CHAPTER FORTY NINE

CHAPTER FORTY NINE
Anna’s POV
Moonlight slipped in through the tall windows, cutting lines across the stone floor like silver blades. I stood at the far end of the corridor, arms folded tightly over my chest, willing my hands to stop trembling. My ears still rang with the sound of her voice, her wolf’s name echoing like a ghost through my ribs.
Ria.
The word coiled in my spine like a snake. Not because it was wrong, but because it was right. That name had power. It meant something ancient inside her was waking up. Something bonded and claimed.
And I hated it.
“You look like you’re about to punch a hole in the wall,” Ishada said, appearing quietly beside me, his frame leaning against the pillar. He still wore his dark robes, the white fox insignia catching the flickering torchlight.
I didn’t bother turning to look at him. “Did you feel it?”
“I did,” he said. “The wolf is fully awake. She knows her name now.”
“She’s closer to them than she’s ever been,” I said through gritted teeth.
“They’re her mates,” he replied carefully.
“They’re traitors,” I snapped, turning sharply toward him. I felt the gold flicker in my irises. “She’s too blinded by the bond to feel the difference.”
His eyes studied me, calm and maddening. “Are you going to let her speak to them?”
“Of course not.”
He lifted a brow. “Even if she asks? If she demands it?”
“She won’t get the chance,” I said. “I’ll handle it. My way.”
I turned on my heel and started down the corridor. Ishada followed in silence.
The council chamber was already filled when we entered. The Inner Circle sat in their ancient seats, Desryn, Arhena tapping her  finger against  her chair, and the twins, Luth and Jean.
Their attention snapped to me as I entered. I didn’t sit. I didn’t even slow my pace until I stood at the center of the chamber, facing them like I always did—in control.
“Anna,” Desryn greeted, though it wasn’t a warm welcome. “We felt the ripple.”
“She’s awakened,” Arhena murmured. “The wolf’s name… Ria. That’s old blood.”
I nodded once. “It’s done. But that’s not why I called you.”
Jean’s eyes narrowed. “Then what is?”
I paced a slow, deliberate line in front of them. “She’s forming a bond attachment. Her wolf will crave them now, will begin to call for them. And no matter what she’s seen or what we’ve told her, that pull will keep growing.”
“You sound nervous,” Arhena said, tilting her head.
“I’m being realistic,” I hissed. “They’re not going to let her go. Not this time. They’ll come for her. And if they succeed, if that bond completes—then the curse will break.”
A pause. A breath. And the gasps.
Desryn straightened. “You’re certain?”
“Yes.” My voice dropped lower. “And if that bond completes… she’ll forget everything. Everything they did. Everything I’ve done to keep her safe. She’ll walk right into their arms.”
The silence was deafening.
Then Ishada asked, “What do you propose?”
I didn’t blink.
“We prepare for war.”
Desryn frowned. “War?”
“They will come,” I said. “And they won’t come alone. They’ll bring fighters, wolves, maybe even allies we don’t know yet. They’ll try to tear her from us, through battle or through lies.”
“And you want to strike first?” Jean asked.
“No. We strike last. But we are preparing now.”
I turned to Arhena. “Strengthen the border forces. No wolf passes through unless I say so.”
She nodded once, already calculating the spells.
“To the twins, I want movement reports. Every rumor. If a whisper passes about a scout in our woods, I want it in my hands before the trees finish listening.”
They bowed their heads in unison.
Desryn looked me dead in the eye. “And Lyra?”
“Delyria.” I corrected. “She’s to be kept safe,” I said, quieter now. “No wandering. No more slipping out. We lock her in her chambers until this is over.”
“Lock her up?” Arhena asked.
“She’ll understand later.” I swallowed hard. “She’ll see that this was protection.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Ishada asked from the side.
I didn’t answer right away.
“She will,” I said, but I didn’t believe it. Not fully.
••~
The others filed out eventually, leaving just me and Ishada behind. I stood near the hearth, eyes lost in the golden flames. He lingered, watching me like he always did when he thought I was too far gone to be pulled back.
