The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 232

Chapter Two Hundred Thirty Two

Diana remembered Ravenna standing before Thorne on the battlefield. She remembered the desperation in her voice. The tears.

The way she had begged him to remember her. To remember their child. To remember himself.

“Of all the sacrifices Ravenna could have been asked to make,” Seraphina continued, “fate demanded the cruelest one.”

She looked directly at Diana.

“It asked her to destroy the male she loved in order to protect you.”

Diana lowered her gaze.

“And she was prepared to do it,” Seraphina said.

Diaria’s head lifted.

“She would have done her duty. Even if it destroyed her afterward.”

Seraphina’s voice trembled ever so slightly.

“That is what I taught her.”

“You didn’t make Thorne become the vessel.”

“No.”

“You didn’t create Gideon’s curse.”

“No.”

“And you didn’t force Ravenna to choose.”

“Perhaps not directly.”

Seraphina smiled sadly.

“But sometimes the things we teach children become chains they carry into adulthood.”

Diana fell silent. For several moments, neither woman spoke. Then Seraphina continued.

“But something happened here that has never happened before.”

Diana’s attention sharpened.

“What?”

“You saw them.”

Diana frowned.

“Ravenna and Thorne?”

Slupte Tendo

Yes.”

Seraphina leaned forward slightly.

“You did not simply see the White Witch and the Black Witch.”

Diana said nothing.

“You looked at Thorne and saw something generations of wolves and witches before you failed to see in Gideon’s vessels.”

Seraphina’s eyes held hers.

“You saw a victim.”

Diana’s breathing slowed.

“You understood that the male standing on that battlefield was not simply a villain who had chosen darkness. You understood that Gideon’s curse had stolen his memories, corrupted his emotions, and filled his mind with the pain and hatred of a male who died thousands of years ago.”

Diana remembered Thorne’s face when the darkness left him. The confusion. The horror. The way he had looked at Ravenna as though waking from a nightmare.

“He didn’t know what he had done,” Diana whispered.

“No.”

“He remembered afterward.”

“Yes.”

Diana swallowed.

“And when he finally looked at Ravenna…”

“You saw Thorne,” Seraphina finished for her. “Not Gideon.”

Diana looked away. Seraphina continued gently.

“And when you looked at Ravenna, you did not simply see the white witch who had been born to protect the Silver Wolf.”

Diana’s eyes returned to hers.

“You saw a female desperately trying to fulfill the duty she had been taught since childhood while watching that duty destroy the male she loved.”

Diana’s throat tightened.

“You saw a mother carrying her mate’s child.”

Seraphina placed a hand over her own heart.

“You saw a female who had already accepted that she might have to sacrifice herself, her mate, and the

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future she wanted in order to protect you.”

Diana blinked rapidly.

“And somehow,” Seraphina whispered, “you gave her something I never thought she would have.”

“What?”

“A choice.”

Diana froze.

“You gave Ravenna and Thorne a chance to be together.”

Seraphina’s eyes glistened.

“You gave their son a chance to know his father.”

Diana’s heart began beating faster.

“You gave them the chance to become a family.”

Diana stared at her.

“So thank you, Diana.”

There was no accusation in Seraphina’s voice. Only genuine gratitude.

“Thank you for looking beyond what Thorne had become under Gideon’s curse.”

Seraphina’s voice softened.

“And thank you for seeing Ravenna as more than the White Witch who was supposed to protect you.”

Diana did not know how to respond. Because Seraphina was speaking as though she knew. Not suspected. Knew.

“L…”

Diana swallowed.

“I… I didn’t do anything.”

Seraphina’s eyebrow rose.

“As you know, Ravenna attacked me and then vanished with Thorne.”

There was silence. Then the secretive smile returned.

“They were created to protect you if the battle against Gideon’s vessel turned against you. If Black Howler fell, if your mate could no longer protect you, or if your pregnancy weakened your wolf enough that remaining on the battlefield became too dangerous, Ravenna was supposed to give you those charms.”

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