Chapter 322

AURELIA’S POV I didn’t take his hand. Couldn’t. The torchlight trembled between us, throwing half his face into shadow — and for a single, disorienting heartbeat, I wondered if the Goddess was mocking me. Of all the wolves in the world, why him? Why now? Micah’s gaze lingered on me, assessing, curious, but not yet cruel. There was no recognition in his eyes beyond the kind you offer to a familiar scent — a reminder of a story long buried beneath duty and years. “Are you just going to stand there?” he asked finally, breaking the silence. “Or do I have to carry you?” His voice was still that same rich, deep tone I remembered. The same voice that once whispered poison in the dark corners of my father’s estate. I swallowed the tremor in my throat and forced my spine straight. “I can walk.” “Good,” he said, motioning ahead. “Then let’s walk.” The corridor stretched endlessly, quiet but for the faint echo of our footsteps. The air between us was thick — not with words, but with ghosts. I cou