Oath Bound

I came on this expedition to serve the Alpha King. To do what was asked. Nothing more.

But that line keeps blurring every time he looks at me.

We've been out here for days-just the four of us. Warren and Saul keep to themselves. Zeke doesn't.

He stays close. Never far. Always watching, like he's waiting for something I haven't figured out yet.

I tell myself it's duty. He's the king-he has a right to be cautious.

But it doesn't feel like caution. It feels like something else entirely.

That night, when the fire's burned low and the others are half asleep, he speaks.

"You really think this is just about orders?" His voice is low, close. "Every time you're near, I'm fighting my wolf. Fighting myself... not to take what already feels like mine."

My breath caught. Just for a second.

I didn't answer. I couldn't.

Because the truth was-I didn't know what scared me more. That he meant it... or that a part of me wanted him to.

~

Asiyah Winters was born to fight-but not for the crown. A top warrior in the kingdom's strongest werewolf clan, she's spent her life earning her place with blood and grit, all while burying the secrets of a past she dares not remember.

But when the fae begin to threaten the borders of Mystara, King Zeke must act. Peace is fragile, and the price of failure is war. During a royal summons, Asiyah is unexpectedly chosen to join the Alpha King's Royal Guard on a high-stakes expedition. What begins as duty quickly becomes far more dangerous-as forbidden chemistry ignites, and a storm of political schemes, hidden torture, and haunting truths threatens to consume her.

With her sanity unraveling and shadows closing in, Asiyah must decide what she's really fighting for... and how far she's willing to go to survive.