<i>Nyroth </i>


    I had felt her gaze before she rode out of the pack. It was almost as though her brother had calcted everything precisely, arranging it so I wouldn’t be able to speak with her. It worked.


    Because only minutes after I arrived, she left in her carriage, riding away, and now I sat alone in the long meeting hall, wondering why Varyn Ashmere had summoned me, and why, though I had been here for over half an hour, he had yet to appear.


    I sat for a long time, the silence pressing, then slowly looked around at the guards who stood like statues in every corner, armed and ready.


    Ashmere guards. They were different from all others, both warriors and guards in one.


    I swallowed hard as the truth hit me. At a single order, they might strike. Even as an Alpha, it would take a fight to escape alive.


    I waited another hour, impatience gnawing at me, when the sound of footsteps came atst, true, steady, heavy. The doors swung wide, and he appeared, standing at the entrance. Bold. Dominant.


    Varyn Ashmere, with a presence that made one go still with caution.


    He stood there for a while, staring at me before lowering his gaze and walking further inside.


    As he drew nearer, moving toward the chair across from me, I let my eyes linger on him. Staring at the man I had only ever heard about, only seen clearly for the first time days ago at the wolf fortress.


    Back when I was still obeying my father’s words, news had spread that Varyn Ashmere was the war strategist, praised for his wit, his ability to smooth even the most wrinkled situations with cunning and tactics.


    He was broad, handsome. He looked like a male version of Zephyrine, and I understood why. They were siblings.


    His hair was damp, like he had just bathed, and a scar was visible behind his ear. He wore leather from neck to boots, every part of his body covered except for the fingertips his muffled gloves could not conceal.


    “I apologize for keeping you waiting,” his voice came as he reached his chair and sat down with an exhausted sigh. “I have had so many urges… after being enved for five years.”


    Hearing this, I looked at him, but he looked right back, gesturing with his eyes.


    “You know her, don’t you?” he asked, making me pause. “Dessyn.”


    “I do,” I answered quietly.


    He nodded, shrugging lightly.


    “She’d make a good wife, wouldn’t she?”


    The question confused me, but I nodded anyway.


    “I think so.”


    “Hmm.” He murmured absently. “She’s just like my little sister. Fell in love too deeply with a man who gave her attention. Women…”


    He shook his head with a sigh, leaning back in his chair.


    “They tend to love being pampered, being noticed. Once you do… they fall, and lose all reasoning. Just like Zephyr…”


    I swallowed hard at that name.


    Zeph. He lowered his gaze to his fingers tapping against the table, and though he looked detached, I could feel it, he was watching me closely. Every detail.


    That was why he was the war strategist. His skill with the sword would only add weight when he was crowned Warlord soon.


    The silence thickened. The tension rising. Then, with his voice barely above a whisper, he asked.


    “I heard you were my sister’s first love.


    His gaze lifted, sharp and steady, waiting. Waiting for


    my answer.


    I weighed the situation carefully, then, seeing no point in lies, since everything was already in the open, I said.


    “I loved her. I only realized toote how much I wanted her. Before I knew it, Apex had swept her off her feet, deflowered her, and proposed marriage. Recently I tried to make her love me with a spell, but the love she had for Apex was too strong it broke it. I wronged her in the past, and I wanted to make up for it, but… she won’t give me a chance.”


    2/3 <fn5184> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? F?ndNovel</fn5184>


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    He stared at me, his gaze unmoving, before asking quietly.


    “Have you <b>ever </b>seen Apex fight?”


    The memory of nearly being choked came back sharply, and I swallowed.


    “Yes<b>.” </b>


    “Extraordinary, isn’t he?”


    “Beastly, if I am precise. I’ve never seen anything like it.”


    He nodded, thoughtful, then murmured almost to himself.


    “He can’t be defeated so easily… unless we have his weaknesses.”


    Then he looked straight at me, sighing carefully.


    “You know any of his weaknesses?”


    I froze, staring at him. He wasn’t mad at me? It wasn’t me he wanted, it was Apex. Only Apex.


    “I…” I began slowly. “I don’t really…”


    rovide Apex’s weaknesses,” Varyn cut in, his voice calm but sharp, “and I will let you marry


    sister.”


    rooted me to the spot. I stared at him, almost sure he had lost his mind. But no. Those yes. They didn’t lie. They never did. They made me gulp hard.


    “His weaknesses,” he repeated, “and I will send an invitation within the hour. I swear it.”


    That broke thest straw. At once, my mind flew to Gaxib. The one who had imed he knew Apex’s weaknesses. And I swallowed hard, nodding to Varyn Ashmere as though to say… we had a deal.


    <b>3/3 </b>