POV: Francesca
Wilhelm stepped fully into the room. For a moment, the world narrowed to the space between us.
I saw the red thread appear again—brilliant, alive—stretching from my chest straight to his outstretched hand, pulsing as if it had never weakened, as if six months of silence and suffering had meant nothing to it at all.
Cassian recoiled, fury flashing across his face as shock replaced control. “Who do you think you are?” he barked. “Guards!”
The word had barely left his mouth when power erupted from Wilhelm. It rolled through the chamber like a physical force, snapping candles into wild flames and rattling the windows in their frames.
His body ignited with dark energy, bones shifting with a sound that made my breath catch painfully. Flesh stretched and reformed as he grew larger, broader, until the man was gone—
And a massive black wolf stood in his place.
He was enormous, towering over Cassian, his fur dark as midnight and threaded with silver where torchlight struck it. Golden eyes burned with ancient fury. The air felt charged, heavy with dominance and death.
Cassian screamed. The sound was shrill, panicked, nothing like the controlled voice that had ruled my life for months. “The Lycan Prince…” he scrambled backward, tripping over his own feet. “Alive! How dare you come?” Cassian crashed into the far corner of the room as if he could vanish into the stone itself.
I stared, frozen, my heart pounding so hard it hurt.
He really is a Lycan… The true kind. The kind whispered about in legends, and the kind Cassian had stolen the throne from.
Wilhelm advanced slowly, each heavy step deliberate. The floor creaked beneath his weight as he loomed over the king, his massive head lowering until his muzzle was level with Cassian’s face.
“It’s time,” Wilhelm said, his voice distorted but unmistakably his, carrying through the room with terrifying clarity, “to return what you stole.”
Cassian pressed himself against the wall, shaking. “I—I am the king!”
“You are a thief,” Wilhelm snarled. “You stole my throne after imprisoning me like a slave.”
His gaze flicked briefly to me, something fierce and possessive burning there, before returning to Cassian. “After she disappeared from the cave, I returned to my pack. To my brother, Kyle. I searched for her. I searched for answers and for a way to end you.”
Cassian’s breathing turned ragged. “You can’t—”
“I will,” Wilhelm cut in.
Hope flared inside me—bright and fragile and terrifying. Then footsteps thundered in the corridor outside. Heavy boots. Shouted orders.
Steel drawn from sheaths. The guards were coming.
Wilhelm’s ears twitched sharply. He snarled once, a sound of pure frustration, then turned away from Cassian and lunged toward me.
I barely had time to gasp before he gently caught the fabric of my dress between his teeth. The motion was careful despite his size, controlled in a way that made my breath hitch. With a powerful flick of his head, he tossed me onto his back as if I weighed nothing at all.
I clutched his fur instinctively, fingers sinking into thick warmth.
Hold on tight, his voice echoed inside my head, deep and unmistakable. I’m taking you with me.
The window exploded outward in a shower of glass and splintered wood as Wilhelm burst through it, the night air rushing in violently behind us. I screamed as we plunged into darkness, shards of glass glittering like fallen stars around us.
Then we were running.
The palace fell away behind us as Wilhelm tore across the grounds, his stride powerful and unrelenting. Wind whipped my hair free from its scarf, stinging my face with cold as I pressed myself low against his back, holding on with everything I had.
I didn’t know where we were going. I only knew we were leaving hell.
The run felt endless and impossibly fast, the landscape blurring into shadows and moonlight. At last, lights appeared ahead—an estate nestled beyond the palace grounds, quiet and dark.
Wilhelm slowed only when we reached the lawn. He skidded to a halt, muscles rippling beneath me, then shifted mid-step.
One moment there was fur beneath my hands. The next, there was flesh.
I lost my balance and tumbled forward, landing hard on the grass with a startled cry. The cool earth pressed against my palms as I scrambled back instinctively, panic surging anew.
Wilhelm reached for me. “Francesca—”
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed, slapping his hand away and crawling backward on shaking arms. My chest heaved as everything I had held in came crashing down at once. “Don’t!”
He froze, stunned, his hand hovering uselessly in the air. “I saved you,” he said, disbelief threading through his voice.
Saved me. The words ignited something furious and broken inside my chest. I surged to my feet and struck him, my fist slamming into his chest with everything I had.
“I had my reasons for staying with that monster!” I shouted, tears blurring my vision. “You think I didn’t try to leave? You think I didn’t fight?”
Wilhelm caught my wrists easily, but the moment his fingers closed around them, his expression changed.
He saw the bruises. Dark, finger-shaped marks blooming beneath my sleeves, half-healed and layered atop older ones. His grip loosened instantly, horror and rage warring in his eyes.
“He hit you?” he demanded, his voice dropping into something lethal.
I yanked my hands free and turned away from him, wrapping my arms around myself as if I could hold myself together.
“What he did to me is none of your business,” I said sharply.
Silence stretched between us, thick and charged. Then Wilhelm stepped closer. I felt him behind me before I heard him, his presence warm and overwhelming. He leaned in, his breath brushing my ear, sending a shiver down my spine despite myself.
“You are my mate,” he said softly. “That makes it my business.”
I spun around, laughter bursting from me—bitter, shaking, soaked in tears.
“Mate?” I demanded. “Where were you when they dragged me away to him? Where were you when I—”
My voice broke. Wilhelm moved in front of me and gently lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. His touch was careful now, reverent even.
“You… what?” he asked quietly. “What are you hiding from me?”
Pain twisted through my chest as I looked at him, at the man who was fate-bound to me and yet had been absent through the worst months of my life. My throat tightened.
Can I trust you with the truth about your son? my only thought was.