Romans de Danny

~ Nyra ~ Eryndra was already waiting in the east wing study. Candles on the table. A small bowl of water with something dark dissolved in it. A knife I was trying not to look at. She looked up when we walked in. "She agreed?" she said to Kael. "She agreed," I said. Eryndra looked at me. "Sit." I sat across from Kael at the small table. Our knees were almost touching. He looked at me once — quick, checking — then looked at Eryndra. "Walk us through it," he said. "Simple," Eryndra said. "A small cut on each palm. You press them together and hold. If the bloodlines are compatible you'll both feel it. If not — nothing happens and we know." "How long do we hold?" I said. "Until I say stop." I looked at the knife. "Who goes first?" I said. "Both at the same time." Eryndra picked up the knife and looked at me. "Give me your hand." I put my right hand on the table. She made a small cut across my palm. It stung but not badly. A thin line of red appeared. She did the same to Ka

~ Nyra ~ "How much do you know about the curse?" he said. "I read the folder," I said. "All of it." "When?" "Day three." He nodded slowly. "That's why you were watching the east tree line every morning." "Yes." He leaned back. "Tell me what you understood." "It kills you," I said. "Slowly. Starts with the wolf, moves into the body. Your hand first. Then it works its way up and eventually stops your heart." He didn't react. Just looked at me. "The bond breaks it," I said. "Blood bond with the firstborn Holt daughter. Which is Lena. Who isn't here." I looked at him. "I am." "Yes," he said. "So how long have you known I wasn't her?" "Before the ceremony," he said. I stared at him. Before the ceremony. He had stood at that altar and known. Said the vows knowing. Moved me into his home knowing. "Why didn't you send me back?" I said. "Because sending you back broke the alliance and handed Malrik everything he needed." He paused. "And because I wanted to see what you would d

~ Nyra ~I was going to find the woman with the scar before anyone else found me.Stop waiting for things to happen. Start making them happen. Whoever had sent that warning knew something — and that knowledge was either a weapon or a door. I needed to know which one before Reva finished whatever she had started in Elder Sorin's office.I got dressed, ate fast, and spent the morning moving through every part of the estate I had access to.I looked at hands.Every person I passed — staff, guards, pack members in the corridors — I checked the back of their right hand.An hour in. Nothing.Two hours. Still nothing.I was cutting back through the main corridor when Maren stepped directly into my path."The Luna." Flat. Unbothered. "Elder Sorin has requested a meeting. Two o'clock. West sitting room."I kept my face still. "What does he want?""He didn't say." Her pale eyes held mine for a second. "Be on time."She walked away.I stood in the corridor and breathed.Elder Sorin. The same one

~ Nyra ~ I didn't sleep. I lay in the dark staring at the ceiling with the note sitting on the table beside me and turned four words over and over in my head until they stopped making sense. *They know who you are.* Who sent it. That was the question I kept hitting. Because the warning mattered less than who it came from. If it was a friend — someone trying to help — then I had an ally I didn't know about. If it was an enemy playing games, trying to make me panic and do something stupid — Then panicking and doing something stupid was exactly what they wanted. I sat up at three in the morning, took the note, and burned it with the small candle on the nightstand. Watched it turn to ash. Then I lay back down and made myself close my eyes. Whatever was coming, I wasn't going to meet it exhausted. --- I came down to breakfast early. Kael was already there. Same as three mornings ago — papers on the table, coffee at his elbow, not looking up when I walked in. I poured my coffee

~ Nyra ~I woke up to Mavira sitting on the edge of my bed eating an apple.I stared at her."How did you get in?" I said."The door wasn't fully locked." She took another bite. "You need to fix that. Anyone could walk in.""You walked in.""Exactly." She stood up. "Get dressed. I want to show you something before the elders start their morning walk through the east corridor.""Show me what?"She was already heading for the door.I stared at the ceiling for two seconds. Then I got up.---She took me to the rooftop.There was an access door at the top of the north staircase — plain wood, easy to miss, no handle on the outside. Mavira pressed a specific spot on the frame and it clicked open.We stepped out and I stopped walking.The whole estate spread below us. The courtyard, the training field, the garden. And beyond the walls — the forest. Miles of it, dark and ancient, stretching all the way to the mountains on the north side.I hadn't seen the full picture before. Just pieces thro

~ Nyra ~Mavira found me in the library after breakfast.I hadn't met her before. She walked in like she owned the room — tall, dark skinned, hair loose around her shoulders, a stack of books tucked under one arm. She dropped into the chair across from mine without being invited, dumped her books on the table, and looked at me like we'd already been introduced."You're the Luna," she said."Yes," I said."I'm Mavira. Damon's younger sister." She flipped one of her books open. "I was at the southern pack for two weeks so I missed your whole arrival. Everyone's been talking about you." She glanced up. "You're not what I expected.""What did you expect?""Someone more put together. More aware of how she looks." She tilted her head. "The women Kael usually has around are very polished. You're just — normal.""Is that a problem?""No." She turned a page. "It's actually nice."I looked at her for a moment. Then I went back to my book.We read in silence and it wasn't awkward, which I hadn't