Eight years ago, my own brother sold me to a husk. Today, he came to drag me home. He drew his claws on the eight whelps beside me. He didn't know every single one of them was born of a bloodline higher than his own. Eight years in exile. Valen finally finds me at the edge of the Shadow-Drake Marches. I'm a mess. Dirt on my face. Eight little ones crawling all over me. "Vey." My brother — silver wolf — stops cold. His eyes go red. "Since when do you like kids? You used to say you'd die before you raised one." I don't answer. I chew the pine resin in my teeth. I drag two muddy little ones out of the bog by their scruffs. "Come on, guys. Let's go home." Then she steps out from behind him. Mira. Wet eyes. Trembling lip. "Vey." Her voice breaks. "It was Valen. He drugged your wine. And Zelrun—" she squeezes Zelrun's hand "he switched our carriages himself." Zelrun — black dragon, Crown Heir of the Obsidian Throne — says nothing. Just stands there. Watching. Waiting for me to scream. Waiting for me to cry. I don't move. Valen's jaw tightens. "Look. The husk was ugly. Lowblood. Fine." "But Mira says he was good to her." "You suffered a little. Get over it." A little. That's what he calls it. Eight years ago Mira came home crying. Said I locked her out for three hours. I never did. Eight years of paying for a lie I never told. "The husk is dead now," Mira says sweetly. "Come home with us, Vey." "The whelps aren't coming. They're filthy. Lowblood strays." "They're the reason you're so miserable. Just let the guards put them down." I look up. Kill them? The girl up in the tree? Toregga's daughter. White tiger. The Marshal's only girl. The blonde glaring at Mira? Duke Orlando's kid. Golden lion. The two in the grass? Twin gryphon princes. … "You'd be so much happier without them, Vey. Right?" Mira wipes her eyes. Smiles. Her guards step in. Swords up. They ring me in. I drag the farthest little one to my chest. A small girl, silver-haired, her wolf flashing behind her eyes when she clings to my collar. This pup can't bleed. Margrave Igris waited five generations for one daughter. His men are insane. "What?" Zelrun's voice drops. Black mist curls off his shoulders. "You really think you're walking into my Keep with eight strays?" I clap a hand over the little lion girl's mouth. This one's got the dirtiest mouth of the lot. "Vey, don't be embarrassed." Mira tilts her head. "Zelrun doesn't even care you're used goods. He'll still keep you. Out of sight. Nothing official." She says it like she's doing me a favor. "I'm not going." Dead silence. Valen's face turns to stone. "You can't even look at Mira without copping an attitude? What is wrong with you?" I forgot a lot of things. I forgot the snowstorm. The night he walked her past me and never looked back. I forgot Mira grinding my bond-token under her heel. Zelrun watched from the eaves. Didn't move. Eight years buries a girl. "Do it then, Vey." Zelrun's voice goes soft. "Or tell me — did you like it? Eight years widowing for that husk. Get a taste for it?" He looks at the little ones like they're nothing. "They're not mine. And you can't touch them." Crown Heir or not. Can't he see? The little ones aren't scared of him. The blue-haired boy is still freezing the mud at his feet. The white-haired girl is still chewing on my boot. The twin princes haven't even looked up. Not one of them blinked at him. "You'd protect them so hard you'd deny your own blood?" Zelrun's smile snaps. The black blade hisses out. Violet flame on the edge. He drives it at the smallest one. Rion. The little blue-haired boy. I lunge— Valen's hand cracks across my face. Copper in my mouth. "I told myself you were forced," he snarls. "Now I see it. You let him mount you. You shamed our whole house." Every head snaps up. I swallow blood. Voice flat. "Zelrun. Look at the boy you just cut. He's your cousin. Your uncle's kid." Rion wasn't fast enough. The blade caught his arm. Blood runs. He throws himself into my chest. Shaking. I unhook the pendant at his throat. Hold it up. A black dragon scale. Edged in gold-red blood. Only the direct line of the Obsidian Throne wears one. It hums in my fingers. Dragon-song. Mira's mouth opens. Closes. Zelrun raises the blade again. "My uncle doesn't have a kid." "You don't even know your own family." The little lion girl rips free of my hand. She tears a medallion from her tunic. Gold. Thumb-sized. A roaring lion on it. The Blood-Sigil of the Golden Pride. One token. Commands an army. She shoves it at him. "My dad is Duke Orlando. Wanna kill someone? Try me." Mira slaps it out of her hand. It hits the dirt. She laughs. "And these — you coached them, Vey? Cute."
