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Todos los capítulos de TRADED TO THE LYCAN KING: Capítulo 111 - Capítulo 120

243 Capítulos

111

LyraThe ride back to the estate was far quieter than the journey to the retreat.I rested my head against the carriage window, watching the trees blur past while absentmindedly running my fingers over the tiny silver wolf charm Raguel had won for me before we left.I smiled to myself.I still couldn't believe he'd actually listened to Zevran.When I'd returned with the drinks and found the charm sitting in Raguel's palm, he'd acted as if it hadn't taken him several attempts to get it."I thought you said those machines were ridiculous.""They are.""Then why did you use one?"He'd shrugged."It happened to contain something you kept staring at.""I wasn't staring.""You were."That tiny conversation kept replaying in my head, making me smile all over again.The retreat had gone better than anything I'd expected.Somehow, against all odds, Raguel had actually warmed up to Zevran.Not completely.He still watched him a little too carefully whenever he thought no one was looking, but th

112

CLAIREThe words "apartment with Rita" looped in my head like a broken record, each repetition hitting me harder than the last. I felt a physical jolt in my chest, a sudden drop in pressure that left me feeling lightheaded and completely blindsided. Of all the things I anticipated, I wasn’t prepared for her to simply decide to leave.Of course she has been hinting at it, but I’ve been averting it. And I thought we were already past it, that we had already come to a conclusion. Now this?I stared at Claire, searching her face for any sign that this was a joke, but her expression was resolute, though her eyes were shimmering with a mixture of guilt and determination. She looked so small in the oversized shirt she was wearing, her toes curling against the cold tile floor, yet she was delivering a blow that felt like a sledgehammer to my ribs. The silence stretched between us, making the air feel too dense to breathe."Where is this coming from?" I finally asked, my voice sounding hol

113

LyraI smiled to myself as I watched the servants carry the last of the dishes into the dining room. One after another, they set each platter in its proper place before making small adjustments.The candles cast a warm glow across the table, the silverware gleamed under the chandelier, and the rich aroma of roasted meat and herbs drifted through the room.I stood there for another moment, letting myself admire the scene I had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing. It wasn't the food or the decorations that mattered most to me tonight. It was what I hoped we might accomplish.If this dinner went well, maybe things between Raguel and Miguel would finally begin moving in the right direction. They didn't have to become inseparable overnight, but if they could simply sit through one meal without hostility, then maybe there was still hope for them.That thought stayed with me as I walked inside.Miguel was already there, standing beside his chair with an amused smile on his face.

114

LyraWhen I woke up the next morning, it was to an empty bed.For a few seconds, I just stared at the ceiling above me. My hand instinctively reached across the mattress, only to touch cool sheets, meaning he had been gone for long. A small frown settled on my face.I sat up slowly, rubbing the last traces of sleep from my eyes before glancing toward the clock resting on the fireplace mantel. It was barely morning.He had mentioned something about an emergency council meeting. I remembered him saying it last night while cuddling me in bed.I let out a slow breath before climbing out of bed. The room suddenly felt much larger without him wandering around, teasing me for sleeping too much or stealing my blanket because he enjoyed hearing me complain.It was strangely quiet.After freshening up and changing into a comfortable dress, I headed for the door. Before I got there, my eyes landed on the desk in the corner of the room. For a moment, I considered pretending the letters didn’t exi

115

RaguelMost people wouldn’t have caught it.They would have seen her smile, heard her soft ‘welcome back,’ and assumed everything was perfectly fine. They would’ve believed she was just tired after spending the day around the palace.But I knew my wife.I’d learned the smallest changes in her expressions long before either of us admitted what we felt for each other—the way her smile didn’t seem to reach her eyes, the slight delay before she answered my questions, the way she kept pulling the corner of her bottom lip in between her teeth.Something had happened today but I just didn’t know what.I wrapped my arms around her the moment I crossed the room, hoping she’d relax against me the way she always did. Her body leaned into mine instinctively, and for a brief second I allowed myself to believe I was imagining things.Then I pulled back to look at her.She smiled again, a gentle yet somewhat cautious smile.“Did you have fun today?” I asked with a grin, hoping to tease her into forg

