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EPILOGUE

QUEEN ELOWEN

I t had been a year since I became mated to my beast.

The air was thick with the familiar warmth of the castle that had become my home. I loved the molten veins in the black stone—surrounding me above, beneath, all around.

They cast their glow as I wandered the halls, one hand resting on my swollen belly, fingers tracing gentle circles over the taut skin where our child shifted and kicked.

I smiled, feeling the strength of the little life within me—half human, half Draxus.

I paused before the twin tapestries hanging in the grand hall. Their threads caught the firelight, making the scenes appear almost alive.

I stared at the first—my father’s sigil. The emblem of the life I left behind. Of cruelty and control. It was torn now, its edges scorched and blackened by flame.

Draxus had ripped it from my father’s throne room after his forces burned the castle to the ground. He fought every man who tried to defend their wicked ways.

None survived.

The second tapestry had belonged to the man I was once betrothed to. It too was shredded, its center marred, threads loose and burned.

They now hung side by side. Trophies. Warnings.

Draxus had brought them to me, eyes blazing with pride and possessiveness. He’d said nothing as they were hung in this hall. We’d stood together and watched.

He hadn’t destroyed those kingdoms for power.

He did it for me.

In this dark, twisted world of monsters... I was the most important thing in his universe.

I felt a sharp kick against my ribs and smiled down at my belly. “Our little heir is strong,” I whispered. “Just like his father.”

I walked on, breathing in the smoky warmth of the only place that ever truly felt like mine.

Draxus ruled the dark realm of Bone Ash with fire and fury. His enemies were dust. His name was whispered in terror.

And he was mine.

Those who hurt me would never touch me again.

As I walked the halls, my crown heavy on my head, our child growing within me, I knew one truth.

I was Queen of Bone Ash.

I was mated to Draxus.

And nothing would ever change that.