I nodded quickly, fear clawing up my spine. “O-okay. Okay.”
My mind scrambled, replaying everything in a blur—the lake, the change in Maximus’s demeanor, the way he had ordered his Beta to chain him, the beast tearing itself apart inside him.
“Yesterday,” I started, my voice shaky but growing steadier with each word, “at the lake—he suddenly… acted strange. He left. I followed him. I—I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t stop myself. I saw him come here. I heard him… tell you to chain him.”
The Beta’s eyes flickered, but he said nothing.
“I didn’t understand,” I went on, my words tumbling faster now, desperate to fill the silence. “Why would the King—why would he want that? I—I needed to know. So I came in. I stayed.” My breath hitched, my voice dropping to a whisper. “And then I fou
