Adriel POV
"Do not say a word about Love."
My hand freezes on the heavy brass handle of the royal library door. My father, the Lycan King, stands a mere inch behind me. His breath hits the back of my neck, hot and thick with the scent of pine and old blood.
"I am not an i***t, Father," I mutter. My knuckles go white against the metal. "Betty does not need your council knowing what Love told us. Not yet."
"Good." His large hand clamps down onto my shoulder, fingers digging deep into the muscle until the bone grinds. "We find the old records of the first Lycans. We find what Tola did to our lands. Then we deal with the rest."
A sudden, wet thud echoes from the other side of the timber door.
I stiffen. My ears twitch, catching the distinct, rhythmic scrape of leather against stone. Then
