Chapter 77
Ardyn POV
The boy’s blood still stained the floor.
Even after the servants carried his body away, even after the torches were relit, the stench of it lingered. Wolves avoided looking at Kael as if he were a monster chained in their midst.
And maybe he was.
I watched him kneel on the stones, trembling, his scar dim but still glowing faintly. His hands shook. His lips, still wet with blood, whispered only one word over and over.
“No.”
He said it like a prayer, like a curse. His wolf paced in his chest, half-snarling, half-silent. I felt it in the bond, restless and unsatisfied.
He had fed. He had lived.
But I knew the truth. He would rather die.
When night fell, and we were alone, Kael sat with his back against the chamber wall, staring at nothing. His fists were clench
