《The witch among wolves: Cursed to crave you 》全部章節：第 61 章 - 第 70 章

Cressida's povI woke up alone and the bed was cold and Ember was gone.The fire had burned down to embers and the room was dim and my body ached and my head was foggy. I sat up and looked around and found a note on the pillow. Patrol. Back soon. Don't do anything stupid. I stared at the note and then I stared at the ceiling and then I stared at the ceiling some more. Lucian had been gone for hours and the sun was high and the light was bright and I was hungry and bored and tired of being stuck in a room.I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood and my knees almost buckled. I grabbed the bedpost and held on and my knuckles went white. You're fine, I told myself. You're absolutely fine. I was not fine. But I was tired of being not fine.The floor was cold beneath my bare feet and I took a breath and let it out and took another step. The room tilted and I steadied myself against the wall. Ember had left her bed in the corner and her blanket was rumpled and there was a small mo

Cressida's pov The list was long and the names blurred together and my eyes were tired and my head was pounding.Kade had brought the patrol records and Lucian had spread them across the library floor and we had spent hours sorting through them. The papers were everywhere and some of them were old and some of them were new and some of them had bloodstains on the corners from the wolves who had carried them. Ember had fallen asleep on a pile of papers near the fireplace and her purr was soft and steady and her little paws twitched like she was chasing something in a dream.I rubbed my eyes and looked at the list again. Twenty-three names. Twenty-three wolves who had served on the eastern border in the past month. Some of them I recognized from the dining hall and some of them I had seen in the corridors and some of them I had never heard of before."Twenty-three wolves," Lucian said and his voice was tired. "Twenty-three wolves have served on the eastern border in the past month.""An

Cressida's povI had not been to the dining hall in weeks.Not since the collapse and the ritual and the long days of recovery in Lucian's quarters. Voss had cleared me for light activity and Lucian had made me promise to take it easy and I had promised and then immediately broken that promise by walking the entire length of the academy just to get here.My legs were tired and my chest ached and my magic hummed beneath my skin like something waiting to be let out. But I was hungry and I was tired of soup and I was tired of being stuck in that room.Ember was tucked inside my jacket and her little head was poking out near my collarbone. She had been restless all morning and she kept meowing at the door until I finally gave in and brought her with me.The dining hall was crowded and loud and warm.Wolves filled the long tables and their voices rose and fell and the clatter of trays and silverware echoed off the stone walls. The floating candles drifted overhead and the enchanted ceiling

Lucian's povI did not speak to her on the walk back.Not because I was angry and not because I was tired. Because I did not trust my voice. The council meeting had been worse than I expected and the words were still rattling around in my skull and if I opened my mouth I was afraid of what might come out.Cressida walked beside me and her hand was in mine and her thumb traced circles on my skin. She did not ask questions and she did not push and she did not try to fill the silence. She just walked with me and her presence was steady and warm and I held onto it like a lifeline.The corridors were crowded and the wolves stepped aside and I did not see any of them. My boots echoed on the stone and the torches flickered and the tapestries moved and the world blurred around me.We reached my quarters and I opened the door and she walked inside and I closed it behind us.Then I pulled her into my arms.I held her tight and my face was pressed to her hair and my chest was heaving and my hand

Cressida's povThe rumors started on a Tuesday and they spread like fire through dry grass.I was sitting in Wolf History and Master Theron was droning on about the Great Purge and the alliance between wolves and witches and the betrayal that followed. I was not listening. My mind was elsewhere. On Lucian and the border and the killer and the way he had looked at me when he came back from the camp.Then I heard my name.Not from the front of the room. From the back. Two wolves behind me. Their voices were low but not low enough."She thinks she is his only one.""Someone told me he meets someone on patrol. When he is supposed to be watching the border.""That is disgusting.""He is the Alpha. He can do what he wants.""She is going to be humiliated when she finds out."My blood went cold and my hands went still while my heart pounded in my ears.I did not turn around. I did not confront them. I just sat there and listened and the words burrowed into my chest like splinters.The rest o