บททั้งหมดของ The Lycan King's Secret Triplets : บทที่ 71 - บทที่ 80

NadiaI stepped forward the moment the golden flames finally began to settle. The ancient scrolls I had carried carefully wrapped beneath my cloak were now clutched tightly in my hands."Council members," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the stunned silence still gripping the chamber. "What you have just witnessed confirms something I have suspected since the very night Valerie first arrived at this Citadel.""Nadia," Elder Rogers said sharply, rising from his seat with his hands raised. "This is not the appropriate moment for theories.""This is precisely the appropriate moment," I said, unrolling the first scroll carefully. The ancient parchment was brittle with age, and I handled it with the care it deserved. "These records date back over a thousand years, chronicling the bloodline of the Original Sun-Luna Queen. The first and only ruler capable of purifying the Silver-Vein Curse permanently."Murmurs spread through the assembled elders as I continued. Several leaned forwa

ValerieThe guards carried Dimitri into a private corridor just off the main chamber. His body convulsed slightly. The black veins had now spread across nearly the entirety of his throat and jaw."Get him somewhere quiet," I said, pushing through the guards to reach his side. "And someone finds out what's happening to him. Now.""My lady," one of the guards said, "the healers are already…..""I don't need the healers. I need everyone else to step back."They hesitated, glancing toward each other uncertainly. Something in my tone finally convinced them to comply. They cleared the narrow corridor until only Dimitri and I remained."Valerie," Dimitri gasped. His eyes were still edged with the same unnatural black that had consumed him during his worst episodes."I'm here.""It hurts," he said, his voice barely recognizable. "Worse than before. Something's wrong."I knelt beside him. I took his face gently between my hands, forcing him to meet my eyes despite the pain clearly radiating th

ValerieMy hands shook as I broke the wax seal. Dimitri watched over my shoulder as I pulled the contents free.A single photograph slid out first. My breath caught painfully in my throat at the sight of it. Jax, bound at the wrists, a strip of fabric tied across his mouth. His eyes were wide with fear despite the defiant set of his small jaw."Jax," I whispered.Beneath the photograph, a folded note waited. The handwriting was elegant and precise. Unmistakably Elara's.I unfolded it slowly, my eyes scanning the words as Dimitri read over my shoulder.Come alone to the ancestral Obsidian Peak by midnight, or the boy dies.The note ended there, there was no further explanation, no additional demands. Only the stark, simple threat hanging in the air between us."Midnight," I said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "That's less than six hours from now.""Valerie…""I have to go.""Absolutely not," Dimitri said immediately. His voice was hard. "This is exactly the trap it appears to be."

ValerieThe phone rang for the fourth time in ten minutes. This time I picked it up."Valerie." It was Dimitri's Beta. "Where are you?""On the road.""The King is awake. He is asking for you.""Already?""He fought the sedative harder than the healers expected. He has ordered every guard to find you.""Tell your guards to stay away from Obsidian Peak. If Elara sees anyone near it, Jax dies.""My orders come from the King.""Then give the King a message from me. Tell him I will bring Jax home.""He will not accept that.""He doesn't have to accept it."There was a pause on the other end of the line. I could hear movement in the background, voices, the sound of a door opening and closing."My lady, with respect, you don't understand what's happening here. The King is not himself. He's been pacing the corridors for the past hour, and two guards are already in the infirmary because they tried to stop him from leaving.""Then stop him.""We can't. He's not listening to anyone.""Make him

ValerieThe scream did not come again. That was worse.I ran until the path became too steep and muddy to run on. Then I climbed, pulling myself up by tree roots and rock edges. The rain was heavy, and water ran down the path in a stream.About a hundred steps later, I heard boots on stone behind me. I turned around with the dagger already in my hand."It's us," Dimitri said, stepping out of the dark. Dante was a few steps behind him, breathing hard."You are too close.""You heard that scream.""Of course I heard it.""Then you know we cannot stay two hundred yards back.""That was the agreement.""The agreement was made before he screamed.""Dante, tell him," I said."I'm not telling him anything," Dante said. "I heard it too."I looked at both of them and put the dagger away. "Fine. But you stay behind me.""Agreed."We climbed together. About halfway up, the path disappeared under a pile of fallen rocks, exactly where the man at the gas station had said it would. The rocks were we