Chapter 275

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AURORA

I passed Warrick in the hall; his features cut with guilt and regret.

Deep inside, something was amiss, but somehow, my mind wasn’t really there again. Dane’s ambition had started snowballing out of control, and I had to get some answers before things completely got out of hand.

I’d been watching Dane across the dining hall, stiffened in his chair as he spoke with Trajan about patrols, when something in the set of his shoulders was not quite right these times heavier, sharper.

“Something on your mind?” I asked, sliding into the seat beside him.

His gaze

flicked to me briefly before returning to the map spread out before him. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

I laid a hand on the map, stalling his movements. “Dane, this isn’t like you. You’re pushing too hard. What’s really going on?”

He leaned back with a sigh. “The campfire near the border isn’t random, Aurora. It’s a sign. Wolves test us, and if we don’t act now, they’ll think we’re weak.”

Chapter 275

I frowned. “And your solution is to claim more land? You’re risking everything we’ve built for what? Pride?”

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His voice was low and sharp. “It’s not pride, it’s survival. The moment we show hesitation, we lose. You know that as well as do.”

Our conversation was brought to a close by the arrival of Piper. her eyes unreadable as she held a series of fast flashes of eve contact with Warrick.

Something silent hung between them, but before I could comment on it, abruptly Dane stood.

“We’ll talk later,” he said, his tone ending the matter.

Later that afternoon, I went into the woods, closer to the border where Dane had described to me that the campfire had been.

still lingered in the air. combined with

dropped to a crouch, eyes scanning the earth, tracing the significant are of rocks around the depression. “This wasn’t

“Of course it wasn’t.”

to my feet and turned to see Trajan strode to a stop beside

Chapter 275

you

because I’m worried. He’s not thinking

what I was

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arms. “You think

we

spotted a piece of fabric hanging from a low branch. Black and

did not

I nodded towards the tree beside him. Etched into its trunk was a rude drawing, a circle

cocked his head to the side. “What does

whispered. “But we better

to look for Dane. I found

Chapter 275

said, slapping the fabric down on the

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brow. “And you’re not pushing hard. enough.

game of who’s the toughest. It’s calculated. They are testing us, Dane. One wrong move and we just walked

plan then? Just sit around and wait? Hope they’ll decide to play nice?” His voice is getting louder; frustration sizzles

be smart,” I said, moving in closer. “Charging into their trap doesn’t make us strong, it makes us

slammed a fist onto the table, jolting the maps. “We can’t afford to look weak, Aurora. Not now, not

about knowing when to act and when to stand

was absolute silence, only the

between us.

barely audible, though no softer reassurance, “I am doing

my lips to speak, but I closed it back as I closed my eyes and I took

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me and his eyes softened a bit, as if he was going. to say something, as if he was going to call on me to

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