Talk about being stunned beyond belief by what I never sawing. I stood frozen in the memorial hall, my eyes fixed on the empty space long after he had left, and for a while I could not breathe.


    What lived in my heart tore free at the hatred in his voice, at the look on his face when he spoke my man’s name.


    My fingers began to tremble, and I looked down at the ring. Lycannar’s ring. The one he had proposed with, the one I had epted wholeheartedly, with the ddest and most grateful heart.


    Thinking back, I recalled his voice when we were about to part. He had told me he loved me. Lycannar. He did love me.


    I had always known it, deep down. But to hear him say it had gone far beyond mere knowing. It had carved itself into me.


    Cold shivers wrapped my heart as the weight of my brother’s presence and the heaviness of


    chamber. his words lingered. I left the memorial hall and headed slowly to my


    The hall was oddly quiet. The guards who should have been posted at every corner were fewer now, as though they had all been sent elsewhere.


    Lowering my gaze, I passed through, noticing the strange way everyone I encountered looked at me. Curious. Measuring.


    Near the hallway to Varyn’s bedchamber, I slowed my steps, gods help me, to eavesdrop. And what I overheard stunned me cold.


    “I leave for just a few years, and you, already you’ve gone to the Lycan kingdom? Even slept there? Why? You got a man there?!” It was my brother’s voice, sharp with usation, tearing into Dessyn.


    “I only went to fetch some clothes from my pack. Then I decided to stop by the Lycan kingdom to see Zephyr. But she was under a spell, and we couldn’t leave until night had fallen and she recovered.”


    “Really? So you were there, my own woman, with my little sister, in a territory ruled by a dangerous man?!”


    ναι, σεμει


    1:14


    <b>52 </b>


    “Varyn… why are you like this?”


    +10 Free Coins


    That was thest of Dessyn’s words I caught as I drifted past. My heart was drumming louder and louder, like a warbeat of doom.


    Something was wrong. Deeply wrong. First Ka, kneeling outside the packhouse, as though her only choice was to beg forgiveness or rot on her knees forever.


    Then Varyn, his eyes fixed on the ring I wore as though it were the greatest sin I couldmit.


    I was tangled in those thoughts when the sound of my chamber door opening startled me. A voice followed, one I knew instantly.


    “Mydy!”


    Blue.


    Even in the dark, I would recognize her. Relief swelled through me, and only now did I realize how much I had missed her. I closed the distance at once, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into my chamber, shutting the door firmly behind us.


    “Spill it. Who came to my pack while I was gone?” I demanded.


    Blue looked around quickly, ensuring no one lingered near. Then she lowered her voice.


    “Last night, something happened. Lord Varyn, your brother… he regained consciousness. I was pouring him his potion when he suddenly looked at me, sniffed the air. The moment he caught my scent, the moment he realized I was Lycan… something in him snapped awake.”


    I swallowed hard.


    “What did he do?”


    Blue’s eyes flicked to mine, then away. She shook her head.


    “He rejected the potion. He said nothing. So I left.”


    My arms folded tightly under my chest as I pressed, carefully,


    “How did he reject it?” Inwardly, I prayed it wasn’t with violence. <fn0> ???s ??????? ?s ?????? ?? FindN()vel</fn0>


    “He only shook his head,” she said, voice low. “So I walked out.”


    Then she added,


    16:17 Sat, <b>Sep </b><b>27 </b>


    …


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    “Later that night, he summoned Beta Jurrek. They spoke for hours in private. Afterward, Jurrek rode off. And under the cover of storm and rain, the three Council members arrived, with Ka Yadev.”


    I froze. My stomach clenched.


    “They cane into my pack?”


    “Yes. They all went into the long chamber, and your aunt Kostyra was called as well. They stayed in there for hours. When they finally emerged, Lord Varyn came out first. Then Ka. She fell to her knees before everyone and cried aloud for forgiveness, her voice echoing through all four walls of the packhouse. The Council dered that all will gather at the Wolf Fortress tomorrow. They said the truth will be revealed before all.”


    My breath caught. Varyn, working with the Council instead of cutting them down? How? Why? What was he nning?


    “Mydy…” Blue’s voice broke into my spiraling thoughts. She hesitated, then added quietly, “There’s more. I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your brother.”


    I nodded for her to go on.


    She held my gaze.


    “I heard one word. War.”