The first howl split through the kingdom just past midnight.
Aire tensed instantly beneath the blanket.
Nate’s eyes opened at once.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
The dungeon remained dim around them. Torchlight flickered weakly against the wet stone walls while cold pressed through every corner beneath the castle.
Aire had fallen asleep against him at so point.
The howl echoed again through the distance.
Nate straightened slowly against the wall. His wolf surged awake imdiately beneath his skin.
Aire lifted her head from his shoulder carefully. Her hair was slightly disheveled now from resting against him. The silver marks around her wrists remained angry and red beneath the torchlight.
Her expression changed the mont she saw Nate’s face.
"You heard it," she whispered.
Nate nodded once.
Outside sowhere above them, another howl answered the first. The kingdom wolves were gathering.
Aire’s stomach tightened imdiately.
Nate pushed himself to his feet.
The blanket he had wrapped around her shoulders earlier slipped slightly as he stood. He reached down imdiately, adjusting it around her again before crouching slightly in front of her.
"It’s ti."
Aire stared at him.
Nate’s voice stayed calm, but there was steel beneath it now. "Get up."
Aire frowned faintly. "What?"
Nate held her gaze. "I told you already. The mont the first wolf howled and my father had not made a decision..."
His jaw flexed. "...I would take you out myself."
Aire’s breath caught softly.
Nate reached toward her carefully, waiting. "Co with ."
Aire stared at him like she didn’t know whether to believe him.
The dungeon torch beside them crackled quietly.
"I’m staying here." she whispered, searching his eyes.
Nate’s expression darkened slightly. "Aire, don’t do that." he said firmly, yet it sounded more like a plea.
Aire stood slowly from the bench.
The blanket slipped lower around her shoulders as she rose.
Nate instinctively reached to steady her when she swayed faintly from stiffness and exhaustion.
Aire imdiately pulled back.
His hand lowered slowly.
Aire noticed the flicker of pain that crossed his face before he hid it again.
Silence stretched briefly between them.
Aire shook her head once. "No." She murmured. "I can’t leave."
Nate blinked.
Aire stepped backward slowly, shaking her head. "No."
Nate stared at her like he hadn’t heard properly. "Aire—"
"If you take out now," she interrupted softly, "they will turn against you."
"I do not care."
"I care." Aire swallowed imdiately after the words left her. She never expected them to leave her lips so easily.
Nate went still.
Aire wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. "They already think I’m dangerous."
"You are not."
"They don’t know that." Aire told him. "I can’t have you risking yourself and your title over ."
Nate stepped toward her imdiately. "I am choosing you."
Aire looked shaken by how easily he said them. She doesn’t know why he suddenly stands by her, but she couldn’t help but want to share his sentint.
Nate moved closer slowly. "I ant what I told you earlier." His eyes stayed locked on hers. "No hand will touch you."
Aire swallowed hard. "You cannot fight the entire kingdom for ."
Nate’s expression sharpened instantly. "Watch ."
Aire let out the faintest breath at that. Her chest aches painfully. If only he hadn’t been so cruel from the start, she might have been less confused.
Nate reached for her again carefully this ti.
His fingers brushed hers. The light contact felt so warm and steady.
"You are leaving this dungeon tonight."
Aire looked down briefly at his hand holding hers, then back at him.
"You would really turn against your father?"
Nate stayed silent for one long second. "If he condemns you unjustly?" he said, and his gaze darkened. "Yes."
Aire’s breath hitched softly. Before she could answer, heavy footsteps echoed suddenly above them.
Both of them froze instantly.
Nate’s head snapped sharply toward the staircase.
More footsteps followed.
Aire’s face paled imdiately.
Nate moved without thinking.
He pulled her behind him instantly.
One arm ca around her protectively while the other shifted slightly outward toward the dungeon entrance.
His wolf surged violently beneath his skin.
The footsteps grew louder, and he could tell who was coming from their scent. Torchlight appeared beyond the stairwell seconds later.