I tear a strip of cloth and press it to Rion's arm. "Mira. You just hurt royal blood. That's a death sentence." Valen scoffs. "Royal blood? Vey, come on. Lay off." Mira lifts her chin. She loops her arm through Zelrun's, beaming. I look straight at Zelrun. Hard. He says, flat: "Vey. Since when do you lie?" He almost believed me. Mira bites her lip. Switches faces — worried, hurt. "She's making the little ones pretend to be royal blood, Zel. If your father hears about it, our whole house is finished." "She still hates me." Valen's jaw locks. Zelrun's brow tightens. "You're safe," Zelrun says. He pulls her in. Kisses her forehead. Valen loses it. "Eight years and you still haven't learned, Vey? What is wrong with you?" "Mira is the real one. You're the fake. What gives you the right to come at her?" "What gives you the right to hate her?" The words land hard. My hands are freezing. Then something warm closes over them. "You had it really bad out here, didn't you?" The little lion girl. Looking up at me. "Everyone in the border towns talks about you. They all know." I force a smile down at her. I shove the rest away. "Fifteen more minutes," I say. "Then you'll see." Fifteen minutes. That's when the pickups come. Same time every day. The hour I'd usually be walking home, light on my feet. "How much longer are you stalling?" Valen's past furious now. Mira jumps in. "Valen, wait." "It's fine. We have room for eight whelps." "If she wants them so bad — let her keep them." Zelrun's mouth tightens. He doesn't like it. But he nods. Soft eyes for her. "Whatever you want, Mira." Valen drops it too. I tighten my grip on Rion. My knuckles go white. "We'll call them strays," Mira says sweetly. "Orphans. Whatever." "But Vey's still coming home with us. She's coming to the Keep." "She can't be tied to them anymore. Not like before." She walks over to me. Slow. Her eyes — full of it. "And just so Vey doesn't forget her place — every whelp she keeps, I cut her once. Same number. Fair?" The second she says it, every little one is at my side. "You guys are gross." The gryphon prince. Cael. Gold sparks down his arms. "My dad is the King of the Gryphons. He likes Vey. A lot." "You treat her like this? Wait till I tell him." "She's coming home with me. She doesn't have to take this." His twin shoves forward. Ren. "My mom — Vey was teaching her harp! You touch Vey, I swear to God—" The little tiger girl. Thorn. Fangs out. "You're cowards. " "You touch her, you're dead. Try it." A heartbeat later — the guards are on them. Hands clamped over mouths. Knees forced into the dirt. Gagged. Pinned. Little ones. But the fifteen minutes are up. "Mistress Veyn!" A rider tears into the clearing. Gray wolf — heavy build, scars across his jaw. Reins yanked tight. He swings off. Eyes blazing. It's Brann. Captain of the border garrison. The man who pulled me out of the snow eight years ago. "Stop! Who the hell are you people?" I look past him. Nobody behind him. My stomach drops. "You came alone?" Brann keeps his voice low. "Border riots. Big mob. Margrave Igris took the rest of the unit out to put it down. He's not back yet." Border riots. So whoever the Gryphon King sent for his sons — they aren't getting through either. "Drop the act." Zelrun's voice. Something raw in it now. "Vey. The husk's whelps. You love them that much? You'd really die for them?"
The smile freezes on Mira's face. She grips Zelrun's hand. Tight. He doesn't move. She shoots me a glare. Then her hand flies to her mouth. Eyes wide. "Wait— you?" She's staring at Brann. Voice trembling. "You're— you're the husk! I thought you were dead! No wonder she wouldn't come with us!" She's lying through her teeth. Brann isn't the husk. Brann is the man who saved me from the husk. Eight years ago. Snow up to my knees. Blood running down my hands. But Mira just put his face on the dead man. And Zelrun believes her. His eyes go dark. Cold. Wrong. "Brann. Get out of here. Go find Margrave Igris. Or Marshal Toregga. Whichever's closer. Bring them." Both of them bear the Dragon King's Mark. His own father carved it into their skin. Zelrun would know it on sight. Brann nods. Spins for his horse. Then Zelrun snaps. Before anyone can blink, he's half-shifting. Black scales surge up his arms. Drake claws unsheathe. He flashes forward — knocks Brann off his horse with one swipe. Claws aimed straight at his heart. "Zelrun, stop! He's pack! He saved me!" My chest squeezes. I'm screaming. He doesn't hear me. Brann rolls. Half-shifts mid-air. Gray wolf form bursting out of his shoulders. He twists past the killing strike. But he's outnumbered. Mira's guards close in. They half-shift too. Claws and teeth. They tear into him. Blood sprays across my face. I freeze. Mouth open. My head's empty. "Don't hurt him— please— he saved my life—" Nobody listens. They pull back. Let the holes pour blood. Brann drops to one knee. Holding himself up. One of Mira's guards stomps on his neck. Forces his head into the dirt. Zelrun lets his claws fade. Looks at him like he's an insect. "What officer? He drew on the Crown Heir. He's an assassin." Mira's smile gets bigger. Beside me, long curved claws slide out of one of her guard's hands. Cold light running down them. "So, Vey. The eight little ones. You saving them or not?" "I save them." Eight cuts won't kill me. Eight years. Their parents kept me alive. I owe them. The first rake goes in. Then the second. Third. Fourth. The smell of blood thickens. I can't breathe through it. Valen rips the guard back. His own claws come out. Wolf claws. Silver fur up to his elbow. "Vey! You still want to save them?!" A small, broken sob behind me. One of them. I'm soaked in cold sweat. My body keeps jerking from the pain. "I save them. I'm not going back to the Keep." Valen explodes. Four more rakes. Hard. Vicious. "You don't get to decide. You still owe Mira. You still owe the house. Not even close to paid." I swallow the scream. Hands on the dirt. I push myself up. Slowly. Spine straight. Mira watches me struggle to breathe. She looks thrilled. "Valen— look at her. There's so much blood. She — she's not pregnant, is she? Coming home pregnant — we can't hide that. I shouldn't have pushed her so hard." I look down. Dazed. It's Rion's blood. From his arm. Pooling at my feet. Zelrun's head snaps around. His voice grinds through his teeth. "Get rid of it." The guards move. They yank my arms back. Force my stomach forward. Expose it. A boot drives into me. Hard. I choke out a sound. My insides feel like they've moved. I can't speak. Not a word. "You're lying!" Brann's mouth is full of blood. He's still here. Still fighting. "She's never even been with a man! Where would a kid come from?!" Mira sets her hand on the little unicorn girl's neck. Her fingers curl. Slowly tightening. "I'm lying?" Mira watches Brann's face. Watches him panic. She sighs. "If they aren't her kids, why do you care so much?"
Watch? https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260619L8figqPcSj ? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "Novelix" app ? search for "ni272904", and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix