---- Chapter 21 No.21 Aria POV: As Kaelen crumpled to the ground, a strangled gasp escaped his lips and he coughed, spraying a fine mist of blood onto the pristine marble floor. The pain of a rejected mate bond was legendary, a spiritual wound that manifested physically. A primal instinct, a ghost of the love | once felt, urged me to step toward him. But Damien's hand on my arm was a firm, grounding presence. He stopped me, his dark eyes silently reminding me of what Kaelen had done. | hardened my heart, forcing myself to look away from the man who was now a stranger to me. Kaelen pushed himself up, swaying on his feet. A terrible, broken smile twisted his lips. "The world's biggest fool," he whispered to himself. Then, without another word, he turned and stumbled out of the ballroom, a ghost leaving the scene of his own haunting. The guards dragged Lyra out like a sack of garbage. Her fate was no longer my concern. She would have to face the cold, unforgiving wilderness with six furious rogues who now knew the depths of her betrayal. | imagined her end would be neither quick nor merciful. After the last of the guests had departed, leaving the hall in ---- a state of ruin, my father found Silas lingering by the shattered doors. "You did not sleep with her," my father stated, his voice weary. "And you have always been the sharpest mind among them. Your only crime was ambition, not betrayal of my daughter's heart. You may stay." Silas looked surprised, then his expression settled into one of profound sadness. "Thank you, Alpha. If | may be so bold... | would ask that you formally adopt me. Not as a competitor for the Alpha title. That ship has sailed. Let me be your son, and let me serve for the rest of my life as Gamma, as Aria's sworn protector." He then told my father of his own bleak childhood, of the day a young Aria had visited the orphanage and offered him a piece of candy, the first act of selfless kindness he had ever known. "| can see the lies in everyone, Alpha," Silas said, his voice thick with emotion. "It is my gift and my curse. But in your daughter's eyes, | saw only truth. Only goodness. How could | not love her?" My father, moved by his sincerity, placed a hand on his shoulder. "It is done. Welcome to the family, my son." | stood by the window, watching the moon rise. Lyra's punishment would be delivered by the very men she had manipulated. | didn't need to lift a finger. | could simply watch the fire | started consume everything in its path.