Semua Bab The Mate Hunt: Bab 161 - Bab 170

MaeveThe tin box arrived shortly after noon the next day. I knew because Cyn burst into Ronan's office without knocking, holding the mud covered thing in both hands like it contained either buried treasure or something capable of exploding."We have it."Ronan was on his feet before I could put down my coffee. "Cassian?""Coming.""Ruan?""Also coming."Cyn placed the box carefully on the desk.I stared at it. "That's remarkably unimpressive."It was small. Rust along the edges. Waxed cloth still clinging to one side. Three years buried inside the foundation of an abandoned hunting lodge had not been kind to it.Ronan looked at me. "You expected Gideon's secrets to glow?""After this week? Honestly, yes."The office door opened again. Cassian walked in covered in dirt. Ruan followed looking marginally cleaner."You found it exactly where she said?" Ronan asked.Cassian dropped into a chair. "Loose foundation stone. Rear room. Inside the wall.""The Cross escort?""Never entered the l

RonanWard arrived two days early.Not at the Council. At my fucking gate.I was halfway through reviewing Mara's recorded testimony when Cassian walked into my office without knocking, and that alone told me something was wrong before he even opened his mouth."Ward," he said.I looked up. "What about them?""They're here."Maeve lowered the page she had been reading. "Here?"Cassian nodded. "Northern gate. Twelve wolves. Armed, but they surrendered everything without argument."I stood, already feeling the shape of the day shifting under me. "Alpha?""With them."That changed things considerably. Marek Ward did not leave Ward territory casually, not for anyone, and in the twelve years I had known him I could count on one hand the number of times he had personally entered another Alpha's central territory.Maeve rose beside me. "They said they would meet us at the Council.""They apparently changed their mind."Cassian's mouth twisted into something between a grimace and a warning. "

MaeveIt turned out that when your mother asks an international council to undo your mate bond, the wheels turn very fast indeed.We had not even been inside the Council compound for a full hour, our bags still unpacked and our boots still dusty from the road, when someone knocked on our door and told us the hearing would begin at once.Not tomorrow. Not after supper. At once.Ronan stared at the poor attendant sent to deliver the news."We just arrived," he said."Yes, Alpha.""Then they can wait."The man's face turned the color of old parchment.I touched Ronan's arm, gentle but firm."No," I said. "If Isolde wants to do this tonight, then we do it tonight."His eyes found mine, searching. "You don't owe her that.""No," I agreed. "But I am getting very tired of people discussing my life without me in the room."I picked up my jacket and shrugged it on. Outside the small window, the last of the evening light was fading behind the mountains, turning the stone towers of the compound

MaeveEvander looked far too pleased with himself."With Mara Cross," he repeated, "and the corrupted ritual that connected Silver Crown blood to Sovereign Caine three years before Maeve ever supposedly made her choice."Supposedly. I hated that word.Before I could answer, Elowen rose from the row behind us, and every head in the chamber turned toward her."I can save everyone a considerable amount of time."Evander frowned. "And you are?""Elowen."He waited. She stared back, saying nothing more, until Cassian finally supplied, "Caine's senior healer and ritual expert."Elowen glanced at him. "I could have gotten there.""At your pace, we'd be here tomorrow."The corner of Theron's mouth twitched, though Evander did not look amused. "Very well. Healer Elowen, you have examined the bond?""Repeatedly.""And the original ritual?""What remained of it."Evander gestured toward the center floor. "Then perhaps you can clarify whether Mara Cross created the bond before Maeve and Alpha Cain

Maeve"How much did Gideon Cross pay you?"The Council chamber went silent. Not quiet. Silent. The kind of silence that has weight to it, that presses against the ears and makes the old stone feel closer than it did a breath ago.Evander stared at Ronan across the long stretch of polished floor. For the first time since we arrived, he didn't look polished. His face hadn't collapsed. He wasn't sweating. He hadn't suddenly become some nervous criminal caught with blood drying on his hands.But something had changed, small and cold and unmistakable. The smile was gone. That was enough.One of the Council members reached for the letter with a slow, careful hand. "Director Rooke."Evander finally dragged his eyes away from Ronan. "This is highly irregular."I laughed. Every head in the chamber turned toward me."That's your response?"His expression hardened into something stony. "You arrived with documents recovered under circumstances this Council has not independently verified.""Cross