June’s voice murmured in my head.And then everything went black.Only, it wasn’t black for long. There was a split second of darkness, and then a bright golden light blazed beneath my eyelids. On my chest, just above my heart, there was a warmth and a tingling sensation.Power and strength surged through me, originating from that spot on my chest. The weakness I felt from the poisoned silver on the dagger dissipated, leaving behind a renewed vigor.A pulse of magic jolted my body, and my eyes sprang open. I stared at the empty space where Juniper had been only moments before.I knew she had been there, but I didn’t have time for confusion. I had a challenge to win, a usurper to overthrow, and a kingdom to save.I turned back to Tobias, who was still crouching over me in his wolf form, stretching out his supposed victory over me. I could see it in his eyes. He’d thought he’d won, thought there was no way I would come b

LukasI scratched my beard and then scrubbed my hand over my face to hide my yawn. I had lost count of how many times I had done the same move in order to hide how exhausted I was.All I wanted to do was find whatever room and bed they had put my mate in, and wrap myself around her and sleep until next week.But we had all agreed that there were some things that needed to be discussed before we all turned in for the night, things that just couldn’t wait until morning.So, with reluctance, I had relinquished my hold on June, handing her over to Drew, who had followed his mom through the palace to find a room to put her in while she slept. Finn offered to stay on the battlegrounds to help with cleaning up the area and interrogating some of Tobias’s men. Leo then led us to one of the conference rooms on the ground floor of the palace, and we each collapsed into our chairs in exhaustion.When Veronica returned, she was alone. Drew remained with Juniper, both for my sake and his own, to wa