POV Soren
The moon hangs heavy over the estate, silver light spilling through my window like an accusation.
I stand in my guest chambers, staring at that distant orb, and my wolf howls beneath my skin with conflicting urges so violent they threaten to tear me apart.
Sleep is impossible. Has been impossible for hours. Tomorrow, we execute the escape plan.
Tomorrow, I will lose everything.
Eva carries my child.
The thought pounds through me like a second heartbeat, relentless and demanding. My heir. The continuation of my bloodline.
The future of my pack, growing inside a woman who will disappear into the wilderness with another man.
Every instinct screams at me to claim what's mine. To abandon this rescue plan and take what I'm owed instead. I could drag Eva back to the North, where she belongs, where our child would be raised as royalty.
My wolf doesn't understand sacrifice—it only understands possession. Protect. Claim. Keep.
The beast claws at my control, demanding I act on urges I've spent a lifetime suppressing.
But I've seen the way Eva looks at Dominic.
I saw it in the courtyard when she threw herself between him and the whip. Saw the way her body moved without thought, driven by love so fierce it overrode every survival instinct.
I saw it in the dungeon when their fingers intertwined through the bars—two people holding onto each other like the world was ending.
That look. Desperate. Consuming. Certain.
She's never directed it at me. Not once.
Not even during our most intimate moments. Not when I was buried inside her, drawing gasps from her lips. Not when I made her shatter around me in that study.
She responded to my touch, responded beautifully, but there was always something held back. Something she reserved for someone else.
She carries my child. But she loves Dominic.
I press my palm against the window glass, letting the cold seep into my skin. My reflection stares back at me—pale eyes, sharp features, the face of a man who learned to freeze his heart before it could betray him.
Emotion is weakness. That's what my father taught me. That's what I've believed since I was barely more than a pup, watching my mother waste away from grief after my brother's death.
She let love destroy her. I swore I would never make the same mistake.
And yet here I am. Destroyed anyway.
I've spent my life building walls so high no one could scale them. Burying every feeling beneath layers of control and precision. Refusing to let anyone see weakness, because weakness invites attack.
But alone in the darkness, with no one to witness my fracturing, I allow myself to feel the loss.
The child I'll never raise.
I imagine a boy with my pale eyes and Eva's dark hair. Or a girl with her fierce spirit and my strategic mind. I imagine teaching them to hunt, to lead, to navigate the brutal politics of pack life.
I imagine watching them grow into something worthy of both bloodlines.
None of that will happen now.
The woman I wanted but couldn't keep.
I remember the club—her body pressed between mine and Matteo's, her gasps filling the darkness. I remember the gala, when I first realized who she was.
The way my wolf surged with recognition, with claiming instinct so powerful it nearly broke my control.
I wanted her before I knew her name. I want her still.
But wanting isn't enough. It never was.
The future that slipped through my fingers.
I could have had everything. A Luna worthy of the Northern throne. An heir of royal Aldridge blood. A political alliance that would have made my pack the most powerful in the territories.
All of it, gone. Because Eva's heart chose someone else.
The pain is a living thing, clawing at my chest, demanding release. I want to howl. Want to shift and run until my legs give out. Want to tear something apart with my bare hands.
Instead, I stand at the window and breathe.
In. Out. In. Out.
By the time dawn bleeds pink across the horizon, the pain has crystallized into something harder. Something that feels almost like peace.
Eva's happiness matters more than my dynasty.
The thought should feel like surrender. Like weakness. Instead, it feels like the first honest thing I've allowed myself in years.
More than my pride. More than the heir growing in her womb. More than every political calculation I've ever made.
She deserves to be happy. She deserves to choose love over duty, even if that love isn't mine.
And I, the Ice Prince of the North, who has never let himself want anything he couldn't control, I'm going to let her go.
I dress with mechanical precision and make my way to Matteo's chambers. Sebastian is already there, his golden face tight with tension. They've been reviewing the final details for hours.
"Soren." Matteo looks up as I enter. "We were just going over the tunnel routes one more time."
"Show me."
We bend over the maps together, three princes who came here as rivals now united by something none of us expected. I keep my voice steady, my instructions precise.
Timing. Routes. Contingencies for every scenario we can imagine.
"The guard rotation shifts at the third bell," I say, tracing the path with my finger. "That gives us a twelve-minute window to reach the wine cellars."
"And if the guards don't take the bribe?" Sebastian asks.
"Then we eliminate them quietly." My tone brooks no argument. "Whatever it takes."
We review every detail until the plan is etched into our minds like stone. Sebastian will maintain the distraction in the main hall. Matteo will handle any unexpected resistance.
I will lead Eva and Dominic through the tunnels to the waiting horses.
And then I will watch them ride away.
"Soren." Matteo's voice cuts through my thoughts. His dark eyes study me with uncomfortable perception. "Are you certain about this? The child she carries is yours. You have every right to…"
"I'm certain."
"This is your heir. Your bloodline. You could fight for custody, demand—"
"I said I'm certain."
The words come out sharper than intended. I force myself to soften. "The child will be raised by a mother who loves it. By a man who will protect it with his life. That's more than many royal heirs can claim."
Sebastian and Matteo exchange glances. They want to ask more—I can see the questions burning behind their eyes. But something in my expression stops them.
"Very well." Matteo nods slowly. "We execute at midnight."
"Midnight," I confirm.
They leave to make final preparations. I remain alone with the maps, staring at the escape route that will carry Eva out of my life forever.
I'm letting her go because I love her.
The admission echoes through my chest, painful and freeing all at once. I love her. Not just my wolf's possessive claiming—genuine love for a woman who showed me what courage looks like.
I won't say it aloud. Won't burden her with feelings that would only complicate her escape. Won't add my heart to the weight she already carries.
But I'll know.
And maybe, someday, that will be enough.