Chapter 228 Thorns Of Rose
Chapter 228 Thorns Of Rose
KYLE ROSE
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I came back to Montrose with a smile tugging at my lips, one that hadn’t left me the entire trip home. rc had been amusing enough, though hardly worth the noise of its streets or the ndness of its humans. Still, the city had served its purpose. I had gotten what I wanted, my objectiveplete, and after that… well, what else was there to do but indulge?
Humans were easy prey–desperate to be touched by someone who pretended to see them. I yed the part of the charming stranger, whispered all the right words, and by the time they realized the danger, it was toote. They weren’t worth remembering, but the look of betrayal in their eyes–ah, that I savored. I fed on that as much as I did on their energy.
By the time I arrived at the estate, Montrose was draped in its usual gloom. The fortress loomed over the rocky hills, its walls streaked with moss and damp from the endless fog.
To most, it was suffocating. To me, it was home. The air itself made it harder to breathe, yet again, I found myself taking a long, sweet breath. As I strode down the cold stone halls, I once again inhaled deeply until the faint tang of poison teased my senses.
Mother.
I quickened my steps, trailing the scent to the heart of the fortress–her chamber, though everyone else called it her office. The door creaked as I pushed it open, revealing a room swallowed in darkness. The curtains were drawn, and only the faint glow of candles scattered across her desk gave the ce any light. Shadows yed against the high stone walls, bending around shelves filled with vials and grim tomes.
“Mother,” I said smoothly, stepping inside.
She didn’t turn to greet me. Azalea Rose sat rigidly at her desk, her thin fingers gripping the edge of a parchment. Even in the dimness, her beauty was undeniable, but when her gaze flicked to me, there was no warmth, only irritation.
“You daree in here smiling?” she hissed. “Do you find this amusing?”
I lifted my hands innocently. “Is there anything wrong?”
Her chair scraped loudly against the floor as she rose, pacing across the room. “We’re running out of damn rogues,” she snapped. “Do you understand what that means? It’s getting harder to find them around Fenra and the neighboringnds. Without rogues, we can’t mobilize. Without numbers, we can’t strike. Without wolves, Kyle, all of this-” she gestured violently to the maps littering her desk “-is wasted ink and wasted time!”
Chapter 228 Thorns Of Rose
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I tilted my head, watching her. “We need something, then,” I said, calm despite her fury.
She whirled on me, eyes burning with the same relentless hunger that had driven her for decades. “We need more wolves!” she eximed. “Only then can we start with the breach. We’ve been wing at the walls of Fenra for years, and still, they endure. How much longer must I wait to see thatnd in the palm of my hands?”
“It’s true,” I admitted, my smile fading.
Fenra was a country envied by most. Theirnd itself was the reason we couldn’t break them. Thisnd we have, despite its flowery name, Montrose, is anything but flowers. It’s weak. Filled with thorns. Broken people, hungry people, and cursed to bleed no matter how much power we pour into it.
I clenched my jaw. Even the vampires, for all their arrogance, were better off than we were.
Mother’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she said nothing.
After her death, my mom decided Fenra was the bestnd to take over. She was right, of course. It was fertile, rich, and untamed. It should be ours.
However, that was easier said than done.
For a moment, we were close.
Memories resurfaced in my mind, and at the center of it all was Allen Winters.
We were going to strike when he became Praetor. He was a wolf blinded by ambition, and he would have weed us.
He would have wanted our powers to im not just Fenra, but the entirety of the continent. He was easy prey, willing to be led by the leash if it gave him more control.
But he lost. He lost to that righteous Alpha–Cade Cahan. Just like that, everything fell Our ns, our timing, all of it undone by one man.
We knew we couldn’t bribe him. Cade Cahan wouldn’t bend. He was too honorable and noble. He will never take our hand. And so, we sent rogues. We gathered them from surrounding territories, dragged them from their broken packs, and promised power in exchange for their loyalty.
apart.
We used them to strike at Fenra’s borders, to remind their people that the danger came from within, from their own kind, and not from us.
However, it wasn’t enough. Cade Cahan proved to be a far better leader than we ever
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Chapter 228 Thorns Of Rose
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imagined. He rallied his people. Even the young True Alphas held themselves with strength and dignity. Because of that, we’ve burned through what little resources we had left. We’re running out of rogues to send and tricks to y.
And yet, I couldn’t help but smile again. Slowly, I pushed off the wall, letting the grin spread across my face.
“Don’t worry, Mother,” I muttered.
Her head snapped toward me, suspicion in her eyes.
“Inded on a gold mine.”
Her eyes, sharp and dark, pinned me in ce.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
I let my smile linger, savoring the moment. She didn’t yet understand, but she would. “I found it,” I said softly. “The person in your vision.”
Her expression didn’t change, but I felt her attention sharpen.
“It is a win–win situation,” I continued, pacing the room. “At first, I thought she was weak. Insignificant. But the more I observed, the more I confirmed it. It is her. She will bring us to salvation. She is the one who yields the greatest power to wield magic itself.”
Mother’s lips curved into a faint, skeptical smile. “What is this win–win situation you speak of?” she pressed.
I chuckled. “We think we are losing wolves to send to Fenra’s borders, but we are not truly out of options. Somewhere, tucked away in that human country, a pack resides. That is why I went to rc, Mother. I went because I knew the whispers of wolves hiding among humans were true,”
Her
eyes narrowed. She tapped her fingers against the desk. “A pack in the human country, you say? Hidden wolves?”
“Rogues?” she asked with a scoff.
I shook my head, the smile returning to my face. “Better.”
She stilled, and I let the silence stretch before answering.
“They are the very wolves our rogues have been fighting at Fenra’s borders,” I said. “I’ve seen the signs. They are strong, far stronger than the weaklings we’ve been scraping up and sending
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Chapter 228 Thorns Of Rose
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to die. Imagine it, Mother. A hidden pack, isted, unimed by Fenra yet bearing their strength. And with your poison-“I gestured toward the glowing vial on her desk, the one she had been perfecting for months “-we can bend them to our will. We can create an army not of ragged rogues, but of disciplined wolves with power worth harnessing.”
Her lips quirked, finally showing something other than disdain. “You dare think you can make my vision and prophecy bend to you?”
“It won’t bend, Mother,” I said with conviction. “It will break for us. That woman in the prophecy… she is the key. With her, the fulfillment is inevitable.”
Mother leaned back, weighing my words, but her silence only encouraged me further.
“Besides,” I said, allowing myself the pleasure of a darker smile, “the South has lost its Alpha.”
Her eyes flicked toward me. “Exin.”
“I overheard it on the boat back from rc,” I said casually, though inside I savored every syble. “A southern couple spoke too freely. The mighty son of the Wrenmoors has had enough. He is stepping down, relinquishing the title. They are giving it to the head of their
warriors<b>.</b><b>” </b>
Azalea’s brows arched. “The ipetent one?”
I nodded. “Yes. That one. The South is vulnerable, Mother. Without a True Alpha’s strength, their defenses will falter. The bnce of power is shifting even as we speak. Don’t you see? This is the moment we have been waiting for.”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “I believe the time hase, Mother. The time hase when we can finally take over Fenra.”