CHAPTER SIXTEEN

INARA’S POV

I pulled the heavy furs up to my chin, pressing my back flat against the carved wooden headboard as if I could physically back away from the voice inside my own skull.

"Get out," I whispered into the dimly lit room. My voice sounded small, thin, and entirely stripped of the icy composure I had worked so hard to maintain. "Get out of my head."

Do not be dramatic, Inara, Sova replied smoothly.

The voice was distinctly feminine, cool, and layered with a sharp, sarcastic edge that felt entirely too human for a phantom. Yet it vibrated with an ancient weight, echoing through my mind as though speaking from the depths of a marble vault.

I cannot 'get out,' Sova continued, letting out a faint, airy sigh that fluttered against my thoughts like soft feathers. I am as much a part of your blood as your veins and your bone marrow. Asking me to leave is like asking your own liver to step out for a evening walk.

"I don't have a voice in my head," I snapped aloud, gripping my hair with trembling fingers. "I am Inara Volkov. I am a human. My mother was human, my father is—

Your father is a cowardly fool with the intellect of a wet turnip, Sova interrupted cleanly. And your mother kept secrets. Very grand and dangerous secrets.

I went entirely still. "What do you mean about my mother?"

All in good time, little human, Sova said, her tone unbothered. Right now, you are making a ridiculous spectacle of yourself, talking to an empty bedchamber. Breathe. Calm your pulse. You are giving us both a migraine.

I forced a deep, ragged breath into my lungs, holding it until the burning in my chest forced me to exhale. I lowered my hands, staring down at my trembling palms. "If you have always been here... why haven't I heard you before? Why now?"

Because I was asleep,Sova explained, her internal presence shifting slightly, like a cat stretching under a patch of sunlight. I have been dormant since the day you were born, buried deep beneath your human frailty. But this land... this air is different. Coming up into these frozen mountains, breathing the old magic of the North... shattered the shell.

She paused, and I felt a sudden, strange sensation behind my eyes a sharp, analytical focus that was not my own, scanning my recent memories of the Citadel.

And, of course, there is the matter of the wolf,Sova added dryly.

My chest tightened instantly. "Hati?"

The very same,Sova murmured. A rather overwhelming beast, isn't he? Built like a stone siege wall and radiating enough primal heat to thaw a glacier.

"Stop it," I thought fiercely, trying to slam a mental door against her commentary. "He is an Alpha warlord. He is dangerous."

Oh yes, he is exceptionally dangerous,Sova agreed, her tone laced with a sharp, dark amusement that made my skin prickle. But it wasn't his charm that woke me, Inara. It was his monster.

I frowned, remembering the sudden, terrifying shift in Hati’s study the way he had frozen, his golden eyes flaring black, the crushing heat that had filled the air. "What happened to him in the study?"

His Lykan woke up,Sova said, her voice dropping its sarcastic edge, becoming quiet, serious, and razor sharp. The ancient spirit tied to his bloodline recognized us the exact moment he looked into your eyes. He felt the tether snap.

"What tether?" I demanded inwardly. "What are you talking about?"

You truly know nothing of your own lineage, do you? Sova let out a low, tutting sound. The human kingdoms sanitized your histories, burning the records of what came before. They taught you that Lykans are just rabid beasts and humans are fragile sheep. They never told you about the Owls.

"The Owls?"

We are the balance, Inara,Sova whispered, the words echoing with a strange, haunting resonance. The Lykan spirit is wild, volatile, and prone to a violent madness that can consume a man’s soul if left unchecked. But the Owl spirit... we carry the sight. We carry the calm. We are the only force in this realm capable of anchoring a high Alpha's rage.

I shook my head, my mind spinning as I tried to process the impossible truth unraveling inside me. "No. No, this is absurd. I am not an anchor. I am a political sacrifice traded for border gold!"

You are whatever you choose to be,Sova snapped, her sarcastic bite returning instantly. But deny reality all you want it will not change the fact that the wolf knows we are here.

I froze. "What?"

When he stood over you in that study, his wolf roared,Sova warned, her internal presence tightening, leaning close against my conscious mind. He didn't touch you tonight because the man is disciplined. But the beast inside him is hunting. He knows what you carry, even if he doesn't fully understand it yet.

"What will he do when he finds out?" I thought, a cold dread pooling in the pit of my stomach.

He will claim you,Sova replied simply, as if stating the weather. Not as a prisoner. Not as a delicate human bride. But as his true counterpart.

She let out a soft, amused hum that faded back into the quiet corners of my mind.

Get some sleep, Inara. Tomorrow, the warlord will come looking for answers. And I suggest you start sharpening your wits because you cannot hide an Owl from a wolf for very long.

The internal connection quieted, leaving only the soft, ambient warmth of Sova’s presence lingering deep within my chest.

I lay back down on the crimson velvet pillows, staring up at the vaulted stone ceiling. The room was silent once more, save for the crackle of the dying hearth fire. But as I closed my eyes, I knew my life as a quiet, ordinary human girl had officially died in the snows of Vargovia.