The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 213

Torvin is dead

(Isla)

Caius kept hold of my hand as we left the library. The journal remained on the table behind us, but my thoughts stayed with it. I could still feel the fear that had come from the council seal. It had left something behind that I couldn’t explain.

We walked through the pack house toward the dining room. Breakfast had already ended for most of the pack, and a servant came forward as soon as she saw us. Caius asked her to bring fresh food from the kitchen, then guided me toward a table near the windows. I sat across from him while he placed the council letter beside his plate. He hadn’t let it out of his sight since I touched it.

I looked at the seal again. The fear inside it had belonged to someone who handled the letter before the messenger. I couldn’t see a face or hear a name, but the feeling had been clear. Someone had been afraid the message wouldn’t reach Caius.

“Do you think the person who sent it is in danger?”

Caius looked at the letter before answering. He didn’t dismiss the possibility, which told me he had already considered it. “It’s possible, but we don’t know who sent it yet.”

The servant returned with bread, eggs, and warm tea, then left again. Caius broke a piece of bread and placed it on my plate. He hadn’t said anything about the way I’d used my gift, but I knew he was thinking about it. He always became quieter when he was worried.

“You don’t have to watch me eat.”

His eyes lifted to mine. For a moment he looked as though he might deny doing it. Instead he picked up his own bread. “I’m making sure you don’t forget.”

I ate a piece of fruit to satisfy him. My gift had never worked like this before. The first time, I had only sensed emotions from another person. Then I’d begun seeing memories that didn’t belong to me. Now ! could touch an object and feel what someone had left behind. Each new part had appeared without warning.

“What happens if my gift keeps growing faster than the journal accounts for?”

”

Caius stopped before lifting his cup. I could see that he wanted to give me an answer. This time he didn’t have one. “I don’t know yet.”

His honesty should’ve comforted me, but it didn’t. Caius usually knew what to do, even when the answer required time. My gift was becoining something neither of us could measure.

“What if I can’t control it?”

He placed his cup down. He didn’t reach across the table or tell me not to worry. He knew I needed more than comfort. “Then we learn how together.”

He couldn’t promise the gift wouldn’t hurt me, or that I would master it before the council arrived. What he could promise was that I wouldn’t face it alone. For the moment, that helped.

Before either of us spoke again, I noticed Pryor walking through the dining room. Lira was beside him, still

Torvin is dead-

wearing the cloak she’d traveled in. Dust covered the bottom of the fabric, and I guessed she’d only just Teturned to Wraithbone.

Caius followed my gaze

“Lira’s back,” he said.

Pryor saw us and changed direction without hesitation. By the time they reached the table, both of them inclined their heads in greeting. Lira smiled at me before looking at Caius.

“Alpha King. Luna.”

“Welcome back,” Caius said. “I wasn’t expecting you to return this early.”

“Neither was I,” Lira replied. “I came as soon as I finished at the gates at Ashcrest.”

Pryor rested a hand on the back of an empty chair but remained standing. “I met Delta Lira as she arrived. After hearing her report, I believed you would want to speak with her immediately.”

Caius gave a single nod.

“What happened?”

Lira looked at Caius without saying anything for a moment. Whatever she’d carried back from Ashcrest had followed her all the way to Wraithbone.

“Torvin is dead.”

The words settled over the table.

I looked at Caius.

His expression didn’t change, but I knew him well enough to see that he hadn’t expected those words.

“What happened?” he asked.

Lira drew a slow breath.

“Zeron made the discovery during our final walk through the holding area before we departed. She looked from Caius to me before continuing. “Torvin failed to answer when the guard called to him. Zeron entered the cell and found him on the floor.”

Pryor remained silent beside her.

“The Ashcrest healer examined him immediately,” Lira continued. “At first they believed the wolfsbane had finally become too much for his body.”

Caius’s eyes narrowed.

“At first?”

“The examination didn’t support that conclusion.”

Silence settled around the table.

< Torvin is dead-

“The amount of wolfsbane in his system was far greater than the chain should have caused,” Lira said.

The healer concluded someone gave him more.”

Caius didn’t speak.

“He was given food and water exactly as ordered,” Lira said. “The guards never removed the restraint, and the records show nothing out of the ordinary…

“Then how?” I asked.

Lira looked at me.

“The healer believes additional wolfsbane entered his body sometime during the night.”

No one at the table spoke.

Someone had increased the dose.

Someone had wanted Torvin dead.

Caius looked at the sealed letter beside his plate.

“The Eastern Council changes its plans without explanation,” he said. “Now a prisoner under my sentence dies before they arrive.”

Pryor gave a slight nod.

“The timing will raise questions.”

“It already has.”

I looked down at my plate.

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