CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN


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    CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN


    Nn’s POV


    Henry positioned himself in front of Jason. He raised one hand in a quiet signal of restraint.


    “Alpha Nn,” he said, voice low and respectful. “I apologize for my Alpha. He has been drinking. I will take him out and make sure he does not return tonight.”


    Jason swayed behind him, jaw set like he had something to say. He stared at the floor rather than meet my eyes.


    I nodded once. “See that you do.”


    Henry gave a short nod back. He caught Jason by the arm and steered him toward the exit. Jason muttered something about being fine and tried to pull free, but his feet betrayed him. Guests pretended not to stare as they passed.


    De moved to the front of the cake table and cleared her throat. “This cake will not go to waste. Everyonee get a slice,” she called. Her smile held, but when she turned toward me it faltered. Her gaze dropped to my arm. My blood had started to pool on the floor.


    “Talia,” she eximed, eyes still on my arm. “Please take him to the lounge and bandage his arm. Marco and I will handle the room.”


    Talia stepped in without hesitation. She lifted my arm gently, examining the sh, then said, “Come with me.”


    I followed her out of the hall. The music faded as we walked down the corridor. The lounge door stood open. She pointed at a chair, and I sat. She crossed to a cab, pulled a small med kit from a neatly stacked row, and set it on the low table.


    “Hold still,” Talia said, peeling open a packet of wipes.


    I did as I was told. The antiseptic burned as she cleaned the wound, but I didn’t flinch. My eyes stayed on her instead-on the little crease between her brows, the way she bit her plump lips in concentration. My mind wandered.


    If her father were not my enemy, this would be ordinary. We would have crossed paths a hundred times as children. We would have learned each other’s preferences, watched each other grow up. I wondered if the mate bond would have activated for Jason. Maybe Jason would never have gotten a chance to be near her.


    “Have you forgiven Jason for his rejection?” I asked, unable to stop myself. My anger bled into the words as I studied her face. “Is that why you stopped me?”


    Talia frowned and snapped, “Just because I don’t want you to murder him at De’s birthday party doesn’t mean I forgave him. You need to mind your own business.”


    “You keep making it my business by allowing him to remain here to throw tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants,” I retorted.


    Her head rose like I had thrown something, and she mmed the gauze hard over my wound causing me to flinch. “I didn’t ask you to intervene. I didn’t ask you to save me, so don’t act like I owe you anything,” Talia hissed.” Finish whatever investigation you have in Silverfang and leave. Soon.”


    ‘I told you, she would know it’.My wolf barked. Good, I did not bother to pretend then.


    “You understand why I am here,” I said. “And you still think you can order me out?”


    CHARTER SO TY SEVEN


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    “I am not ordering you,” Talia said. She tore the tape clean and pressed it down over the gauze. She began cleaning up. “I am warning you. This is not your territory. Do what you came to do and go.”


    I leaned forward. “What if your father really is the killer?”


    Her hands stilled over the medical kit. Slowly, she turned to face me. “He was not,” she said firmly.


    The certainty in her voice caused me tough bitterly. “Your blind faith will be your downfall, Princess.”


    Talia closed the tin and put it back in the cab. “Believe what you want. I do not owe you an exnation.” She stood. “You are bandaged. We are done.” She walked out of the lounge.


    The room went quiet after she left. I flexed my arm and the gauze held. My wolf was silent for once but fuming at <ol><li></li></ol>


    I left the lounge and found Marco posted in the corridor. He took one look at the bandage and then at my face. “I am surprised she didn’t make the wound worse,” Marco stated.


    I red at him before saying, “Walk.”


    “Not going back to the party?” Marco asked.


    “No,” I replied, and he looked disappointed for a second.


    We didn’t say anything as we walked back to our quarters.


    “Marco,” I said, keeping my voice low. “What if the Alpha King was not the one?”


    His steps faltered. “You doubt what we saw?”


    “I remember the ck wolf,” I said quietly. “I remember my father falling. The blood.”


    Marco stopped and turned to face me. “We saw a ck wolf kill Alpha Ryker. That wasn’t a dream.. After that, we found the Alpha King in the forest. His clothes were soaked with your father’s blood. Intentional or not, that makes him responsible.”


    “He could have stumbled on the body,” I muttered. The words tasted wrong the moment they left my mouth. I must have lost my mind.


    “Did the Princess say something to make you feel this way?” Marco pressed, staring at me as if I’d grown another


    head.


    I did not answer him right away. I thought about theugh that had not been augh, and the way Talia’s voice had not trembled when she said her father was not the killer.


    “No,” I said atst, forcing steel into my tone. “I’m just… thinking that maybe we misread the situation.”


    Marco’s gaze hardened. “Do not doubt yourself, Nn. We saw what we saw. Do not let the mate bond shake you. Not now.”


    “Right. The stupid mate bond,” I scoffed, ignoring my wolf’s snarl of protest. I came here for revenge, and I won’t leave until it’s done.