Chapter 453 Chapter 452: The Weight of What Still Lurks Two days ago The council hall remained silent long after Orion’s words settled over the long table. Madam Tyler was the first to break the stillness. “After everything we have already seen in Nirvana she said quietly, her gaze steady

Chapter 452 Chapter 451: Ashes in the Council Hall Two days ago If Orion thought that after that meeting with Eldric he could take things easy, he thought wrong. Things moved to the council hall instead, all elders present, including Brynhild and Lysander. Orion sat at his usual position at

Chapter 451 Chapter 450: The Oath Only Spirits Hear Two days ago Orion did not look away. Eldric held his gaze with an unsettling steadiness, the firelight catching faintly against the lenses of his glasses. There was no twitch in his jaw. No minute shift of posture. No tightening of

Chapter 450 Chapter 449: Vows Beneath Borrowed Skin Two days ago Eldric swallowed. The sound was soft, almost lost beneath the crackle of the fire, but Orion heard it all the same. He lifted a hand to his face and adjusted his glasses, the familiar gesture looking almost practiced, like

Chapter 449 Chapter 448: Shadows Between Friends Two days ago Orion had just stepped out of his house, the chill of the snow biting through his cloak. The wind whipped at the edges, carrying the faint scent of pine and frost. He straightened his shoulders and exhaled slowly, letting the

Chapter 448 Chapter 447: What It Means to Stay Orion didn’t say anything. He stood just inside the room, the door still half-closed behind him, his hand resting loosely on the handle. His eyes were on Sophia, steady and unreadable. But he didn’t need to speak. Sophia inhaled slowly. “I

Chapter 447 Chapter 446: The Words She Had Been Holding Back Marta paused at the doorway. “I’m sorry for interrupting,” she said gently, her voice careful, as if she already felt the tension in the room. “But a nurse told me Sophia is awake p> Orion straightened immediately. He nodded

Chapter 446 Chapter 445: The Question He Would Not Let Go Sophia glared at Orion. “You know very well I didn’t throw up because of your face p> Orion nodded slowly, like he had been waiting for that. There was a smile on his face. “That’s true,” he said mildly.

Chapter 445 Chapter 444: The Weight of Desire Sophia’s mother’s gaze lingered on her hair. It was a look that made Sophia freeze in place. She could feel the weight of it pressing down on her chest even without seeing her mother’s eyes. “You need to make sure your hair

Chapter 444 Chapter 443: The Familiar Room Sophia groaned softly before she opened her eyes. She paused when she did. The room was familiar. She knew that. She also knew she had been here before. The smell of old pages was faint now, less crowded than before. The stacks of

Chapter 443 Chapter 442: About Your Husband p> “About your husband Caspian began. Jeffrey stared at him with a frown on his face. He wondered why he had spoken like that. Even Orion’s face tightened, his brows drawing together as his gaze moved from Caspian to Daniel. “What?” Jeffrey asked

Chapter 442 Chapter 441: The Quiet Before the Answer “Let’s hope we don’t,” Marta said to him, then turned down the corridor and disappeared with the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly where she was needed. Lysander remained where he was for a moment longer. The weight inside his

Chapter 441 Chapter 440: The Ones Who Stay Standing Lysander stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him with careful fingers. The soft click sounded far louder to him than it should have. Sophia was asleep now; there was no need for alarm. He had instructed

Chapter 440 Chapter 439: Shadows Racing Through the Snow He adjusted the lens. His whistling had stopped. “Thank the Goddess,” one of the guards said with a laugh. “That was a horrible song p> Quentin didn’t pay them any mind. His gaze was on the two figures now cutting through

Chapter 439 Chapter 438: When the Watch Failed to Stay Quiet “You will not always have me,” he said. “You will not always have Marta. And you will not always have someone more experienced standing behind you when a patient collapses in your hands p> His gaze moved over every

Chapter 438 Chapter 437: Lessons Written in Blood and Breath The medical facility never truly slept. Even at this hour—long after the compound had fallen into uneasy silence—the front ward glowed with low lantern light. It was always open in the case of any emergency. Lysander entered through the wide

Chapter 437 Chapter 436: When the Night Broke Open Midnight had settled over the pack compound like a held breath. Snow lay thick and untouched across the compound, smoothing every path and rooftop into soft silver lines. The houses were dark. Fires burned low behind shuttered windows. Even the restless

Chapter 436 Chapter 435: Questions Without Answers Some Minutes Before The council hall had quieted, though the tension in the air still clung to the walls like smoke. The elders remained seated around the long table, their expressions drawn, their bodies stiff from hours of deliberation. The heavy wooden door

Chapter 435 Chapter 434: A Name That Refused to Exist Some Minutes Before Eldric pushed his glasses up again with shaking fingers. His eyes were wide in shock. He turned slowly back toward the new parchment beneath his hands, staring at it. “It’s changed,” he whispered softly.

Chapter 434 Chapter 433: The Shape of What Was Never Meant to Move Some Minutes Before The council hall had not felt this crowded in a while. And that wasn’t in terms of bodies—this was in terms of tension. Every breath seemed heavier than it should have been, pressed flat