“She’s not a child anymore,” he said.
“I know.”
“She has her own mind.”
“I know that too.”
“But you’re still going to lock her in.”
I exhaled, hand on the edge of the mantle. “Because I know what they’ll do to her.”
“You mean what they’ve already done?”
I didn’t answer.
“She loves them.”
“She doesn’t understand what that means.”
“She doesn’t have to,” he said. “But she’ll hate you for taking the choice away.”
I turned to him then, my voice cracking like brittle glass. “I’m not doing this because I don’t trust her. I’m doing it because I don’t trust them.”
He said nothing.
“Wouldn’t you do the same, Ishada?” I asked. “If it were your sister? If you had to watch her die once because you stood still, wouldn’t you lock every door, seal every window, bury every truth just to keep her breathing?”
Still, he said nothing.
Eventually, he just nodded once and walked away.
And I stayed, standing in a chamber filled with fire and silence and the weight of everything I had ever lost.
My hand pressed over my heart.
And I whispered into the flames:
“Forgive me, Delyria. But I’m not letting you go again.”
The council chamber emptied, but the tension stayed. It clung to the walls like soot, thick, dark, unshakable. I stepped out of the room and into the corridor with Ishada trailing behind me, silent as always. The fox guards stationed at the corners bowed as I passed, but I didn’t acknowledge them.
My steps were slow, measured, but inside me everything was blistering.
“How did they find our borders?” I asked finally, keeping my voice low as we passed under the arched stone hallway. “It was supposed to be sealed. Ward-protected. Hidden from even the sky.”
Ishada didn’t answer right away. He walked a few more steps beside me, his expression unreadable. Then he said, “I suspect it’s Vallore.”
I stopped walking. “Vallore?” I repeated, the name tasting like ash.
His eyes flicked to mine. “We’ve intercepted whispers. Not toward us exactly.”
Of course they were. Vallore had figured our existence and we had to use him but we had gotten what we wanted from him and now he was nothing but useless to our cause. He was a traitor and that’s all he would ever be. 
My jaw clenched. “Then it’s time we pay him a visit.”
“You’re sure?” He asked. 
Ishada  was the closest person to me in the territory. He'd been there for me since day one. If it was any other person that questioned me there for sure would be coincidences. 
“I’m done being cautious,” I hissed. “He’s testing our defenses. And our patience. He must’ve forgotten who he is.”
“He hasn’t,” Ishada replied. “But maybe he thinks you have.”
I turned to him, eyes burning. “He’s from a traitor bloodline. Just like the rest of them. That stain never washes out.”
“He is one of us now?,” Ishada said evenly.
“And he’ll never be,” I shot back. “Not truly. You think I don’t see it? The way he lingers near her name when he speaks it? Vallore’s clever, but not clever enough to fool me.”
Ishada tilted his head. “So what do you want to do?”
“I want to remind him,” I said coldly, “exactly why he was spared. And what it would cost to lose that mercy.”
He didn’t argue. He knew better. Instead, he fell into step beside me again as I veered left, down the hallway that led toward the southern watchtower. The moon was high now, its light stretching long across the floor like a blade drawn for battle.
“When?” he asked.
“Soon. First light.”
He gave a short nod. “Should I inform the scouts?”
“No.” I paused. “Only Luth. And send someone to start the carriage preparations. Discreetly. I want us in and out of Vallore’s territory before dusk.”
Ishada’s gaze was unreadable again. “And Lyra?”
“She’ll stay locked away.”
“Even if she starts fighting the guards?”
“She can scream and claw at the walls all she wants,” I said, though my chest ached with the image. “I’ll deal with her tantrum when we return.”
“Very well,” he said.
We reached the tower stairs, and I placed my hand on the railing, looking out the tall arched window overlooking the quiet woods beyond. Somewhere out there, Kade was plotting. Kael was watching. The wolves were moving like ghosts beneath the canopy. I could feel it—something heavy in the air, building, hunting.
And I would not be caught unaware.
Not this time.
Not ever again.