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Chapter 18: The Mystery Deepens

Author: Rosie Alcoph
last update Last Updated: 2025-03-13 08:51:40

LIRA

I was not expecting this reaction. Not from him. Not from Caius.

I thought he would laugh. I thought he would mock me, call me weak, or say something cruel to drive home the fact that I was less than a wolf. That I had no place in this world where wolves were supposed to reign.

But instead… he looked concerned. Genuinely concerned. His dark eyes softened, brows furrowing in a way that made me feel like I was being dissected, but not in the cruel, judgmental way I had grown accustomed to. No, this was different. This was something entirely new.

He wasn’t pitying me. He wasn’t looking down at me like I was some kind of monster or mistake. He was looking at me like I mattered. Like my struggle was worth understanding.

And it made me feel exposed.

My chest tightened, my fingers trembling against my own arms as I crossed them, trying to shield myself from the vulnerability I felt spreading through me. I had never let anyone in. I’d never needed to. My entire life had been about surviv
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