"And then I'll bring you the map of the whole territory, the seal codes, everything."
The crystal kept playing. Elara's laughter rang through the plaza, sharp with ambition.
"And we can be together openly. You'll rule the new territory."
"And I'll make you my real Luna."
A man's voice murmured assent in the recording. Then a soft, unmistakable moan from her. The truth hit the plaza like a sledgehammer.
Every seam in the lie burst open at once.
Kael had been born into the cold.
A mixed-blood pup left at the edge of a frozen plain by his birth mother, who couldn't bear the shame of his impure lineage. He survived on carrion and frozen berries.
A poor family took him in. He thought it was kindness. He didn't yet understand he had moved from one circle of hell into a deeper one.
His a