Aire’s fingers curled into the back of Nate’s shirt.
Nate noticed the urgency of her hold.
King Elijah appeared first. Alaric followed directly behind him. Several guards ca after them carrying torches.
Nate’s expression darkened instantly.
He pulled Aire closer against himself imdiately.
Aire felt the low growl that rumbled through his chest before he fully suppressed it.
King Elijah blinked at the sight of Nate, and so did Alaric.
Alaric’s eyes landed on the sight before him. He stared at the way Aire stood half-hidden behind him.
When he slled Nate while coming down here, he rushed down to protect Aire from him. He didn’t expect this sight.
Sharp jealousy flickered briefly across Alaric’s expression.
His jaw tightened faintly in visible jealousy. "Why...." he said slowly, "What are you doing here?"
Nate’s eyes never left the guards behind them. "It’s obvious." He replied sarcastically, irritated by the question.
Alaric looked toward Aire then.
She looked exhausted and pale, but calr than she had been earlier. That realization irritated him more than he wanted to admit.
Nate had visibly been the one to calm her.
Why Nate? The sa Nate who caused this? The sa man who had nearly killed her days ago.
The irony nearly made Alaric chuckle bitterly.
King Elijah stepped forward slightly. "Nate."
Nate’s body remained tense. His temperature grew hotter, and his breathing ca out uneven. "If you ca down here to condemn her, then say it directly."
The guards shifted uneasily behind the king.
Aire’s breathing slowed nervously behind Nate.
King Elijah looked toward her carefully then. His gaze lingered on the blanket around her shoulders.
Then on Nate’s arm still holding her protectively behind him. Finally, his gaze landed back to her face.
For a mont, unreadable mory crossed the king’s expression. It diisappeared quickly.
"We confird sothing tonight," Elijah said finally.
Nate frowned faintly.
Alaric stepped forward slowly now. In his hand was an old rolled parchnt bound tightly with dark cord.
Aire noticed it, and her brows furrowed slightly.
King Elijah’s eyes returned to hers. "The prophecy," he said quietly, "was altered."
Aire blinked once.
Nate’s expression hardened instantly.
Alaric loosened the cord around the parchnt carefully.
"It took days for to locate the original records," he said. "The last seer’s writings were hidden beneath the western archives."
The parchnt crackled softly as he unrolled it. When he did, ancient markings stretched across faded material worn by centuries.
Aire stared at it silently.
Nate’s arm tightened around her slightly.
"Half the kingdom has been operating under an incomplete interpretation."
Nate stepped forward sharply. "aning what exactly?"
Alaric’s eyes lifted slowly from the parchnt.
Then he read aloud quietly. The dungeon remained silent when he began.
Aire’s throat tightened faintly and Nate’s gaze sharpened as they listened.
Alaric’s eyes darkened slightly as he reached the final lines.
Silence slamd into the dungeon when he was done. Aire frowned faintly. Nate looked toward Alaric imdiately.
anwhile, King Elijah’s expression had turned grim.
Alaric lowered the parchnt slowly.
"The prophecy never said she would destroy the wolves."
Aire stared at him.
Alaric t her gaze briefly, and continued quietly. "The wolves shall stand at the beginning of their ending. That does not an she causes it."
Nate went completely still.
Aire’s breathing shallowed faintly.
Nate looked down at her. Realization hit him visibly. The kingdom had been distracted, by Aire.
Alaric rolled the parchnt shut again. "The prophecy was manipulated generations ago."
One of the guards spoke before he could stop himself. "By who?"
Alaric’s eyes darkened coldly. "That," he said quietly, "is what we are going to find out."
King Elijah stepped closer toward Aire. For the first ti since all of this began, his gaze held no fear, only regret.
Aire flinched visibly at the sight of him.
The king lowered his head slightly toward her. "Aire," he said quietly.
Her breath caught.
"We were wrong."
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