The Alpha King And His Chosen Luna novel Chapter 317

The letter meant for now

(Isla)

I lowered the letter into my lap. Until recently, i hadn’t even known Darius was my father. Now I knew he’d loved me, wanted me, and spent years searching for me after I disappeared. Seeing that promise in his own writing made everything Lyrienne and Orin had told me about him mean even more.

Lyrienne wiped her eyes and looked down at the letter. I knew she was remembering things I could only learn through her. She had lived through those days with him. She had watched his fear grow.

“He meant every word,” Lyrienne said. She touched the bottom of the page. “Once Darius believed someone wanted you, protecting you became all he thought about.” She remembered how often he checked on me.

I folded the letter carefully. There were still more waiting, but I wasn’t ready for another one yet. This letter had answered something inside me that no record ever could. My father had never chosen to disappear from my life.

“Did he ever tell you how afraid he was?” I asked. Darius had written it plainly here. “Or did he try to hide it from you?” I could imagine him doing that.

“He tried.” Lyrienne gave a small laugh. “Darius thought hiding his fear would stop me from being afraid too.” She had known him far too well for that to work.

I understood why he’d done it. Caius sometimes tried to carry his worries without giving them to me. It never worked with him either. The mate bond made hiding too much nearly impossible.

Lyrienne told me Darius had started checking every person who came near us. He questioned routes before they traveled and changed plans whenever something didn’t feel right. At the time, she’d thought some of it was too much. Later, she understood he’d had reason to worry.

“Was that when he went to Orin?” I asked. Orin had already told us Darius came to him before I was born because he distrusted Varen. “Or was that earlier?” I wanted the pieces in the right order.

“Earlier.” Lyrienne looked toward the chest. “By the time this was written, Darius already knew Qrin could be trusted.” She said there were very few people he trusted completely then.

That explained why Orin had ended up with the chest. Darius hadn’t simply left his letters somewhere and hoped they’d survive. He’d put them in the hands of someone he believed would protect them. Centuries later, Orin had given them to me.

I placed the letter with the ones we’d already read. The separate letter Orin had given me remained nearby. It was the one Darius wanted me to receive when I had something of my own to protect. I hadn’t opened it yet.

Lyrienne followed my eyes. She knew about the letter because I’d explained it when she arrived. Neither of us had touched it since. I had wanted to understand more of Darius before reading the words he’d meant for this part of my life.

“Do you think I should read it now?” I asked. I picked it up but kept it closed. “Or should I finish the others first?” There was no instruction about that.

The letter menie: new

Claim

“Read it when you want to.” Lyrienne rested her hand over mine. “Darius wanted you to have it at this point Tiryour life. She wouldn’t decide for me.

I looked down at my father’s writing Orin had waited centuries to follow Darius’s instruction. Somehow that letter had survived long enough to reach me when I was carrying my own child. Waiting longer suddenly didn’t feel right.

Before I could open it, someone knocked I placed the letter back on the chest and stood. Caius had said he’d be with Pryor and Zeron for most of the morning. I wondered if they’d found something else about the Keeper descendant.

Caius entered after I opened the door. His attention went to my face before anything else. I knew he could tell I’d been crying. He didn’t ask about it immediately.

“Pryor received a reply from my father,” Caius said. He came farther inside. “It arrived sooner than I expected.” He glanced at Lyrienne before looking at me again.

I forgot about the unopened letter for a moment. Caius had only sent his message a few days ago. We’d expected his father might take longer to answer because of the distance. Apparently he’d wasted no time.

“What did he say?” I asked. Caius had asked whether we could visit him. “Does he want us to come?” I hoped the answer was yes.

“He does.” Caius sat beside me. “He said we’ve waited long enough.” There was something in his expression I couldn’t read.

I remembered Caius telling me he hadn’t seen his father in a little over two years. He’d wanted to visit even before everything with the Council and Silvermere took over our lives. Now there was another reason to go. His father was about to learn he would be a grandfather.

“Did he say anything about Silvermere?” I asked. That had been part of why Caius finally contacted him. “Does he know why it appeared in those old Crown records?” I wanted that answer too.

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