All Chapters of The Price Of Fate: Chapter 201 - Chapter 210

Nyra’s POVBreakfast ended up simple but good. Enough to fill the kitchen with warmth and to make the house feel a little less burdened than it had the night before. For a little while, with plates being passed and tea poured and morning light settling fully in, things almost felt ordinary. Almost. But nothing stayed ordinary long in Vandwood now.As soon as the food was done and we had actually sat down to eat some of it, Elara’s attention shifted. I saw it happen before she even spoke. Something in her posture changed, sharpening again toward duty.“I will handle the pack matters this morning,” she said.Ronan looked at her.“Elara…”“No.”She lifted a hand before he could argue.“You were out late. Ethan is unstable. Ingrid is unstable. The barrier is unstable. You are not going to start today half-dead because you think resting for a few hours makes you weak.”Ronan gave her a look. She gave him a colder one back. I stayed quiet because this was clearly not my fight, though I unders

Nyra POVThe library stood a little apart from the rest of Vandwood, not hidden exactly, but quiet in a way that made it feel separate from the noise and strain pressing on the pack lately. Even from outside, it carried the weight of years. The building itself was older than most of the homes in town, its stones darkened by weather and age, its tall windows catching the morning light in pale, dusty bands. Vines had once climbed partway up one side, but someone had cut them back recently, leaving only faint marks where they had clung. The steps leading up to the entrance were worn down in the middle from generations of feet. That detail struck me harder than I expected. So many people had come here looking for answers, or comfort, or proof of something they did not know how to carry alone.I climbed those steps with Ronan at my side and felt the weight of the place before we even reached the door. The library smelled old the moment we entered. Paper. Dust. Wood polish. Dry herbs. There

Nyra POVMaelin’s mouth tightened with grief. Not for herself. For me, I think. That softened me a little against my will, because it is harder to stand hard against someone who is not trying to conquer you, only reach you and failing.“I won’t tell you that your pain is small,” she said.I stayed quiet.“And I won’t ask you to pretend it didn’t happen.”Something in me eased a little at that. Not much. Enough.“But maybe,” she said gently, “you could try. At least for Ronan’s sake.”I looked at her and said nothing. She took another careful step closer.“Elaine would have urged you to try.”That pulled a sound out of me before I could stop it. A chuckle. Bitter. Thin. Not happy at all.“My mother stayed in the outskirts for a reason,” I said. “I plan to maintain that distance too.”I had believed that for so long it sat in me like fact. The outskirts had always meant exile in my mind. The border of belonging. The place people like us were allowed to exist so long as we did not force

Nyra’s POVI looked down at the book again. Its weight had not lessened in my arms. If anything, it felt heavier with each passing moment, as though my mother’s hands still lingered in the leather and the dust and all the things she had left unsaid. The library no longer felt like the right place to open it. Too public. Too observed. Too easy for someone to pass by and glance at a page that might hold things meant only for me.I wanted somewhere quieter. Somewhere closer to her.“I’m going to my mother’s cabin,” I said.Astrid’s expression softened at once. I went on before she could decide what that meant.“You can look around while I’m there.”That surprised her so much she actually blinked.“At Elaine’s cabin?”“Yes.”She looked almost thrown.“But… I thought you said no before.”“I said no to Calista.”That came out drier than I intended, but I did not take it back. Astrid laughed under her breath.“Fair.”I let my fingers trace once over the edge of the closed book.“You might fi

Nyra’s POVMalcolm drove us the rest of the way in silence.The road grew rougher as we left the thicker part of town behind and headed toward the outskirts. I sat in the back with Elaine’s book resting across my lap, both hands still on it as though if I loosened my hold it might vanish, or worse, open on its own and spill something I was not ready to see. Astrid sat beside me, quiet in a way I appreciated. She glanced at the book once or twice, but she never asked about it. Malcolm kept his eyes on the road, his posture steady, his attention the way it always was when he was following Ronan’s orders. Sharp. Unbending. Quietly stubborn.I looked out the window as the familiar path began to reveal itself in pieces I knew too well. The trees thinned where they always thinned. The bend in the road came exactly where it always had. A broken fence post I remembered from childhood still leaned at the same angle as if time had simply decided not to bother with it. My chest tightened more wi