Lorraine’s POV
Liandrin’s words echoed in my skull.
"Before he was the Leader of the Crimson Hunt... he was my husband."
The room felt too small. Too tight. The air itself seed to press against my lungs.
Before I could even form a question, Felix’s voice cut through the silence.
"The Leader was your husband?!!!" he exclaid in disbelief.
His shock mirrored the chaos clawing through my chest.
Kieran turned slowly toward Liandrin
"How?" he asked.
Liandrin tilted her head slightly in his direction "Your mother was still pregnant then," she said calmly. "So of course, you don’t know about what happened"
She paused.
"But your family, Kieran...." her voice sharpened, old bitterness seeping through, "the Valerius Hunter family has always been bloodthirsty and power hungry."
"Every evil faction in this kingdom can be traced back to your bloodline," Liandrin continued. "Every rot that festers beneath our history. Even this toxic power-caste system, Lycans, Elites, Nobles, Ferals, history records that a Valerius Hunter created it."
My breath caught.
mories surged unbidden, the things I had seen, the truth my wolf had shown . Avelar. Broken. Consud by grief. Turning his pain outward until it scorched the world.
Liandrin wasn’t wrong.
"Everything bad," she said coldly, "always has a Valerius Hunter at its center."
I swallowed hard.
Avelar had created the caste system, but not out of cruelty. Not at first. He had done it after Maeryn was burned alive. After his mate, pregnant with his child, was taken from him in the most horrific way imaginable.
Grief had twisted him into sothing monstrous.
And suddenly a thought crept in, quiet but poisonous and terrifying.
If sothing happens to ....
If history repeats itself.
If I die.
Would Kieran beco what Avelar beca?
A blood soaked tyrant, drowning the world in his rage?
The idea made my stomach churn.
Alistair shifted, breaking the heavy silence. "If Conan Valerius Hunter is the Leader," he said slowly, "and he was your husband... then why do you want him dead?"
Liandrin’s head snapped toward him.
"Because he did this to ."
The words vibrated with deep fury.
"I wasn’t always like this," she continued, and for the first ti since I’d t her, sothing raw bled through her voice. "I was not born with red and white eyes,I wasn’t hated and feared, I was only just another werewolf who could cast spells."
"And I hid it," Liandrin said. "Because I knew people like were never accepted."
My throat tightened.
"So I hid. I survived. And then I t Conan."
Her lips curled faintly. "And he beca my poison disguised as dicine."
The room was utterly silent now.
"He claid to love ," she went on. "All of . Even the part that could cast spells. And I believed him." Her voice dropped lower. "When he asked to marry him, of course I agreed. He was the eldest son of the Alpha King. That ant one day, I would be Luna Queen."
I could almost see it, young Liandrin, hopeful, foolish, in love.
"But the truth," she said, "was that he only wanted for power."
Kieran’s jaw tightened.
"The royal Lycan family are all bloodthirsty beasts," Liandrin said flatly. "But Conan.... Conan was sothing else. Dark. Twisted. His Lycan power was never enough for him."
My skin prickled.
"So he delved into forbidden dark magic," she continued. "Experinted with it. And when he t , soone who could cast spells effortlessly, he saw an opportunity."
My hands curled into fists.
"He wanted to experint on ."
"I was naive," Liandrin said. "He told it was for the greater good. And I believed him." A bitter laugh escaped her. "His goal was to turn into sothing called a Hexborn."
My breath stuttered.
"He claid the first Luna Queen was a Hexborn," Liandrin went on, "and that she was the most powerful being this kingdom had ever known. He wanted to be like her."
I felt sick.
"So he pushed . Tested . Broke . He experinted until my body couldn’t take it anymore." Her voice hardened. "He turned into sothing dark and twisted."
Her fingers curled slowly at her sides.
"Even my appearance began to change."
My chest felt tight, like it was being crushed from the inside.
"He said a true Hexborn was ant to have one red eye and one white eye," Liandrin said quietly. "So he blinded ."
The words rang in my ears.
"He permanently painted my eyes white and red."
For a heartbeat, none of us breathed.
Then Kaelani exploded.
"So you are fucking blind?!!!"
Liandrin didn’t even flinch.
"That doesn’t an I can’t see you," she said coolly. "My ears are trained to detect the slightest change in the air when you twitch even a muscle. My wolf’s sight combined with my hearing works far better than your fragile normal eyes."
Kaelani shut up instantly.
"What happened after?" I asked softly. "What went wrong?"
Liandrin’s face darkened.
"Conan’s father, the Alpha King at the ti, was a strict, no-nonsense man," she said. "Eventually, he discovered just how far his firstborn had fallen. The dark magic. The experints."
"He stripped Conan of his birthright," Liandrin continued. "And decided to punish both of us."
Then her lips curled bitterly.
"But Conan is cunning."
"He convinced his father that I was the evil one," she said. "That I corrupted him. That he was rely a victim of my influence."
My nails dug into my palms.
"With how hideous my appearance had beco," Liandrin went on, "it was a very convincing story."
Rage burned behind my eyes.
"The King imprisoned ," she said. "Locked away in chains. While Conan walked free."
My heart shattered for her.
"I tried to accept it," Liandrin admitted quietly. "I truly did. But I couldn’t."
Her voice sharpened.
"One night, I overpowered the silver chains and the wolfsbane. I escaped the dungeon." Her lips thinned. "I found Conan."
The air in the room felt charged.
"And I plunged a dagger straight into his heart."
A sharp breath escaped Felix.
"I killed him," Liandrin said flatly.
I exhaled shakily.
"But I was captured again," she continued. "And by then, the Alpha King was on his deathbed. It fell to his second son, Kieran’s father, to sentence ."
My gaze flicked to Kieran.
"He could have killed ," Liandrin said. "But he didn’t." Her voice softened, just a fraction. "He banished to the Outlands instead."
She let out a slow breath. "That’s when I knew, even he understood how vile his brother truly was."
"But you said you stabbed Conan in the heart," I said slowly. "He should be dead. So how is he alive?"
Liandrin shook her head. "I was shocked too."
She turned slightly, pacing a step.
"After I was banished, I heard the news. On the day his body was ant to be burned, the coffin was opened."
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"And there was no body."
A chill ran down my spine.
"I don’t know how he survived," Liandrin said. "But I know he did." Her jaw set. "So I spent years in this house, casting spell after spell, trying to track him."
She stopped.
"And now I finally know where he is."
Her head turned toward Kieran.
"My tracking spell has locked onto his current location."
The room seed to hold its breath.
"All I need you to do," Liandrin said calmly, her gaze fixed on Kieran "is go there and cut off his head."
"So he never cos back again this ti."
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