Back Where 241
I couldn’t breathe. Not truly. What I found were two certain truths. The moment I put the necklace back on, when Nyroth extended it to me, my thoughts became disoriented and the bond I shared with Lycannar snapped, shattered.

The second truth. I felt a pull toward Nyroth. A pull that went against my heart’s true desire. It was painful not to obey it.

As I hurried down the stairs, I bypassed guards and maids until I broke outside. My steps carried me to the carriage waiting in the courtyard, but before climbing in, I felt it. His eyes on

me.
Slowly, I turned toward the Black Tower. Lycannar stood in the corridor, staring at me, probably wondering why I had called another man’s name in my sleep. And not just any man, but my ex–mate, the one I was supposed to hate.

I swallowed under the weight of his gaze. Every piece of my heart screamed to run to him. But I couldn’t. The pull toward Nyroth was too powerful. I climbed into the carriage, and it rolled toward Hue Pack without delay.

Yet the farther it carried me, the worse it grew. As the carriage wheels crossed out of the Lycan Kingdom, leaving it all behind, I felt myself torn by two different forces. Two pulls. Two loves. My very heart battling something unnatural. Something unworldly.

I leaned forward, jaw set, fighting to stay steady. At last, the carriage wheels ground into Hue Pack territory, but I couldn’t step out. Not yet. Not when my body was breaking apart inside