Lorraine's POV
It was nightfall.
The sky above the Lycan territory bled into a velvet black, littered with shards of stars, and the castle, once majestic, now loomed in the darkness like a beast in slumber. But it wasn't asleep. It was poisoned. And we were walking straight into its jaws.
Kieran, his seven royal guards, and I moved like whispers through the forest trail, our footsteps muted against the mossy earth. We were heading toward a secret entrance hidden beneath the thick roots of an ancient tree just behind the western wing of the royal castle. Kieran said only those of royal blood, and those closest to them, knew it existed.
The moment we slipped through the narrow tunnel and emerged into the castle's lower halls, my breath caught.
