Semua Bab Craving my Sister’s Husband: Bab 21 - Bab 30

CHAPTER 22 — The Burned LetterI wait until the packhouse is quiet before I move.I push open the door of Sailyn's private chamber. It clicks open and I step inside and close it behind me.The room smells like her, I overlook everything and start searching.I check the drawers first and everywhere she could hide something but I find nothing. I am about to give up when I see the fireplace.It is small, decorative, the kind that never gets used except for show. But at the very back, in the corner, I see something dark against the stone.I crouch down and I reach my hand into the fireplace, my fingers stretching toward the back, scraping against the cold brick. I touch something fragile like paper. I pull it out carefully.It is a corner of a letter. Most of it is ash, black and crumbly, falling apart between my fingers but three words survive. The ink is faded but readable.“After the ceremony.”I stand with the fragment in my hand, the ash smudges against my skin and the words stare b

CHAPTER 24 — Corvus WatchesTywin finds me in the corridor before dinner. He is walking fast, his head turning left and right, checking for anyone who might be listening. I know that walk. That is the walk he does when something has gone wrong."Elder Corvus is up to something," he says, not even a greeting. "He went to Damos privately."My stomach drops. "What did he say?""That the Luna seems different."I lean against the wall. My knees feel weak. "Different how?""He did not specify and that is what makes it worse. If he had said something specific, Damos could have explained it away. Maybe a new diet or a change in routine." Tywin steps closer, his voice dropping. "But he just said different, he wasn’t precise.""Damos shut it down?""Fast. According to the guard who overheard, he did not even let Corvus finish. He said the Luna has been through trauma and is recovering, and any changes are to be expected. End of discussion."I exhale. "That is something.""It is something but s

CHAPTER 26 — UninvitedThe morning strategy briefing is already going on when I reach the council chamber. I can hear voices through the door, low and measured, the same careful tones I heard the night I crouched in the corridor.I do not knock, I just push the door open and walk in.The room goes quiet. Elder Maris blinks at me from his seat near the window, Elder Tolland frowns, his pen frozen above his notes and the younger council members look at each other, uncertain, waiting for someone to tell them how to react.I do not look at any of them, I walk to an empty chair near the middle of the table, pull it out and sit down. I place my notes on the table in front of me and fold my hands on top of them.Damos stares at me from the head of the table, his jaw is tight. His pen is in his hand, hovering over his papers, he did not invite me here and he did not send for me. He made that clear the last time I asked to sit in on these meetings.I hold his gaze and do not smile or apologize

CHAPTER 28 — StagedI go back to Sailyn's chamber when the packhouse is asleep. The fireplace draws me again like I did not search it well enough the first time. I was too eager and rushed. I take a deep breath and kneel on the hearth, the stone is cold against my knees. I reach deeper into the ash this time, my fingers scraping against the brick at the very back, where the shadows are thickest and no one would think to look.My fingers brush against something hard and I pull it out.A second piece of paper, much smaller than the first one and even more damaged. The edges are curled and black, crumbling between my fingers, but the ink is still readable in the center where the fire did not reach.It is a meeting location, I instantly recognize the name, it is a Silverling border post. It is on the maps in the war room, marked as hostile territory, a place no pack wolf goes without permission.I look at the date written next to it. It was two weeks before Sailyn’s kidnapping.I sit on

CHAPTER 30 — DemotionI stood with Tywin, chit chatting after the stressful meeting. The council had gone in circles for an hour about supply lines, and my head was pounding from holding my face still while Maris explained something I already understood better than he did.Tywin leaned against the wall, his arms crossed, his expression light in a way it only got when we were alone. "You lasted longer than I would have.""I did not have a choice.""You always have a choice, you could have walked out. You could have thrown something or told Maris exactly where he could put his supply routes."I almost laughed. "And ruined the Luna's perfect composure?""The Luna's perfect composure is overrated."He said it with a straight face, and that was what broke me and I couldn’t stop myself from bursting out laughing.Tywin smiled, reached over and placed his arm on my shoulders. I smiled at it but my smile froze when I felt something cold pressing against the back of my neck.I turned my head.