Chapter 9
I should’ve felt in control.
I was the Hellcrowned Queen.
The blood-bonded leader of the most feared rogue court the North had ever whispered about.
But standing between Kael and Ash, two Alphas whose magic thrummed like war drums, I felt something else:
Caged.
Not by chains or enemies.
But by prophecy.
And by the way, both of them looked at me like they’d burn kingdoms to own me.
We traveled west.
Through drowned valleys and mist-thick ruins where the air pulsed with old magic.
Ash claimed the gods were stirring.
Kael claimed he’d rip out any god's throat if they tried to take me.
I didn't know who I trusted more.
One was my mate.
The other, my destiny.
But both of them? Mine.
And that made everything more dangerous.
That night, we camped near the Ruins of Wit
