Third Person’s POV
:
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Magnus stood there, paralyzed. He knew no amount of talking was going <i>to </i>change Alfred’s mind.
His only hope now was to find another opening on the long trek back to the capital.
The only silver lining was that Alfred hadn’t told Zach yet.
If Alfred wanted to hog all the credit for “uncovering dissent,” he wouldn’t tell a soul until he was standing right in front of Lycan Erasmus.
Meanwhile, back at the border camp, Cole and Bary looked like they’d lost their souls. They didn’t even dare go back to their own quarters.
Alpha Xander refused to see them. He was clearly trying to calm himself and prepare to depart for the capital the next day. Alpha Zander had refused to see them; he was clearly trying to get his head straight before the long “walk of shame” began at dawn.
Zander’s sons were the ones who ended up dealing with them. After hearing Cole recount what happened, Russell was livid, but he couldn’t bring himself to chew the guy out.
He knew Cole: that guy’s brain was mostly muscle, and he usually spoke before he thought.
Jefferson let out a heavy sigh that made him sound ten years older. “Saying something like that… you didn’t just ruin yourself, Cole. You practically handed Lycan Erasmus a guilty verdict for Alpha Zander on a silver tter.”
The sound of hard hits echoed through the side hall.
Cole was on his knees, using his massive, calloused hands to beat his own face. Blood started leaking from the corner of his mouth.
“I’m sorry! I really am!” Cole choked out. “I can’t shut my damn mouth! I don’t care if I die–I deserve it. But if I drag Alpha Zander down with me… I don’t even deserve to be called a wolf of the North!”
Austin couldn’t watch anymore and grabbed Cole’s wrist. “Enough! Breaking your own jaw isn’t going to fix this. I’m going to find Magnus and see if that guard actually heard everything, or if there’s a way to buy his silence.”
“He heard it. Trust me,” Bary said, lookingpletely lost.
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Political maneuvering was a foreignnguage to a man like him. “Cole roared so loud he probably shook the snow off the roof. You’d have to be deaf to miss it.”
“I have to try something,” Austin gritted his teeth, throwing on his heavy coat. “I’ll beg them. I’ll give them my life if that’s what it takes, but that sentence cannot reach Lycan Erasmus’s ears.”
He bolted out into the night.
Russell watched the officers go, knowing these men had bled alongside his father for decades. Their mistake came from a ce of pure loyalty and fear.
“From now on, watch your mouths,” Russell warned the room. “This isn’t just a boru. Camp anymore. The Pce has eyes and ears everywhere.”
The men nodded, but the feeling in the room was grim. They all knew an apology was probably too little, toote.
“We shouldn’t have even said that to Magnus and Martin, let alone a guard. Damn it!” Jefferson rubbed his temples, feeling a massive headacheing on.
The politics were getting messy.
Usually, if amander is recalled, his most senior and decorated officer–Russell—would take over. But Lyca
Erasmus had specifically tapped Jefferson instead.
It was a cold–blooded move.
Lycan Erasmus was trying to create a rift in the Doyle family. He wanted them fighting over rank so he’d have an excuse to send a “neutral” outsider from the capital to take over, effectively dismantling the Doyles‘ decades of influence in the Bloodscar Border.
Jefferson looked out into the ck night.
He knew that the only Alpha in the entire kingdom who could truly hold the line here besides Alpha Zander was Alpha Lance.
But the paranoid Lycan Erasmus would never send Lance; Lance was Lycan Erasmus’s biggest threat and his greatest obsession.
If he sent anyone else, they’d either be too weak and get shredded by the Western Tribe, or they’d be like Velda–too hungry for glory and prone to making fatal mistakes.
Luckily, the Doyles was tight. Regardless of who officially held the title, they listened <i>to </i>Alpha Zander, and with him gone, they’d listen to Russell. Their loyalty was a shield wall that no one could crack easily.
…
Austin made it to the royal lodge under the cover of darkness.
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This time, Magnus didn’t meet him in the hall. He brought him straight back to the small room he shared with Martin. The ce was cramped and smelled like old wood. It only had two narrow beds, a shaky table, and a couple of stools.
Centuries ago, this ce had been an altar to the Moon Goddess. Now, it was just a drafty guest house for messengers. The erosion on the stone walls seemed to whisper about how much things had changed.
Magnus told Austin to sit. Both he and Martin looked like they were at a funeral. W Magnus recapped his talk with Alfred, Austin went ghost–white.
Zander’s return to the capital was always a gamble–a bet that Lycan Erasmus might still show
some mercy.
But Cole’s outburst had mmed that door shut. It gave Lycan Erasmus the perfect excuse to be ruthless<b>. </b>
Austin sat in silence for a long time, the air in the room feeling thick and suffocating. Finally, he looked his
up,
full of desperate pleading.
eyes
“Is there any way to fix this?”
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<strong>Olivia Harris</strong> is an emerging author celebrated for her captivating romantic and steamy novels. With a talent for crafting deep emotional connections and fiery chemistry between her characters, Olivia’s stories offer readers an escape into worlds filled with passion, intrigue, and heart-stopping drama.