The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 225

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Five

Claim

Talon slowly released her. Diana immediately looked worried, but this time he didn’t move away from her. Instead, he took her hand.

“Come.”

He guided her toward their bed. They sat beside each other, and Talon reached over to turn on the lamp. Soft light filled the room.

For the first time that evening, he could clearly see her face. Her eyes were swollen. She had been crying. Talon hated knowing he had caused some of those tears.

“Then tell me,” he said.

Diana frowned.

“Tell you what?”

“Everything.”

Talon intertwined their fingers.

“Why did you let them escape?”

Diana opened her mouth.

“And don’t tell me simply because Ravenna loves him,” Talon continued. “I know that. I want

to understand what you saw that made you willing to make that decision.”

Diana studied him. Then Talon asked the question that had bothered him all day.

“And where did those charms come from?”

Diana took a deep breath.

“Ravenna gave them to me.”

Talon’s eyes narrowed.

“When?”

“Before the attack.”

His entire body stiffened.

“So she planned this?”

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Five

“No.”

Diana squeezed his hand before he could pull away.

“Listen first.”

Talon’s jaw tightened, but he nodded.

“She prepared them for me.”

“For you?”

“Yes.”

Diana shifted closer.

Claim

“Ravenna knew Thorne would come for me once he discovered I was carrying our pups. She knew I would be weaker because Artemis would have to use part of her strength to protect

them.”

Talon remembered that conversation.

“She told me that if Black Howler started losing, I had to leave.”

Talon immediately growled.

“She told you to abandon the pack?”

“She told me to save our pups.”

That silenced him.

“She gave me the concealment charm so Thorne wouldn’t be able to find me. The transportation charm was supposed to take me somewhere safe.”

Talon stared at her.

“And you gave both of them to Ravenna.”

“Yes.”

“Diana…”

“I didn’t need them anymore.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because Gideon’s curse was gone.”

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Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Five

Talon stopped. Diana turned fully toward him.

“That is why I let them go, Talon.”

Her voice softened.

“Because when Ravenna stabbed Thorne with that healing blade, I saw him.”

“You had been seeing him the entire battle.”

“No.”

Diana shook her head.

“We were seeing Gideon.”

Talon frowned.

“His face was Thorne’s. His body was Thorne’s. But the hatred? The memories? The obsession with the Silver Wolf? Those belonged to Gideon.”

Talon said nothing.

“And when Ravenna’s blade pushed the darkness out of him…”

Diana’s eyes became distant, remembering.

“For the first time, I saw the real Thorne.”

She looked at Talon again.

“He looked confused.”

Talon’s expression changed slightly.

Clam

“He looked at Ravenna as if he had just awakened from a nightmare. When she touched him, he knew her. Talon, you should have seen his eyes.”

“I did.”

“But you were looking at the enemy who attacked your pack.”

Talon’s jaw tightened. Diana reached for his face.

“And I don’t blame you for that. You are the Alpha King. Your wolves were dying around you. You were injured. I was injured. Our pups had been threatened.”

“Then you understand why I wanted him dead.”

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Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Five

“Yes.”

Her answer surprised him.

“I understand completely.”

“Then why save him?”

“Because someone had to see beyond the battlefield.”

Talon became silent.

“Thorne was a victim too.”

“Diana-”

“I am not saying he is innocent.”

Her voice became firm.

Charm

“I am not saying what happened to our pack doesn’t matter. I am not saying the families who lost someone should simply forgive him.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“That Gideon’s curse stole his mind.”

Diana’s eyes filled with sadness.

“It filled him with memories that weren’t his. Made him believe Agatha had betrayed him. Made him hate wolves. Made him hate the Silver Wolf. It even made him forget Ravenna.”

Talon remembered Ravenna telling them that.

“He forgot his own mate,” Diana whispered. “He didn’t even know she was carrying his child.”

Talon looked away.

“And when the curse disappeared,” Diana continued, “that hatred disappeared with it.”

Silence stretched between them.

“Imagine waking up one day and discovering that while something else controlled your mind, you had killed innocent wolves.”

Talon’s expression tightened.

“You attacked packs.”

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Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Five

Diana’s voice softened.

“You tried to kill people you never hated.”

She squeezed his hand.

“And then you open your eyes and the first person you see is your mate crying over you.”

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