Two Wolf Kings, One Lie Chapter 06
Seeing this, Luna’s face went cold.
She hadn’t expected to run into someone like this.
Lucky she still had one card to play – otherwise everything would have fallen apart.
Luna raised a hand and smoothed her hair behind one
ear. Then, calmly, she reached to the cord around her
neck and pulled it free. Hanging from the red cord was a small bunch of shining white fur – it caught the
lamplight with a cold, pale glow.
“Don’t be in such a rush to punish me. Because you don’t have the right.”
She held the fur up high, looking around the room
before settling her gaze on Captain Erik, a trace of
pride at her lips:
“This white wolf fur was given to me in person by my
father — the White Wolf King. I am his
unacknowledged daughter, born after he was gone.
This fur is proof. By law, if you wish to punish me, my
father must be present in person. Until then, no one
here has that right.”
The banquet hall went completely quiet.
Several Silver Wolf Guard members looked at each
other, hands raised mid–air, no one willing to move.
Erik stepped forward and took the fur, holding it close
to inspect it. A moment later, his expression shifted sharply – his brow drawing tight.
“This… is genuinely the Wolf King’s scent.”
He spoke quietly, but every word landed like a stone, and the mood in the room sank with it.
Ryan, who had looked pale and defeated moments before, suddenly lit up. He pulled his arm free of the guards beside him, straightening up as if pulled from the mud.
“Did you hear that?! Did you all hear that?!”
His voice shook, but with excitement. His eyes swept across me, across Erik, across Lucas – landing on Erik, his tone swelling with arrogance:
“The Wolf King’s daughter – you dare lay a hand on her?!”
He said this, then strode toward me.
I was still pinned to the ground – my back injuries and cracked ribs left me unable to move. I could only tilt my head up to look at him.
Ryan stood over me, his look a mix of contempt and satisfaction. He slowly lifted his foot and aimed the sole of his shoe at my right hand – the one I was using to hold myself up off the floor.
“Elara. So tough, are you?”
Before the words finished, his foot came down hard.
Crack
The sound of bone breaking and my own muffled cry came at the same time. Pain exploded through my hand and shot straight to my head. My whole body curled in on itself; cold sweat soaked through my back instantly.
“Stop!” Lucas cried out, raw and desperate – struggling to push forward, but guards pinned him
down.
The pain knocked my awareness loose for a moment, then a fresh wave pulled me back. I gritted my teeth and raised my head. Through the blur of cold sweat, I looked at the man I had called my husband for nine
years.
“Ryan…”
My voice came out rough, like sandpaper scraping against my throat.
“Do you feel… nothing? Not even a little?”
He laughed – cold and quick – and pressed down
harder.
“We were… we were fated mates…”
I forced those words out on what felt like the very last
of my strength.
Ryan looked down at me, like I was nothing but a bug in
his path.
“Fated?”
He laughed again, scorn dripping from every word.
“Elara, you’re just a human. I am the heir to the Blood Wolf Clan. How could I ever feel something for a human? From the very start, you were nothing but a fool I used to pass the time.”
Those words were a dull blade, carving straight into my
chest.
I felt the thing that had been pulled tight inside me for
nine years – snap.
Not pain. Emptiness.
That hollow, gutted feeling. As if everything inside me had been scooped out and only a shell was left.
In that same moment, Ryan seemed to feel something change. He drew a sharp breath, and something close to wild joy broke across his face.
“It’s broken! It’s broken! The bond is cut!”
He threw his head back and laughed – open, free, filling the hall —
“I’m finally free! Elara, you’ve lost even your last use
to me!”
The captain stood nearby, watching all of this, his face
dark with fury.
He gripped the wolf–fur pendant in his hand. His gaze
moved between Ryan and me – and he had finally had enough.
“Enough!”
Erik stepped forward, pointing at Ryan, his voice ringing through the hall:
“Even if she were the Wolf King’s lost daughter – that gives you no right to treat a female this way! Even if it costs me everything, I will bring the Wolf King here to see this female get justice!”
He reached inside his chest and pulled out a bone whistle. He lifted it to his lips.
Ryan didn’t flinch. He smoothed his rumpled collar, unhurried, and turned to face Erik with a steady, sure
smile.
“Go ahead! The White Wolf King has bigger things to deal with. He’s not going to come all this way for something like this!”
Then a voice spoke – low, close, right beside my ear.
“No need.”
“I am already here.”