Katherine stared at the kneeling wolves.
“I don't understand.”
Marcus looked furious.
“Get up!”
Nobody moved.
Elena stepped forward.
“The blood remembers.”
Katherine backed away.
“What blood?”
“Your father's.”
Marcus drew his sword.
“Enough.”
Diana moved between them.
Marcus attacked.
Steel struck steel.
The sound echoed through the forest.
Diana had not fought in fifteen years.
Yet every movement returned to her naturally.
Marcus swung.
Diana blocked.
He struck again.
She disarmed him.
The Conroy soldiers watched in stunned silence.
Marcus reached for a hidden dagger.
Katherine shouted.
“Behind you!”
Diana turned just in time.
She caught the blade.
Blood ran down her palm.
Marcus smiled.
“You're weaker than you used to be.”
Diana looked at the blood on her hand.
Then she smiled.
“No.”
Her eyes changed.
Golden light spread across her pupils.
A deep growl rolled through the forest.
Every wolf froze.
Diana's wolf emerged behind her—massive, silver-black, scarred from the old war.
Marcus stumbled backward.
“The Queen's wolf…”
Diana stepped toward him.
“You mistook mercy for weakness.”
Marcus ran.
Diana did not chase him.
She looked at Katherine instead.
“Your power is awakening.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't get to choose whether the world fears you.”
Katherine stared at the kneeling wolves.
“Why did they bow?”
Thomas answered.
“Because Julius named you his heir.”
Katherine looked at Diana.
“Then why did Marcus treat me like a slave?”
Diana's expression darkened.
“Because if your power awakened, his claim to the throne would disappear.”
Elena stepped forward.
“There is more.”
Diana turned.
Elena held up a small black book.
“Marcus didn't order Katherine's abuse because he hated her.”
“Then why?”
Elena's voice dropped.
“Because he needed her blood to open Julius's vault.”
Diana went still.
“What vault?”
“The vault beneath Redblood Castle.”
Elena looked toward the distant mountains.
“Everything Julius discovered before his death is inside.”
“And the truth about the betrayal?”
Elena nodded.
“Along with the name of the person who ordered it.”
Diana looked at Katherine—and realized the person who ordered Julius's betrayal might still be someone she loved.