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Chapter 53: Told the Truth
Tanggal publikasi:
2026-09-18 05:19:24
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Not yours to reject Chapter 56: The Bloodline Relative, Foreshadowed
"I think I found something significant."Rosalind's voice carries urgency as she waves Jaxton into the archive, spreading a newly recovered set of records across the workbench. He's been buried in cross referencing duty rosters against the hidden surveillance log for days now, and the shift in her tone pulls his full attention immediately."I traced the erased name further than I expected to," she says, pointing to a branch of family lineage extending outward from the blacked out entry in the old ledger. "It took cross referencing three separate records, but I believe I've identified a living descendant, someone who shares blood with the same erased line connected to Delaney's mother."Jaxton leans forward, studying the careful notations. "You're certain.""As certain as fragmented, decades old records allow me to be. The name is June Calloway." Rosalind taps the entry firmly. "Born several territories away from here, no d
Not yours to reject Chapter 55: Costs Mounting
"You've barely touched your food."Mara says it across the kitchen table, watching me push the same few bites around my plate without much enthusiasm. It's been three days since the training yard experiment with Rosalind, three days of carefully hiding the lingering exhaustion that hasn't fully faded the way it usually does after a healing session."Not very hungry," I say, forcing a small bite anyway to ease her concern. "Long week."It isn't a lie exactly, though it isn't the full truth either. I've been sleeping poorly, waking with faint tremors in my hands that take longer each morning to settle into something manageable. The bloody nose from the training session stopped within the hour, but something underneath it hasn't fully recovered, a persistent, low grade weariness sitting deep in my bones that no amount of rest seems to touch.I haven't told Jaxton. I haven't told Rosalind the full extent of how
Not yours to reject Chapter 54: Her Gift, Unleashed
"I want to actually understand what I'm capable of, instead of only discovering it in emergencies."I say it to Rosalind the next afternoon, standing in a quiet corner of the Ashford Ridge training yard, far enough from prying eyes that I feel comfortable experimenting freely. She's agreed to observe, given her years of medical knowledge, in case something goes wrong that I can't manage myself."We'll start small," she says, setting out a shallow dish of water and a wilting plant she pulled from the garden earlier. "Controlled conditions, nothing urgent or life threatening, just you learning to access the gift deliberately rather than only under duress."I kneel in front of the wilting plant, closing my eyes, reaching for that familiar warm pull in my chest. It comes easier than I expect without the panic of an emergency driving it, gentler, more controlled. I press my palm lightly against the drooping stem, and a faint glow spreads f
Not yours to reject Chapter 53: Told the Truth
"You were chased. Alone. On the border path. And you're only telling me now?"Jaxton's voice cracks across the medical tent, sharper than I've heard from him in weeks, and I brace myself against the exam table, still favoring my throbbing ankle from the fall into the creek bed."I'm telling you now because I just got back," I say, though even as I say it I know that's not the full defense he's actually asking for. "I needed a moment before I could explain everything clearly.""You've had a note warning you to leave before the full moon since yesterday morning. You said nothing." His jaw is tight, fury and fear tangled visibly together in his expression. "You went to the border camp alone today, knowing that note existed, knowing someone dangerous enough to breach your own den had already gotten close enough to leave it there. And you still said nothing.""I wanted to investigate it myself first.""Why?" The word comes out raw, genuine confusion beneath the anger. "Why would you choose
Not yours to reject Chapter 52: The Warning
"You've been quiet all morning."Jaxton says it carefully, watching me across the medical tent, and I fold the note tighter in my pocket, choosing my words with equal care. "Just tired, long night, thinking through everything with Priya and Garrett."It isn't a full lie. It also isn't the whole truth, and I feel the weight of that omission sitting uncomfortable in my chest as I say it. I think of standing in front of the council days ago, insisting I be allowed to make my own choices, on my own timeline, without pressure or interference. I want to test that independence now, quietly, on something smaller than a bonding ceremony. I want to know if I can actually investigate a threat myself before handing it over to someone else to manage on my behalf."You'd tell me if something else was wrong," Jaxton says, not quite a question, watching me with careful attention."I would." Another half truth, and guilt twi
Not yours to reject Chapter 51: Suspects
"We can't act on assumption alone. I want confirmation before anyone accuses Priya of anything."Jaxton says it firmly the next morning, gathered again in the archive with Rosalind and Marcus, careful caution replacing last night's raw anger. "Six years of loyal service doesn't erase itself over one circumstantial pattern. I want to be certain before we destroy someone's standing in this pack.""The dates align too precisely to ignore," Marcus says, though I hear the reluctance in his voice too, clearly uncomfortable naming a longtime colleague as a suspect. "But you're right that we need more than a schedule overlap before anyone says anything to her directly.""There's someone else worth examining," Rosalind says slowly, pulling a separate folder from the shelf. "I almost didn't mention it, given how thin the connection is. But Garrett, one of the betas assigned to border rotation, has shown up in a few of these logs too. Different pa
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