All Chapters of Reborn Before the Mark: I Married His Wolfless Uncle: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Aria Voghel entered Greyhaven alive. For one violent second, Lorelai could only see her covered in blood. Not her own. Lorelai’s. Memory replaced the village gate with a stone corridor.Aria’s silk slippers moved through a spreading red pool. Her voice remained soft while Lorelai dragged herself toward an exit she would never reach. A placeholder. The vision vanished.Aria stood beside Caelan beneath the raised gate, untouched by the crimes she had not committed yet. Two Moonridge guards waited behind her.Greyhaven’s sentinels had allowed them through only after removing their weapons. Caelan did not appear to care. Aria followed his attention. Then she smiled. Lorelai’s wolf recoiled.Karl moved closer. His body occupied the space beside her before anyone else noticed she had stopped breathing.Smoke, leather, and that impossible living darkness beneath his scent cut through the memory of blood. Ready.Aria’s gaze dropped to the narrow space between them. Interest sharpened her smil

Karl assigned Lorelai an escort without asking her. She discovered it when she left the house after breakfast and found two armed rogues waiting beside the steps. One wore a short sword.The other carried a bow already strung. Lorelai stopped.“What are you doing here?”The swordsman shifted his weight. “Karl ordered us to accompany you.”“To where?”“Wherever you go.” Lorelai walked directly to him. The escort followed. Karl finished the report before turning.“You should have asked me.”“I should have warned you.”“That is not the same thing.”“No.”“Why do I need guards inside Greyhaven?”“Because the stolen wagon proves someone has access to our routes.”“I am not a route.”“You are Garrick’s former ward, Caelan’s rejected mate, and my wife.” Lorelai felt the attention of everyone nearby sharpen. His hand flexed once at his side. Lorelai stepped closer instead of yielding ground.“You made a decision about my movement without me.”“I made a decision about security.”“They are not s

The first bell rang before sunrise. Greyhaven woke in darkness. Doors opened across the central district.Families stepped into the streets carrying blankets, water skins, and whatever each household had been instructed to take during an evacuation. Guards moved toward the walls.Kitchen workers secured the fires. Healers gathered beside the southern route with stretchers and marked packs.Lorelai stood beneath the bell tower with the village map folded inside her coat. The exercise had begun.“Central road blocked,” she called. “Main storehouse sealed. Western watch leader unavailable.” A runner repeated the conditions at each intersection.The second bell sounded. Movement spread through Greyhaven. Families from the lower houses followed the mill path. Those nearest the northern gate turned toward the old chapel.The healers divided into two teams instead of moving together. Lorelai checked the timing slate. Too slow at the eastern lane. Too many people entering the same alley near

Someone had entered the new deposit before Greyhaven knew it existed. Lorelai held the broken seal beneath the lantern. The wax had been warmed and pressed back into place.Whoever had done it understood that a casual inspection would pass. The outer crest remained intact. Only the thin cut around the edge revealed the deception.Karl locked the main door behind them. The sound echoed through the underground room.“Show me every entrance,” Lorelai said. “There are two.”“There are two we know about.”Karl’s attention sharpened. The deposit had been carved beneath the eastern watch platform long before Greyhaven became a settlement.Its stone walls were older than the shelves built against them. Moisture stained the lower blocks, and the air carried grain dust, lamp oil, and wet earth. Lorelai took the lantern.They inspected the lock first. No scratches marked the keyhole. The hinges had not been forced. The person who entered had either possessed a key or avoided the door entirely.“

The blanket was not large enough for two people who intended to remain strangers. Lorelai held it while Karl secured the door.He slid the iron bar into place, tested the shutters, and checked the smoke vent above the hearth. One scout remained with the horses beneath the lean-to.The other settled beside the entrance, close enough to hear anyone approaching through the storm. Karl assigned the watches without raising his voice. Neither man questioned him.When everything had been checked twice, he crossed to the fireplace and knelt beside the stacked wood. Lorelai placed the blanket on the bed.“I can sleep here,” she said.Karl struck flint against steel. “Obviously.”“And you?”“Near the fire.”“The floor is wet.”“I have slept on worse.”“That does not make it sensible.” A spark caught in the dry kindling.“You are already cold,” Lorelai said. “So are you.”“There is one blanket.”“I counted it.” He would rather spend the night shivering on stone than risk making her believe the m