All Chapters of SOLD TO THE RUTHLESS LYCAN KING : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Ariana's POVMy fingers stayed on the first page.I was afraid to unfold it.Not because I thought it would hurt me.Because once I read my mother's words, she would stop being a story people told me.She would become real.The room around me faded into the background.I could still hear voices outside the window. A blacksmith hammered at a broken shield. Someone was calling for more bandages. Somewhere in the courtyard, a horse refused to stand still.Life hadn't stopped.But mine had."Ariana."Kael's voice was quiet."You don't have to read it now."I looked up at him."What if I lose another chance?"He understood what I meant.Eamon had died before he could finish his story.I couldn't lose my mother's too.I untied the blue thread.The paper made a soft crackle as I opened it.The handwriting was careful, as though every word had been chosen with love.---My little moon,If this letter has found you, then I haven't.I prayed every night that I would be the one to tell you these

Ariana's POVI couldn't sleep.The map lay open on the table beside my mother's letters.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the circle around the old oak tree.She is waiting.Who?Someone who had known my mother?Someone who had watched me from a distance all these years?Or another trap?A soft knock came at the door.Before I could answer, Rowan leaned inside."I guessed you'd still be awake.""You guessed right."He noticed the letters scattered across the table."You've read them all?"I smiled sadly."Only the first one.""The others can wait.""I don't think they can."Rowan walked over and looked at the map."Neither can this."He tapped the circle with one finger."If we leave after sunrise, we'll have half the countryside following us.""So we leave before."He looked at me and smiled."That's exactly what Kael said."Footsteps passed outside the room.Not hurried.Steady.A few seconds later Kael appeared in the doorway.His hair was still damp. He had changed into plain tr

Ariana's POVI started towards the cart.Kael stepped in front of me."Give me a minute."He crouched beside the broken wheel instead of reaching for the letter. His gaze swept over the ground first.The grass.The mud.The bushes.He wasn't looking for the letter.He was looking for the person who had left it.Rowan circled the clearing with his sword still in its sheath."The horse broke free.""How do you know?" I asked.He pointed to a torn rein hanging from a low branch."If someone had led it away, this wouldn't still be here."A few steps farther on, Lyra found a small basket lying on its side.Red apples had rolled into the grass.One had a tiny bite taken out of it.She picked it up and turned it over in her hand."They left in a hurry."I looked around again.A child's shoe.The bread.The apples.This hadn't been a battlefield.It had been an ordinary journey.Until it wasn't.Kael finally picked up the letter.The wax seal had already been broken.Someone else had read it

Ariana's POVThe force of the crossbow bolt spun me around before I hit the ground.For a moment, I couldn't tell what had happened. The world tilted, the trees blurred together, and a sharp pain tore through my left shoulder until it stole the air from my lungs. I pressed my hand against the wound without thinking. When I pulled it back, my fingers were covered in blood.Kael was beside me almost at once.He dropped to one knee and slipped an arm behind my back, stopping me from falling flat onto the ground."Look at me."His voice wasn't loud, but it reached me through the ringing in my ears.I tried to smile."I... I'm all right.""You don't have to pretend."His words were calm, but his hands moved quickly as he tore a strip from his own sleeve and pressed it against my shoulder.The pain shot through me again.I closed my eyes for a second."No," Lyra said as she knelt beside us. "Keep your eyes open. Talk to us.""I don't know what to say.""Anything."I gave a weak laugh."I've

Ariana's POVThe cottage was quiet again.Only the fire crackled in the fireplace as the evening breeze slipped through the open window.Kael stood near the door, watching the forest. Rowan had gone after the stranger, while Lyra and Elias searched the rest of the cottage for anything that might have been left behind.I couldn't take my eyes off the journal.It rested on my lap, heavier than it looked.This book had belonged to my mother.She had held it.Written in it.Cried over it.Maybe even laughed while filling its pages.I ran my fingers over the worn leather before opening it carefully.The first pages were filled with ordinary things.The weather.The flowers blooming around the cottage.A loaf of bread that had burned because she had forgotten it in the oven.I smiled.For years, I had imagined my mother as a perfect queen.Instead, I found a woman who laughed at her own mistakes.She felt real.Then the writing changed.---Today, Ariana took her first steps.She fell after