Chapter 20 I want to talk

Chapter 20 I want to talk


Chapter Twenty

Tiara’s POV

Rowan stepped fully into the light, and for a heartbeat the world seemed to narrow to nothing but the cold blue shimmer on his face. His expression was flat at first, empty even, as if he were merely passing through a room he had visited before. But then his gaze settled on me, and something dark flickered in his eyes, something sharp and hungry that made my stomach twist.

Maxie stepped in front of me immediately, blocking Rowan’s view with his entire body. His stance was rigid, every muscle coiled with a readiness that felt like a held breath before a storm. I could sense the anger rolling off him in thick waves, anger so heavy it made the air feel tight.

Rowan watched him calmly.

“You are hard to catch,” he said. “I expected you to take the upper tunnel, not the one that leads into the river cavern.”

Maxie’s voice came out low and controlled. “Move.”

Rowan tilted his head slightly, as if considering the request. “I cannot do that.”

Tiara. The way he said my name earlier clung to my skin. Something in his tone felt wrong, twisted. This was not the calm advisor I remembered from faint glimpses of my past. This man carried a different edge now, one sharpened by secrets and choices he had never confessed.

Maxie straightened his shoulders. “You do not give orders here.”

Rowan’s eyes shifted back to me. “I am not here to fight. Not unless you force my hand. I only want to talk to her.”

“You will speak to no one,” Maxie said, stepping closer, blocking my entire view.

Rowan’s smile was small and humorless. “Always protective. Always possessive. Some things never change.”

Maxie’s jaw tightened. “You do not get to say her name.”

Rowan’s eyes flashed. “You do not own her, Maxie.”

“No,” Maxie said. “But I am the one who protects her. I always have. I always will.”

Rowan’s expression shifted, something ugly slipping into his gaze. “You protected her so well that she died.”

A sharp inhale escaped my throat before I could stop it. Maxie’s entire body went rigid. The air thickened until breathing became difficult.

Maxie took a single step forward. “Say that again.”

Rowan raised a hand. “Do not waste your energy threatening me. The King is behind you. He is almost here. Fighting me will only give him more time to catch up.”

“Then move,” Maxie repeated.

“I told you,” Rowan said calmly, “I cannot do that.”

My fingers curled around Maxie’s sleeve. “Why are you here?”

Rowan’s eyes softened when they met mine, but the softness looked wrong, like paint over cracked stone. “I told you before. I owe you answers.”

“I do not want your answers,” I said. “I want the truth.”

He nodded. “That is exactly what I came to give.”

Maxie stepped closer, blocking Rowan from me completely. “She remembers what you did.”

Rowan sighed. “I know.”

“Then you know this conversation is over,” Maxie said.

“No,” Rowan said. “It has not even begun.”

He stepped forward, ignoring Maxie’s growl, and lifted his hands in a gesture that was supposed to look peaceful, though the tension vibrating through him betrayed him.

“I did not kill her,” Rowan said.

Maxie stiffened. “You delivered her to Marcus. You betrayed us both.”

“I did what I was ordered to do,” Rowan answered softly.

“Ordered by who?” Maxie demanded.

Rowan’s eyes flicked back to me. “By the same woman Tiara heard in her vision.”

A cold tremor rolled down my spine.

Maxie’s voice tightened. “Who?”

Rowan shook his head once. “You will not believe me unless she sees it for herself.”

Tiara, you need to come with me.

I heard that in the whisper of his voice even though he did not speak it aloud. My wolf recoiled instantly. My body followed, taking a step back. Maxie felt the movement and glanced over his shoulder.

“You do not take her anywhere,” he said.

Rowan let out a breath and dropped his arms. “I know how this looks. I know how much it hurts you both. But I swear I did not want her dead. I tried to stop Marcus. I tried to pull her away, to warn her. He was faster.”

“That is a lie.” Maxie’s voice cracked like ice.

“No,” Rowan said softly. “It is not.”

My breath caught. “Then why did you not tell Maxie? Why did you let him blame Cyrus?”

“Because Cyrus was already halfway to falling apart,” Rowan said. “He would have confessed to anything to stay near you. And Maxie already distrusted him. It was easier.”

Maxie took a step toward him. “So you hid behind another man’s guilt to save your own skin.”

Rowan’s eyes hardened. “I hid nothing to save myself. I hid the truth because the truth would have torn the pack apart. I hid it because the council ordered me to. I hid it because the woman who stood above us all gave a command I could not disobey.”

Maxie stilled entirely.

“What woman?” he asked.

Rowan looked at me again. The cavern’s blue light cast shadows across his face. “You know who,” he said. “Your visions showed her.”

“No,” I whispered. “I heard only her voice.”

Maxie growled softly. “Rowan. Say her name.”

Rowan held my gaze as he answered.

“Lysandra.”

The name fell like a stone into the silence.

Maxie blinked once, disbelief flashing over his face. “Lysandra is dead.”

“She is not,” Rowan said quietly. “She disappeared. That is very different.”

“She died,” Maxie repeated. “I saw her body.”

“No,” Rowan said. “You saw what she wanted you to see.”

Maxie’s chest rose and fell too fast. “Even if she is alive, she would never betray the pack. She was our Luna.”

“Exactly,” Rowan said softly. “Which made her the only one with enough influence to hide something this big.”

I shook my head, unable to process it. “Why would she want me dead?”

Rowan’s gaze softened at the edges. “Because she feared you. Because she feared what you would become once your mark awakened. Because she believed that if you lived long enough to gain your full strength, the Moon would choose you above her.”

Maxie stared at Rowan with disbelief and fury battling inside him.

“That makes no sense. Lysandra raised Tiara like a daughter.”

“Which made it worse,” Rowan said. “She loved Tiara. Truly. But love turns to fear when power enters the picture.”

My breath shook. “She tried to kill me.”

“Yes,” Rowan said. “But she did not plan to kill you herself. Marcus was her weapon and he knew it. He obeyed her. He worshipped her.”

“No,” I whispered. “No one worshipped Lysandra.”

Rowan’s eyes dimmed. “You were too young to see it. The pack was divided. Some would have died for her.”

Maxie stiffened. “Why are you telling us this now?”

“Because,” Rowan said, his voice steady, “Cameron is working with her.”

Maxie’s breath stopped.

The cavern trembled with a deep rumble. The river glowed brighter.

Rowan took a step forward. “Lysandra promised the King that if he found Tiara first, he would gain her power. The Moon Mark. The throne. Everything.”

Tiara’s voice broke. “She wants Cameron to claim me.”

Rowan nodded. “Yes.”

Maxie stepped in front of me so fast that Rowan flinched. “You are lying.”

“I am not,” Rowan said. “And if you want proof, you need to come with me.”

He extended a hand toward us.

Before Maxie could reply, Cameron’s roar shook the cavern walls.

Rowan looked toward the sound, his jaw tightening.

“You are out of time,” he said. “If you want to live, follow me.”

Maxie stepped forward, placing himself between Rowan and me, shoulders squared, voice low and cold.

“If you take one step toward her,” he said, “I will tear your throat out.”