LYDIA
Even if I have to…
My son was soft.
Too soft for the world he was born into. Too soft for the crown that should rightfully be his. Too soft for the future I had carved out with blood, lies, and decades of patience.
And all of that softness… every drop of it… belonged to one man.
His father.
Alpha Cyrus.
I watched my boy… my only child… from across the room as he polished his blade with absentminded calm, humming the way Cyrus did whenever he trained. It infuriated me. The resemblance. The mannerisms. The way he idolized the man hose reign I had become desperate to end.
And yet, he loved Cyrus with all of his heart.
A weakness.
A dangerous one.
I needed to fix that.
“Draven,” I said softly.
He looked up, eyes bright like Cyrus’, loyal like Cyrus’.
“Yes, Mother?”
Always
