Eva stood at the edge of the forest, wind tugging at her hair as moonlight lit up the silver streaks in the sky. Her pulse had changed. She could feel it. Her power was no longer just strength—it was shadow and fire combined. It surged beneath her skin, whispering like smoke.
And with that power came the visions.
The first came just before dawn, when she hadn’t slept for hours. She had been staring at the ceiling of her room, eyes wide open, when everything around her suddenly faded. The walls, the sounds, even the air. It was like falling into a dream she couldn’t wake from.
And then, Danielle was there.
She looked the same—tall, fierce, beautiful—but there was sadness in her eyes now, not the evil eyes she remembered when she was five and locked in a dungeon. A weariness that Eva had never seen before. Danielle’s long white cloak fluttered in the wind of that strange realm, and her voice echoed, sharp but heavy.
“Don’t repeat my mistake,” she said. “Don’t let love ruin you.”
Eva stood frozen in the middle of that dream, staring at the queen she had once admired, once feared. “What do you mean?” she asked quietly. “You chose love, didn’t you?”
Danielle’s eyes shimmered. “I chose it… and I let it blind me. I thought loving him would tame him. But some monsters don’t want to be tamed, Eva. They want to destroy. And they start with the ones who try to love them.”
Eva clutched her stomach instinctively. The twin babies inside her were quiet now, as if listening.
“He marked me,” Eva whispered. “And I feel it… the pull. The power. I’m changing.”
Danielle nodded. “Yes. But you have a choice I never did. You still have time to turn your power into purpose. Or you can lose everything like I did. Even yourself.”
Eva blinked, and the vision vanished. Just like that, the room was back. The silence returned, but the chill stayed on her skin.
That morning, she didn’t cry.
She dressed in her war leathers—the black and silver armor of the Silverstone Alpha Queen. She twisted her hair back from her face and looked at herself in the mirror. Not a broken woman. Not a girl lost between two men. A queen forged by fire and betrayal.
By the time she walked into the war council room, the table was already surrounded.
Max sat at the head, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion. Tiana stood next to Dany, arms crossed tightly. Warriors from both Silverstone and Crescent filled the space—faces tense, waiting for orders.
Everyone turned when Eva entered.
Her steps were steady. Her chin high. But there was something different in her eyes now. Something ancient. Something that hadn’t been there before Sylvester’s bite.
No one spoke.
She walked to the center of the table and placed both hands flat against the wood.
“I’m not here to be saved,” she said. Her voice was calm but sharp, like a blade drawn slowly from its sheath. “I’m not here to be protected.”
Max straightened, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. Tiana narrowed her eyes, sensing the shift.
Eva’s gaze swept across the room. “From now on, I don’t want to be protected. I want to be followed.”
A stunned silence settled over the room.
“I’ve had visions,” she continued. “Warnings from the queens who came before me. This war isn’t just about land or bloodlines. It’s about legacy. It’s about what comes after us. And if we don’t fight now, there will be no one left to protect.”
Dany leaned forward, curious. “Visions?”
Eva nodded once. “Danielle. She said I’m stronger now—but that strength can destroy me if I don’t use it right. I know what that means. The bond Sylvester forced on me—it’s made me more powerful. But it’s trying to twist that power.”
“You’re saying the bond made you stronger?” Max asked carefully, watching her closely.
“Yes,” Eva said. “But not all strength is good. And not all darkness comes from enemies. Some of it… is already inside us.”
Tiana stepped forward. “So what are you going to do?”
Eva took a deep breath, her voice steady as steel.
“I’m declaring war.”
