The screams barely lasted.
No one ever lasted long when Kael stopped holding back.
Even the palace seemed to sense it.
Stone walls shook. Old chandeliers swayed overhead. Windows rattled so hard they sounded ready to shatter. The whole fortress felt alive—and scared. Like the kingdom itself had woken up and realized its king was furious.
Inside Nyra’s destroyed chamber, silence lingered after the last assassin died. That heavy silence you get right after violence—terrible, warning, full of threat like something worse is still coming.
Nyra knelt on the balcony floor, fighting to stay conscious. Blood soaked her clothes. Pain radiated through her shoulder and side. The room spun. Voices faded in and out, distant and muffled.
One thing stayed sharp and clear: Kael.
The Lycan King stood
