Ansel's POV
The throne room was eerily quiet, except for the faint crackling of torches lining the stone walls. The air was thick with tension, and the guards kneeling before me could feel it. My patience was razor-thin, and they all knew it.
Raven was gone.
Not locked away. Not under watch. Not dragged from her room kicking and screaming.
She had simply vanished.
I sat on the throne, hands clasped in front of me, gaze heavy on the men before me. My voice was calm when I spoke.
“Tell me again,” I said, “how an unmarked she-wolf walked out of my palace without a single one of you noticing?”
The men stiffened, none daring to meet my eyes.
“She was seen walking the halls last night,” one of them answered, voice strained. “She always wandered before bed, no one thought anything of it.
