LOGINHey loves! Lady P❣️ here 💕 We're officially 15 chapters into our journey, and Ymir just escaped Shadowclaw territory with Xavier and Iris. But Cordelia was smiling. She let them go. She wasn't chasing them. Why? What does she have planned? Ymir is stronger. She has her power. She has Xavier. She has Iris. But the Shadowclaw Pack is still out there. And Cordelia isn't done with her yet. What do you think will happen next? Drop your predictions below—I read every single comment 💛 Please don't forget to vote! It helps more readers find Ymir's story and keeps this journey going. See you in Chapter 16! — Lady P❣️
I didn't answer him.I just looked at Ezekiel—at the cold, guarded man who had just told me he didn't deserve forgiveness—and I turned and walked away. My footsteps echoed on the stone floor, each one steady, each one measured. I didn't run. I didn't cry. I didn't let him see the crack in my armor.But the crack was there. It was wide and jagged and bleeding.I made it to the corridor before my legs gave out. I pressed my back against the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the cold floor. My hands were shaking. My chest was heaving. I could feel the tears burning behind my eyes, hot and insistent, but I refused to let them fall.You can't forgive me. Because I don't deserve it.He was right. He didn't deserve it. But that wasn't the point.The point was whether I could do it anyway.I sat there for a long time. Minutes. Hours. Time stopped meaning anything. I just sat there, my back against the cold stone, my hands pressed against my chest, trying to remember how to breathe.I
I didn't remember leaving the mill. I didn't remember walking back through the forest, or crossing the territory, or climbing the stairs to my room. I just remembered the words, echoing over and over in my mind, cold and sharp and impossible. The person you love most. The person you would do anything for. Your son. I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall, the mark on my wrist pulsing with a steady, aching rhythm. Ziki was asleep in his room. Ziki was safe. Ziki was alive. But he wouldn't be. Not if I didn't find another way. I pressed my palm against my chest, feeling the frantic beat of my heart, and I tried to think. There had to be another way. There had to be a way to bind the creature without losing my son. There had to be a way to save everyone. But the more I thought, the less I believed it. The creature wanted a sacrifice. A life. A love. Something that would cost me everything. And the only thing that fit was Ziki. Unless I could find a way to forgive Ezekiel
I didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. I just looked at him—at the cold, calculating man who had married me for my blood, who had stayed with me for my power, who had never loved me—and I turned and walked away. My footsteps echoed on the stone floor of the elders' chamber, each one steady, each one measured. I didn't run. I didn't cry. I didn't let him see the crack in my armor. But the crack was there. It was wide and jagged and bleeding. I made it to the corridor before my legs gave out. I pressed my back against the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the cold floor, my hands trembling, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The letter was still clutched in my fist, the paper crumpled, the words burned into my mind. He never loved me. He never cared. It was all a game. I had known. I had always known, somewhere deep down. But hearing him say it, hearing the words come out of his mouth, was something else entirely. It was like being stabbed, over and over, wit
He lies. The words echoed through my mind, cold and sharp, and I stood frozen in the garden, staring at Ezekiel as he tucked the box back into his pocket. He looked tired. Worn. His gray eyes were flat, his expression unreadable. He looked like a man who had finally told the truth. But the creature said he was lying. I didn't know what to believe. I didn't know who to trust. The creature wanted me. It wanted my son. It would say anything to turn me against the people who could help me. But it had no reason to lie about Ezekiel. Did it? I left the garden without another word, my mind racing, my heart pounding. Ezekiel didn't try to stop me. He just stood there, watching me go, his expression still unreadable. I didn't look back. --- I found Xavier in the training clearing. He was sitting on a fallen log, his injured side bandaged, his shirt discarded beside him. He wasn't training. He was just sitting there, staring at the trees, his expression distant. He looked up
The word hung in the air between us. A sacrifice. I stared at Elara, my heart pounding, my mind racing through every possible meaning. A sacrifice of what? Of who? My life? My power? My son? "What kind of sacrifice?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Elara's grip on my hand tightened, and I noticed for the first time how much her hand was trembling. She was afraid. Truly afraid. Elara, who had faced down Ezekiel in the council chamber without flinching. Elara, who had stood beside me when the pack turned against me. Elara, who had never once shown fear in all the time I had known her. She was afraid. "That's the part no one knows," she said, her voice quieter than I had ever heard it. "The Drakos ancestors never wrote it down. They only passed it down through blood. Through whispers. Through warnings." "Then how do I find out?" "You don't." She released my hand and leaned back in her chair, but the fear didn't leave her face. It stayed there, etched into the lines
We didn't move for a long time. I lay against Xavier, my body too weak to stand, my mind too exhausted to think. The cave was quiet now, the waterfall a distant hum, the darkness soft and still. The creature was gone, sealed away, but its presence lingered in the cold that clung to my skin and the mark that burned on my wrist. Xavier's hand rested on my back, his fingers tracing slow, soothing circles. His breathing was steady, his heartbeat a quiet drum against my ear. He was alive. He was hurt, but he was alive. I didn't want to move. I didn't want to break the stillness, the quiet, the fragile peace of knowing that we had survived. But I knew we couldn't stay here. We had to get back. We had to warn the pack. We had to tell them what had happened. But for a few more minutes, I let myself stay. I let myself feel the warmth of his body, the steady rhythm of his heart, the simple, impossible fact that we were both still breathing. "We need to move," I said eventually, my voic







