### Chapter Twenty-One – The Beta’s Gambit ###(Phele's POV)The great hall had emptied, but its echo clung to the stones like smoke. Wolves had scattered to do their Alpha’s bidding, their howls still fading into the night.Lord Pheles stood alone in the vastly huge chamber, staring at the throne his brother had just abandoned. The iron and bone loomed in the dim torchlight, a grim reminder of the power it symbolized.He held his hands firmly behind his back, And his mind wasn't anything but calm.Amark had felt it. He had felt Bryan.Pheles shut his eyes for a moment, drawing in a slow breath. Memories surged like a tide—the day he had smuggled Bruno away, the boy’s terrified eyes, his weak body trembling until the wolf within finally awoke. The secret years of raising him in shadow, teaching him, protecting him.But Bryan, Bryan had slipped through his fingers. He had searched for him, scoured whispers in the mortal cities, but found nothing but the ghost of Samantha’s bloodline. U

### Chapter Twenty-Three – Teeth and Mockery ###The night erupted in chaos.The moment the wolf’s guttural voice called him Prince, Bryan’s insides twisted with a sick mixture of anger and fear. He wanted to deny it, to spit at them and scream that they had the wrong guy. And he did—his voice cutting out, sharp and raw.“I’m not your prince! You’ve got the wrong damn wolf!”The wolves hesitated, a ripple of confusion breaking through their golden-eyed stare. But hesitation only lasted a breath. Then their muscles tightened, claws dug into the cracked asphalt, and they lunged.Bryan barely had time to shift his weight before the first wolf slammed into him. Instinct took over. His body moved faster than his mind, faster than human reflex should allow. He twisted, shoved a boot into the wolf’s chest, and sent it sprawling and staggering.Beside him, steel sang. Mayer’s blade slashed across the second wolf’s flank, spraying blood into the night. She moved like water—precise, merciless,

### Chapter Twenty-Five – The Brother’s Shadow ###The night was too quiet. Too still.The battlefield looked like a graveyard—fur, blood, and claw marks strewn across the cracked pavement and broken walls. The stench of iron clung to the air, thick and choking.Bryan leaned back against a half-collapsed column, his chest still heaving though his wounds had already started to knit shut. His knuckles were raw, crusted with dried blood that wasn’t his. He stared up at the night sky, a crooked grin tugging at his lips.Across from him, Mayer crouched low, tearing a strip of cloth from her sleeve to wrap around the little wound on her arm. Her jaw was set, her movements quick but careful.Bryan tilted his head, watching her, and smirked. “Well, well. Look at you, patching yourself up like some kind of action hero. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to impress me.”She shot him a glare sharp enough to slice steel. “You should be resting.”Bryan stretched his legs out, ignor

### Chapter Twenty-Seven – The Beast Unleashed ###The night cracked open with blood and betrayal.Pa. Clever’s cane tapped closer, his grin wide, his arms half spread like he was ready to embrace the boy he’d raised. But Bryan felt something strange, claws at his chest—relief, anger, gratitude, all bleeding together. For once, he thought he wasn’t alone.Then the shadows moved.A blur of gray fur and flashing teeth streaked from the side. Bryan’s heart stopped as claws punched through fabric, flesh, and bone.Pa. Clever’s body bumped forward, his eyes widening in shock. The wolf’s blade-like claw slid out of his back, hot blood spilling across the ground.“No!” Bryan roared.Time slowed. He saw Clever’s hat tumble from his head, the old man stumbling to his knees, his cane clattering against the stone. The wolf moved back, and Clever collapsed to the floor, his lifeblood pooling beneath him.Bryan’s legs moved before his mind did. He slidded across the pavement, dropping to his knees

### Chapter Twenty-Nine – Ashes of Control ###(Bryan POV)Bryan awoke to silence.Not the comforting kind of silence—the silence that weighs like stone on your chest, that makes every breath sound too loud, too guilty. His eyes blinked open slowly, burning with the hangover of power he couldn’t explain. His body felt both lighter and heavier at once, every nerve raw from what he had become.The ceiling above him was cracked, plaster flaking. The scent of old wood, dust, and faint traces of blood clung to the air. His mind reeled as flashes of the night before tore through him, Pa. Clever’s lifeless eyes, his own howl splitting the sky, wolves tearing apart beneath his claws, Mayer’s voice screaming his name.His chest tightened.“Mayer…”He sat up abruptly, groaning as the sudden movement made his skull pound. His gaze darted across the dim room until it landed on her.Mayer lay on a narrow cot against the far wall. Her skin was pale beneath the faint glow of lantern light. Bandages