53 - A night darker than the one with a black sun

(Kaan’s POV)

I stand alone near the helipad as the last guest’s helicopter flies away. Raya is feeling a little unwell so I told her to rest. She must be really exhausted or the stress must have finally caught up with her because she didn’t fight me on that one and went straight to our room.

The moment the helicopter is out of sight, my cousin Sylvana appears right beside me, as if she’s been standing there all along. Perhaps she was.

“Well?” I ask quietly. “What did you find out?”

Sylvana scoffs. “The usual dirty laundry—literal and figurative—and whispered scandals brewing under the surface. I was almost bored out of my mind until…” her face darkens as she grits her teeth and hisses. “Those three old maggots. They mean trouble, and not the petty kind. They will never accept a human queen because—and I quote ‘It will sully the pure blood of the lycan kings and produce inferior half-breeds’. I wanted to throw up while I was in their tent. They feel entitled because their families have