(Daciana POV)
Tala’s blood dried dark across the white cloth, and every word Ashina had written seemed to breathe against my palms.
Come alone to the ruins where Rudina begged, bled, and lost more than a crown.
The lower house stood around me in broken silence, full of servants, warriors, Alphas, and frightened wolves waiting for me to choose.
Bardolph looked like he wanted to tear the world open with his hands, but he did not speak before I did.
Conri stood beside the old oven, his sword lowered, his face cold with the kind of fear kings are trained to hide.
Rieka held Rudina’s wrapped crown against her chest, and for once her sharp mouth had no clever sentence ready.
Farkas leaned against a cracked wall, bleeding again through his bandages, while the stolen Alpha ring pulsed insid
