Chapter 58 - The news of a new young master in the clan

The morning light filtered through the tall arched windows of Raaya Villa's eastern solar, gilding the ancient dragon-carved pillars and the long oak table where Jake now sat. He had risen early, his body still humming with the memory of Raani's fierce passion from the night before. After she had slipped away at dawn to attend her duties, he had lingered in the massive four-poster bed for a few moments, listening to the soft breathing of Chelsea and Rosa in the adjoining chamber. Their presence grounded him amid the whirlwind of this new life—the sudden elevation from provincial obscurity to the heart of one of the oldest bloodlines in the realm. The mark on his shoulder, once dismissed as a lucky charm, now pulsed with undeniable power, responding to the villa's ancient wards as if it had always belonged there.