MasukChapter 324SILVIA"Go ahead," I interrupted, my wolf fully visible now. "Hurt him. Torture him. Kill him if you're brave enough. But understand this: you're not dealing with a desperate prisoner trying to protect her family. You're dealing with someone who's done far worse than anything you're threatening. Someone who's burned nests and slaughtered enemies and made entire supernatural factions afraid to speak the Blackwood name."I pulled against the chains, feeling them strain. Not enough to break—not yet—but enough to make my point."I am Silvia Blackwood. The Blood Luna. And if you think forty years of domestication has made me soft, has made me forget how to be the monster you're so afraid of—you are catastrophically wrong."The cell door clanged open and more figures poured in—nightwalkers and werewitches, enough to restrain me properly. They forced me back down, added more chains, tightened the restraints until I could barely move.But I kept snarling, kept fighting, kept makin
Chapter 323SILVIAMovement in the darkness beyond the bars. Then figures emerged—three of them, staying just out of reach but close enough to be visible in the dim light.Two nightwalkers, their pale skin almost glowing in the shadows. And one werewitch, her hands crackling with residual magic."The prisoner awakens," the female nightwalker said mockingly. "How nice. I was worried the wolfsbane dose had been too high.""Where is my mate?" I demanded, struggling against the chains. "What have you done with Samuel?""Your mate is alive," the male nightwalker said. "For now. He's in another cell, similarly restrained. Whether he stays alive depends entirely on your cooperation.""Cooperation?" I laughed, the sound harsh and dangerous. "You think I'm going to cooperate with the people who ambushed and kidnapped me? The people who are using me as leverage against my son?""We think you're going to be reasonable," the werewitch said. "Because the alternative is watching your mate suffer. W
Chapter 322SILVIAI woke up to pain.Not the sharp, immediate kind that signaled fresh injury, but the deep, throbbing ache that came from being unconscious too long, from muscles cramped in awkward positions, from my body trying to heal damage I couldn't quite remember receiving.My head felt like someone had taken a hammer to it. My vision swam, refusing to focus properly. And there was a taste in my mouth—bitter, chemical, wrong—that made my wolf snarl in recognition.Wolfsbane. Someone had drugged me with wolfsbane.I tried to move and immediately regretted it. My hands were bound behind my back with silver chains that burned against my skin. My ankles were similarly restrained. And I was lying on cold, damp stone that smelled of mold and old blood.Where the hell was I?I forced my eyes open, blinking against the dim light filtering through what appeared to be iron bars. A cell. I was in a cell, chained like a common criminal, my wolf raging against the restraints and the drugs
Chapter 321XENOIS"One more thing. Your mother asked me to hold onto something for her before she left. She said if you came looking, if you figured out they'd gone, I was to give it to you."He pulled out a small envelope from his jacket pocket and placed it on my desk."She said you'd know when to open it. And that she was sorry—for everything."With that, Theodore let himself out, leaving me staring at the envelope like it might explode.Lumina moved closer, her hand finding mine. "What do you think it is?""I don't know," I admitted. "But knowing my mother, it's either an explanation or a warning. Maybe both."I picked up the envelope, feeling the weight of it. There was something inside—not just paper, but something solid. Carefully, I opened it.Inside was a letter, handwritten in my mother's precise script. And beneath it, wrapped in velvet cloth, was a small medallion I recognized from childhood—the Blackwood family seal, the one that had been passed down through generations
CHAPTER 320XENOISTheodore settled into the chair across from my desk, his weathered hands folded in his lap. For a long moment, he just studied me, his expression sad and knowing."Your parents loved you very much," he said finally. "I want you to understand that first. Whatever they've done, whatever choices they've made—it came from love. Misguided, perhaps. Complicated, certainly. But love nonetheless.""Then why did they leave?" I demanded, my patience fraying. "Why dismiss you and the rest of the staff after thirty years? Why lock up the house and disappear without telling anyone?""Because they were torn," Theodore said quietly. "Between their love for their grandson and their fear of what the future holds. Between their loyalty to pack tradition and their growing understanding that those traditions have caused harm. Between their desire to support you and their inability to reconcile what you're building with everything they believe."He paused, seeming to choose his words ca
Chapter 319I looked at Lumina over Ollie's head. She nodded slightly, understanding that sometimes a child needed to do something, anything, to feel less helpless."Okay," I said. "You can leave them a message. But Ollie, I need you to understand—they might not call back right away. They might not even get the message for a while. You can't let yourself expect—""I know," Ollie interrupted, already pulling out his phone—the one we'd given him for emergencies and family calls. "I just need to try."He moved to a quieter corner of the foyer and dialed his grandmother's number with shaking hands. I watched him wait through the rings, watched his face fall when it inevitably went to voicemail, watched him take a deep breath and try to sound brave."Hi, Grandma. It's Ollie. I'm at your house right now with Daddy and Mom and my brothers. We came to visit but you're not here. Nobody's here." His voice cracked. "I miss you so much. I miss your butterscotch cookies and playing in the fun hous







