Chapter 49: Chapter 49

~ ROWAN

I took a sip from my coffee, relishing in the bitter taste and the heat that warmed my tongue.

I was fucking exhausted, I’d barely managed more than two hours of sleep in the last few days.

Every time I closed my eyes, I was plagued with the darkness of that alley and Nyssa’s scent in my nose. It was easy enough to ignore her when I hadn’t touched her but now… she was like a fucking virus, and I couldn’t get her out.

She’d been gone for days, but she’d left her essence all over the fucking palace.

I saw her in the empty chairs of the dining room, I saw her in my mother’s terrace, I saw her face as I shattered her heart that night.

I heard the maids whisper about her when they thought I wasn’t listening. Even the guards sent curious glances to each other whenever I walked past.

She was here one day, and suddenly, she was gone, and no one could understand why.

It didn’t help that Aria was now ignoring me.

She blamed me for Nyssa’s reaction that day, and to be honest, she had every right to do so. It was my fault that Nyssa had reacted so violently, but I couldn’t bring myself to apologize. I’d done what I thought was right at the moment.

Besides, she seemed to be doing fine.

I got updates from Eric daily and in the unsolicited pictures of her that he sent, she seemed to be thriving.

I flipped through them, telling myself that it was only because I wanted to make sure she was fine, but even I knew that it was a lie.

She’d trimmed her hair since returning to her pack. She hadn’t taken off a lot of hair, maybe a few inches at most. It was still very long and very fucking curly.

In one of the pictures, she had her head bent over a book as she chewed on a pen. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, her legs crossed underneath her on the couch. She looked so fucking innocent and unaware.

If I were to have a favorite picture, it would be this.

“If you miss her so much, then get her back,” my lycan said hotly.

The only person who was more pissed off at me than Aria was him.

He couldn’t understand why I had to send her away. Everything was black and white with him, Nyssa was our mate, and he just couldn’t understand why I was keeping her at arm’s length.

“I can’t,” I said for the nth time. “She’s good where she is.”

“With that bastard?” he scoffed. “You’re being a coward.”

“And you’re being unreasonable. What happens when I bring her here? Am I supposed to give her a bed of roses and pretend I’m a good guy? What do you think is going to happen when she finds out I killed her parents?”

“Who says she ever has to find out?” he asked. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“I’m not lying to her.”

“So being a dick to her is the better choice?” he laughed humorlessly. “You’re going to hurt her either way. At least that way you’ll get to have her as well.”

A knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts.

I locked my phone immediately, shoving it somewhere far out of reach and cleared my throat.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open and when I saw who was standing on the other side, I rushed to my feet immediately.

It was the first time in days that Aria had reached out to me, and she didn’t have her usual scowl or look od disdain on her face.

Instead, her face was carefully blank, her hands folded in front of her and her head bowed.

“What’s happening?” I asked, trying to calm my raging heart.

My sister was not docile by any means. There were very little things that could make her react like this, and none of them were good.

“Fucking say something!” I snapped. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

A rush of relief went through me, but it didn’t ease the tension that was tightly wound up in my bones.

Whatever news she had, it wasn’t good.

“A woman came to the palace yesterday,” she started. “I handle small town cases so I met with her. She told me that her son was missing. He’d gone out into the woods with some friends. I asked the guards to search for them but they weren’t within the border.”

“Where did they go?”

“We found them right outside the border. They were barely five minutes away. They’d gone to a spring and… they were killed. They were just stupid teenagers and they were…”

She trailed off, shutting her eyes tightly.

I fought the urge to go to her and comfort her. There was nothing Aria hated more than feeling weak. If I were to try, she’d shut me down instantly and close up so I sat there, fighting against every bone in my body that told me to help my sister.

It took her a minute to regain her composure. “The area we found them smelled like rogues.”

My brows knitted in confusion. “We don’t have rogues near the palace.”

“I know. They left a message.” She slid over a blood stained note to me, her hands shaking with every movement. “I would read it for you but I… just, see for yourself.”

I picked up the paper carefully, unfolding it as I read. The handwriting was barely legible, but I was able to make out the words, and with that came a flood of anger so violent that I had to dig my nails into my palms to stop from shifting.

No wonder she came here herself.

Even her anger had to take a backseat for this.

“Prepare a car,” I told her.

Her eyes widened. “Are you sure-”

“I’m going to put an end to this shit once and for all.”

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