<i>Zephyrine </i>
(37)
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The ck horse of the man I know so well I will marry gallops into Ash Pack, and the gate swings ajar as it halts right there.
Somehow, I can feel a different tension. It’s suddenly too quiet, and I swear I hate it. I hate the fact that everything seems so silent and calm. Why? What’s wrong?
“Zephyr…” Dessyn’s voicees through as she rushes outside, and I head to her at once, dismounting from the horse to listen. “Zephyr…”
No other wordse, and it makes me suspicious. What has happened? Anything but bad news about Varyn. Anything at all, but not about my brother.
I bypass Dessyn and head inside, into that same hallway that usually leaves me breathless. <b>I </b>arrive just in time to see the elders there, all murmuring in hushed voices, and I catch sight of Jurrek Bane too.
Upon seeing me, he rushes forward.
“You are here.”
“What happened?” I ask, my eyes searching his, and he swallows.
“He went… unstable.”
“Crazy,” one of the elders cuts in as if to correct Jurrek, and I go still.
“Your brother is unstable. He wentpletely mad. He shes and ws at everything. He is dangerous.”
“Dangerous to everyone, to the whole pack. He is a warrior. What if he is set loose? He might as well kill everyone in a fit of rage and trauma.”
Never have I been more stunned than now. From all the insults and words they spit, one thing stands out. The words ‘set loose‘. It sounds like Varyn is bound.
Slowly, I make my way to the door, bypassing Jurrek, and stand before it. Already goosebumps rise on my skin. How painful it is to face reality.
There is no Lycannar and no steadying hand at my lower back to ground me from sorrow and tension. I am alone here.
<b>17:59 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>22 </b><b>N </b>
<b>I </b><b>reach </b>for the doorknob and turn it, pushing the door open to step quietly inside his bedchamber. What I see freezes me in ce.
<b>37 </b>
437
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Varyn is right there on the bed, thrashing like the crazed beast they said he had be, bound to keep him from hurting others, and himself. <fnb6e8> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? </fnb6e8>
Walking further in, seeing my brother in such a state, shatters everything I believed I lived for.
Tears sting my eyes before I can hold them back. Quietly, I move toward him and reach for the ropes that bind him, ready to untie them, when the door opens and Jurrek rushes forward.
“Zephyr, I understand how you feel, but this isn’t the solution. I beg you…”
He doesn’t finish before Varyn’s wolf growl tears through the air. He convulses, shing at nothing, as if proving the elders right, that he is crazy.
Quickly, I bypass Jurrek, taking Varyn’s hand and anchoring him back to me until he quiets, until he grows calm. Gently, I reach for the ropes that bind him, untying them as tears trail down my cheeks.
“Varyn?” I whisper, but before I can say more, he suddenly lunges forward. I’m fast enough to block him, shoving him back. “Snap out of it, Varyn!”
A growl rumbles again, but he pauses, waiting. He stares, and I stare back, unflinching, my chest heaving.
“Leave us. Close the door,” I order Jurrek without looking away.
He hesitates.
“Zephyr, he is…”
“Get out and close the door, Jurrek!” I snap, silencing him immediately. He obeys, shutting the door behind him, leaving me alone with the man I once knew as my best brother.
Seeing him like this clenches my heart. I bite my lip to stifle the tears, but theye anyway, and I look away to steady myself.
“You will stop being like this, Varyn. Do you hear me?” My re burns, my voice rising. “You will snap out of this trauma ande back to us all. Do you get it?! We failed you for five
for five years -I get <b>it</b>. I failed you. For five years, while you rotted, I stayed in another man’s pack, pouring our parents‘pensation money into saving his dying home. I left you to rot in ckwater.”
My lips tremble, but I go on, weary, broken.
18:00 Mon<b>, </b><b>Sep </b>22
37
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“Varyn… you are the love of my life. You are my brother. You are not a ve. You are not in ckwater anymore. You are home–here, in the pack our parents ruled over.” Slowly, I take his hand, tenderly. “Varyn, you won’t let themugh at us, will you? I know it’s a big deal to have been imprisoned for five years, but will you give our enemies the chance to mock us now? Will you?”
He pauses, blinks. Gradually, ws shift back to fingers. Fur recedes into skin. He blinks again, looking at me.
“Zephyr?” he calls, and I swallow hard. He’s back. “Zephyr.”
Shattered, I guide him gently to the bed, flinging the ropes aside.
“Have you eaten? Did you take your potion?” I ask, and he shakes his head, still staring. I swallow again, harder, then walk to the door. Outside, I find them all waiting. I beckon Blue and Isolde at once.
“My brother will eat now. And he will take his potion.”
Immediately, they hurry toward the kitchen to prepare. I return to the bed,ying my brother down with care.
I take his frail hand and sigh shakily.
“You will be fine, Varyn. We will go through this together. You will be fine again. Understood?”
He swallows, nods. His eyes soften, drifting shut, and he sinks into sleep. I watch him for a brief moment, then rise atst, sighing shakily as I head out.
Exhaustion drags me down, the verge of a breakdown looming. I open the door and step into the hall. Without words, I head toward my chamber, but Jurrek suddenly catches my wrist. I turn, staring at him.
He looks at me with guilt, his voice low.
“Alpha Zephyrine, I apologize.”
“For what?” I ask, calm, so deadly calm that he swallows hard. “Tell me, Jurrek. For what do you apologize?”
He hesitates before muttering,
“Because I allowed Varyn to be bound…”
He doesn’t finish before I shove him hard in the chest.
…
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437
37
+20 Free Coins
“My brother is not crazy! And you will not treat him like a madman!” I snap, my voice loud and cutting. “You are my beta. You are supposed to keep order in the pack until I return. Can’t I have one night outside responsibility? One night to be happy?!”
Silence descends. Choking back bile, I stand my ground and make it firm, clear, for all of them to hear.
“Varyn Ashmere is my blood brother. He will be Alpha again, take back the seat rightfully his once he recovers. And when that dayes, each and every one of you who spat on his name will pay with your lives. I swear it.”
<b>18:00 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>Sep </b><b>22 </b>