116

LyraFor a few moments after I woke up the next morning, I remained where I was, staring up at the ceiling as the first rays of sunlight slipped through the curtains and spread softly across the room.Normally, waking beside Raguel made mornings feel lighter. Even when he was already awake, he’d usually be reading reports at the table, quietly reading while waiting for me to wake, only to tease me for sleeping in.Today, however, he was gone again.The room felt unusually quiet, and the silence seemed heavier than it should have been.I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes, hoping I could drift back to sleep for a little while longer, but my mind refused to cooperate. Instead, my thoughts betrayed me, dragging me right back to the conversation Raguel and I had shared over dinner the previous evening.Do leaders ever keep the full truth from the people they love?The question echoed in my mind as clearly as if I’d just asked it.I let out a quiet sigh before whispering to myself, “No

117

RaguelThe council chamber was already buzzing with tension by the time I arrived. Although everyone was trying to maintain a composed appearance, I couldn’t help but notice the uneasy glances they kept exchanging.The moment I stepped inside, every conversation died and the room fell silent.I walked toward my seat at the head of the table, acknowledging the council with a small nod before taking my place.“Good morning,” I said.“Good morning, King Raguel,” several voices answered in unison.I rested both hands on the table and slowly looked around the room, studying the expressions before me. None of them looked particularly eager to begin.“I was told this couldn’t wait.”Maximus exchanged a brief glance with Victor before clearing his throat. “We’ve received reports from the royal archives.”I frowned. “The archives? What about them?”Without a word, another council member, Elias slid a small stack of reports across the polished table toward me. I picked them up and began reading

118

CharlotteUncertainty had always been my favorite kind of emotion to work with.Facts were unchangeable. Truths could be verified, challenged, or defended with evidence.Uncertainty, on the other hand, worked very differently. It encouraged people to ask questions without demanding answers. It made them fill the empty spaces with their own fears, assumptions, and suspicions. All of those self-created doubts were often far more powerful than any lie I could have invented for them.That was why a small smile found its way onto my face as I walked away from the council corridor. It wasn’t wide enough to attract attention, nor careless enough to betray what I was thinking. It was the kind of satisfied smile that disappeared the instant another person looked in my direction.The council was worried.I had seen it in Raguel’s eyes, even though he had answered my question with the calm confidence that came so naturally to him.“Everything is fine.”Maybe he truly believed those words or he j

119

LyraThe following morning, I decided I wasn’t going to ignore the letters anymore.Every letter had become more personal than the last. They no longer spoke in vague warnings or impossible predictions. Whoever was writing them knew too much. They knew what questions I’d asked Raguel over dinner. They knew what dress I was going to wear before I even did. They also somehow knew exactly which thoughts lingered in my head after every conversation.That alone was enough to make them impossible to dismiss.But I also wasn’t going to trust them blindly.So, instead of choosing a side, I decided to do something else.I’d test them.If the letters were trying to manipulate me, I’d eventually catch them contradicting themselves. If they were telling the truth… then I’d discover that on my own.Either way, I refused to let someone else decide what I believed.As I brushed my hair in front of the vanity mirror, I remembered the last sentence from yesterday's letter.Stop listening only to what

120

HabeelaI had noticed the change in Lyra for several days, and by now, I was beginning to worry.It wasn’t obvious to anyone who didn’t know her. She still smiled when someone spoke to her, still joined the kitchen servants and I to prepare meals when she felt like it, and still carried herself with the same quiet grace as before. If anyone asked whether something was wrong, she would immediately insist that she was fine.But I had spent enough time around her to know that her version of fine and everyone else’s version were not always the same.That morning, I found her sitting near the window in her room with a book open in her lap. She had been staring at the same page for so long that I wondered whether she had forgotten she was holding it.I knocked lightly against the open door to get her attention. “Lyra?”She blinked and looked up. “Oh… Habeela.”I smiled as I stepped inside. “How long have you been reading?”She glanced down at the book like she just remembered it was there.

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