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Chapter 8
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The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 10
Three months later, the first four ward markers were installed around the junior training grounds.The silver had been reforged from the protective tokens my fathers once gave me. The moonstone was divided among their centers, allowing every marker to send an alarm directly to the instructors’ network. When the final rune lit, a pale barrier rose above the eastern wall and sealed the opening the rogues had used.The royal investigation had confirmed that winter damage weakened the old eastern runes, allowing a roaming group of rogues to exploit the breach.The youngest students cheered. They knew nothing about the objects’ history, and I preferred it that way. What had once been used to measure whether I belonged to a family now protected every student equally.My training program had also changed during those months. The royal council approved it for permanent use, and instructors from five packs came to observe our evacuation drills. Helena placed me in charge of selecting two additi
The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 9
The four protective tokens remained in the academy vault overnight.The next morning, I asked Helena to melt them down. The silver would be reforged into ward markers for the junior training grounds, while the moonstone would power the emergency network. The objects that had once represented my fathers’ protection would now protect students without asking any of them to prove they deserved it.Darius received the decision without argument.“They were yours,” he said. “You have the right to decide what they become.”It was the first time he had spoken about my life without trying to direct it.Lillian returned to Moonridge before sunrise. She had returned the ceremonial crown to its sealed case and filed a statement asking never to be considered for Moonridge’s vacant succession. My fathers did not blame her for everything that had happened, although accepting their own responsibility seemed harder than condemning hers would have been.She left a final letter for me, promising that she
The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 8
Lillian arrived at Crownfang the following afternoon.She carried a wooden box containing the four protective tokens. The moonstone necklace was no longer around her neck, and Darius’s ring, Marcus’s seal, and Ronan’s silver knife had been cleaned and placed inside the box.My fathers met her in the visitors’ hall. I attended because the academy required my permission before accepting property connected to a severed family bond.Darius’s expression hardened when Lillian entered.“You should have remained in Moonridge.”“You left without speaking to me,” she replied. “I came to return what belongs to Serena.”Ronan pushed the box away. “Those tokens should never have been given to you.”Lillian flinched. “I didn’t take them. All four of you brought them into the shifting circle.”“Because you said you needed us,” Julian said.“I did need you.” Her voice trembled, but she did not cry. “I wanted the crown, her room, and the blessing because I wanted to know what it felt like to be chosen.
The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 7
My fathers remained in the royal capital for the next three days.They were not permitted inside the instructors’ residence, so they waited near the academy gates and tried to reach me one at a time.Darius came first. He brought a formal document restoring my position as Moonridge’s sole heir.“The succession will take place whenever you are ready,” he said. “Lillian will never be allowed near the crown again.”I closed the folder without signing it. “I did not leave because she wore the crown. I left because you decided her wish mattered more than my ceremony.”“I made the wrong judgment.”“You made the same judgment for three years.”The next morning, Julian waited outside my classroom with a basket filled with berry pastries and honey-roasted pumpkin. They were foods he had prepared for me when I was young.“You haven’t been eating enough,” he said. “Let me take care of you while we talk.”“I can feed myself.”Pain crossed his face. “I know. I only want to do something that reminds
The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 6
My first class at Crownfang Academy began before sunrise.Twenty-four senior students waited on the western field, several of them openly doubtful when Helena introduced me. I was younger than most royal instructors, and I had arrived carrying no pack title or military rank.One student glanced at the empty place where an Alpha insignia would normally rest on my coat.“We were told the new instructor was Moonridge’s heir.”“I am not,” I said. “If you need a title before you can learn, you are free to leave.”No one moved.I divided them into defensive formations and recreated the northern gorge exercise my mother had once designed. The students expected a lesson in strength. Instead, I taught them how to guide civilians through a narrow retreat while holding a line against a larger force.Halfway through the exercise, one trainee shifted too quickly. His wolf broke formation and slammed into a weakened section of the practice barrier. The protective runes shattered, sending a length of
The Daughter They Thought Would Stay Chapter 5
The four men returned to the Alpha residence shortly after midnight.The dining room lights were still burning. Five clean place settings had been returned to the cabinet, and four sealed letters waited in the center of the empty table. Darius opened his first.I am not missing. Do not send warriors to search for me. By the time you read this, the Council will have dissolved our bond, and I will be outside Moonridge territory by my own choice.Julian read his letter twice before looking toward the staircase.“She packed a travel case,” he said. “She told us she had plans.”Ronan was already running upstairs. He reached the guest room first and found the wardrobe empty. Serena’s mother’s photograph was gone, along with the gray wolf toy he had given her when she was five.The moon crown remained inside its glass case.Marcus examined the seal on Serena’s letter. “This is protected Council correspondence. The severance petition was approved before she crossed the border.”Darius pulled o
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