Semua Bab The Freak Is The Mate Of The Lycan: Bab 81 - Bab 90

The word hung in the air between us like a bomb waiting to detonate.Mother.I couldn't breathe. The room suddenly felt too small, the walls pressing in on me from all sides. The fire crackled in the hearth, too loud, too bright, filling the silence that stretched between us."No," I whispered, shaking my head. "No, that's not... you can't be."Perla's expression didn't change. She just stood there, watching me with those ancient violet eyes, her hands clasped in front of her like she was waiting for a storm to pass."I know this is difficult," she said softly. "Believe me, I know. But it's the truth, Yara. You are my daughter.""I don't have a mother," I said, my voice rising. "My mother died. Or she left me. I don't know which, but she's been gone my entire life. You can't just... just walk in here after nearly twenty years and claim""I didn't leave you by choice." Perla's voice was sharp now, cutting through my rising panic. "Do you think I wanted to abandon my child? Do you think

I couldn't sleep.The bed was too big, too empty despite Ares lying beside me. His breathing was steady—he'd finally crashed around dawn after three days of barely resting—but I was wide awake, staring at the ceiling and watching shadows dance across the stone.My mind wouldn't shut off.She wasn't there when I needed her.The thought circled like a vulture, picking at the raw wound in my chest that I'd thought had scarred over years ago.I'd made peace with being unwanted. I'd built a life around the fact that I was the freak, the mistake, the girl without a wolf who nobody could love. I'd survived Greta and Tiana's cruelty by telling myself I didn't need anyone.And then Ares had come along and shattered that belief. He'd shown me I was worthy of love, of protection, of a place to belong.Now Perla was here, claiming she'd loved me all along. That she'd left to protect me. That every day of my suffering had been necessary to keep me alive.Bullshit.I threw off the furs and slid out

The silence that followed Perla's words stretched like a rubber band pulled to its breaking point.I stood there in the courtyard, surrounded by wagons full of supplies we desperately needed, staring at a woman who claimed to be my mother, and I didn't know what to feel.Anger? Yes. That was always there, simmering just below the surface.But underneath that, something else was stirring. "Luna?" Valerius's voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. "What do you want us to do with the supplies?"I looked at the wagons. At the grain that would feed our people. At the medical supplies that would save lives. I wanted to tell them to send it all back. To refuse Perla's charity out of sheer stubbornness.But I wasn't just Yara anymore. I was the Luna. And the Luna didn't get to make decisions based on personal grudges when her pack was starving."Unload them," I said, the words tasting like defeat. "Inventory everything. Make sure it's distributed where it's needed most."Valerius bowed and

"Successful meeting."I didn't know how to respond to that. Didn't know if I was supposed to acknowledge her casual attempt at conversation or just walk away like I had been doing for days.Ares solved the problem for me."Come on," he said, his hand finding the small of my back. "You need rest."I let him guide me toward the door, but I felt Perla's eyes on me the entire way.When we finally made it back to our chambers, I collapsed onto the bed fully clothed, too exhausted to even consider changing."That was brutal," I mumbled into the pillow."Which part?" Ares asked, sitting down to unlace his boots. "The tactical planning or your mother?"I turned my head to glare at him. "Both. And she's not my mother.""Yara—""Don't," I interrupted, sitting up. "Please, Ares. Ares finished with his boots and moved to sit beside me. He didn't argue. He just pulled me against his chest and held me."Three days," he murmured into my hair. "In three days, this will be over. Tiana will be dead. R

"What do you mean, gone?" Ares's voice was deadly calm. The kind of calm that came right before an explosion.The scout gulped, his hands shaking as he tried to catch his breath. "The ruins are empty, Alpha. Completely abandoned. No warriors, no supplies, no signs of life. It's like they just... vanished.""That's not possible," Valerius said, limping forward. "We had eyes on them yesterday. Fifteen hundred warriors don't just disappear overnight.""They did," the scout insisted. "I went into the manor myself. The main hall, the barracks, everything. Empty. They left in a hurry too—there's food still on the tables, weapons abandoned, fires still burning."My stomach dropped. Something was very, very wrong."It's a trap," I said, my voice cutting through the rising murmur of panic. "It has to be. She wants us to think she fled so we'll let our guard down.""Or she's regrouping," one of the commanders suggested. "Gathering more forces before she strikes again.""Or she's already here."