Zephyrine


    +10 Free Coins <fnd72b> This update is avable on find[?]ovel</fnd72b>


    My carriage arrived inside Ash Pack and I stepped out with Blue beside me, feeling it at once. The difference in the air. The changes. The simmering hostility.


    Shrugging it off, I walked into my bedchamber, only to meet Jurrek rushing from the hall to greet me. I ignored him and went inside.


    Isolde hurried after me and bowed low.


    “Mydy, your aunt camest night. She has been… blunt with her words.”


    I sighed shakily at that and turned toward the fractured mirror resting on my dresser. Now I was more afraid than ever to look into it and check on Varyn. What if I saw him tortured next?


    I bit my lip, looking away, just as the door opened softly and another maid entered.


    “Mydy, Beta Jurrek seeks audience with you.”


    The words made me stiffen. He hadn’t been there yesterday. Like a passing wind, he had vanished when I needed his strength the most. He was supposed to have stood at my side when I entered Wolf Fortress.


    “Let him in,” I said atst as I lowered myself into a chair. A soft sigh escaped me as the door opened and I felt his presence.


    I turned gently to face him, then nodded to my maids.


    “Leave us.” They bowed and slipped away, closing the door behind them. I would not scold Jurrek in their presence. Never.


    After their departure, I kept my gaze fixed on him. Somehow, I wanted to weep. He hadn’t been there, and I hated him for it.


    “I won’t apologize, because I know I don’t deserve forgiveness,” he said quietly. “But I swear, I will never leave your side without your word again.”


    His words stirred something deep in me, and slowly the anger began to wither.


    “Fix a meeting with the elders, Jurrek,” I said softly. He nodded, turning to go until I stopped him with a whisper. “I’m sorry,”


    He paused, turned slowly, his eyes confused. He couldn’t tell why I would apologize.


    “In seven days, I won’t be Alpha anymore. I think I failed my oath.”


    He strode closer, stopping before me, his gaze steady, not of a beta, but of a brother.


    “You won’t me yourself for this. You won’t break, not yet. Not until it’s over and you are in the arms of your King. This is the hardest part, Zephyr. We must endure. The Warlord, the First Ashmere,id down a legacy too great to fall. It will not copse in our time. You won’t let it. Do you understand me?”


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    Goosebumps rose across my skin and I nodded. Of course. It would not fall under my reign. I would not


    let them.


    I entered the meeting hall that afternoon, and the elders were already seated when the door closed behind me. The tension in the room was thick and no de could slice through it. Thinking of des, I remembered the blood I spilled yesterday.


    I walked to my seat, Dessyn’s farewell words still echoing in my head. I had left her behind in White Pack with a promise to stay in touch. If she had followed me here, she would never know rest. So I left Varyn’s sword with her instead. It was his life made steel. If anyone deserved to guard it, it was her.


    “We have received orders from the Imperium Council, Alpha Zephyrine… or perhaps I should simply call you Zephyr,” one elder said. I froze mid-step.


    “Was it true your father bribed his way to victories? Colluded with demons, only to grasp glory as Warlord?”


    Another elder spoke, and this time I refused to sit. I stood still, eyes burning into theirs, my aunt’s most of all, for her re was sharper than any sword.


    “My father never colluded with demons. My family, the Ashmeres, and countless others who fought five years ago were ughtered. Not by demons, but by our own kind. Ran, Lord Osmir’s son, confessed it himself yesterday. He killed…”


    “He did so because your father was a traitor!” my aunt cut me off. I went still. “Ran is a fine warrior, one who acts only when facts are clear. He was given orders because your parents instigated war to steal glory. He had no choice but to kill them for peace. And you… you severed his arm in cold blood!”


    Her words struck me like a spear. My aunt, the one who introduced me to Ran, spoke now as though she had always known. Betrayal crawled through me, sharp and merciless.


    I lowered my gaze, steadying the storm rising in my chest as I flop on the chair.


    “I will need an army,” I said softly, wearily. I had no strength left to argue. “Eight hundred soldiers at least. It is not enough, but it will…”


    “We will not sign any scroll of war, Zephyr,” another elder interrupted. “You are no longer Alpha. The Imperium Council will name a new one. We are already in talks, an elegant woman, the envoy of peace. No one will follow a traitor Ashmere again.”


    Before I could answer, they began dispersing. One by one leaving me stunned in my seat.


    “Vale was always dangerous. I warned my sister against him, yet your mother let him corrupt her. And you, you are just like Seraphine. You let the cursed King corrupt you too,” my aunt sneered, lingering behind. “There was never peace for you, Zephyr. Perhaps it is time you hand this pack to someone capable, and rest. Your thirst, like your mother’s, will nevere to pass.”


    She swept out, leaving me hollow, leaving me shattered. I stared nkly for what felt like eternity, feeling Jurrek still standing behind me.


    I bit my lip, steadying myself. Jurrek had said this was only a trial. Lycannar had said once Varyn returned, the truth would rise. But I could not enter ckwater without an army.


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    “Jurrek?” I whispered. He stepped forward, waiting. “Send a letter to Commander Thorn at Moonveil Fortress. Tell him I require an audience. Tell him I need soldiers.”


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