로그인~Valeria~We were literally standing right in front of it. My mom's badge. The last piece of everything. And instead of, I don't know, having a plan, the four of them had turned into this."I should grab it," Alerion spoke up. "My Alpha power can suppress the vines long enough to pull it clean.""You’ll be humbled by this place in just a matter of seconds." Zane laughed. Not
~Valeria~Lysander moved first. Spun around the corner fast, dagger raised, and I saw the exact moment he recognized who it was because his arm was already swinging and he had to throw his whole body sideways to stop it.Zane.Limping, Caius's arm around his waist, both of them frozen in the doorway staring at the dagger that had stopped about four inches from Zane's face.
~Valeria~The stronghold was exactly as described, the entrance warning us to head back. Right above it there were these old carved words in some ancient language.We all stopped. Alerion pointed up. “Caius, what does that shit say?”
~Valeria~I couldn’t take it. “Stop! All of you! I don’t know who to trust anymore.”I glared at Dad. “You brush off everything like it’s nothing. Caius shows proof and you accuse him of working with Cassian? What the hell?”Then I looked at the guys. “And you, jumping to call him an incompetent? He’s my dad.”“And as for you, dad. So now you’re sending me on a suicide mission? Do you even love me at all? Mom hid this thing knowing it could kill me, and you’re standing here telling me I have to go?”“Why wasn’t you man enough to tell your people about your affair with the maid, my mom? Does that mean I’m illegitimate? That’s why the council members and everybody else keeps accusing my bloodline of being a fraud, and you just stayed quietly without telling me anything? You let them call me fake while you sat back and did nothing!”“I don’t even care about your explanations anymore because you are probably going to lie. So fuck this. I quit. I’m done with all of you.”I turned and storm
~Valeria~I was already on the couch with my legs up, heating pad stuck to my shoulder, scrolling through random reels to distract myself from the dull ache. I didn’t even look up. Alerion was already moving toward the door before the chime finished.I heard the low voices outside. Dad’s voice first, then Alerion second. “No. She’s not in the mood to see y
~Valeria~I waited until the house was quiet. Alerion had finally gone to train in the basement gym. Zane was in the kitchen banging pots around like he was mad at the stove. Lysander was out back running laps to burn off whatever energy he still had. Caius was locked in his room with the ancient book and his screens. I slipped into the small sitting room at the back of the hou
~Valeria~
~Valeria~
~Lysander~
~Valeria~I was sitting on the floor between two bookshelves, squinting at this super old book about sealing rituals, when the entire library went from quiet study zone turned into a loud house of chaos. Expecting the front door to gently open was my first mistake when they slammed against the wal







