The Lycan King's Secret Daughter novel Chapter 26

SYLRA’S POV

Cealen’s eyes couldn’t meet mine. He stood framed in the doorway of my chambers, shoulders slumped, the proud royal advisor reduced to a shadow of himself.

“I’m sorry, Sylra.” His voice cracked on that single word. “Please forgive me.”

I wanted to be furious with him yet all I felt was a strange, hollow calmness. Somewhere deep inside, I’d always known there was more to his appearance in my life than chance.

“Well,” I said, surprising myself with a small laugh, “you’ve had plenty of opportunities.” I gestured around the empty room. “Including right now.”

His head snapped up, eyes finally meeting mine. “That’s not funny.”

“Isn’t it, though?” I moved to the window, watching the pack running drills in the field below. My pack now. “If you truly wanted me dead, I would have been gone long ago.”

Caelan crossed the room, each step measured as if approaching a wild animal. “The King fired me,” Caelan said abruptly.

That got my attention. I turned from the window, studying his face.

Silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words. Outside, I could hear the rhythmic thud of bodies hitting training mats, the occasional bark of laughter. Life continuing as if my world hadn’t just tilted on its axis.

“I never meant for any of this to happen,” Caelan finally said. “I was supposed to infiltrate, gain your trust, and eliminate the threat you posed. Simple.”

“Yet here we are.” I gestured between us. “Nothing simple about it.”

He ran a hand through his dark hair, a gesture I’d seen countless times before. How many of our interactions had been genuine? How many calculated?

“So what now?” I asked. “The unemployed assassin and his failed target having a heart-to-heart?”

“I’m trying to apologize, Sylra.” Frustration edged his voice. “Though I’m starting to wonder why I bothered.”

“Because your conscience needed clearing?” I shot back. “Or because you need somewhere to go now that you’ve lost your royal cushion?”

His face hardened. “I deserve that.”

“You deserve worse.” The anger I’d been suppressing finally bubbled to the surface. “You lied to me. To all of us. We welcomed you, trusted you—”

“And I betrayed that trust. I know.” Caelan stepped closer. “But somewhere along the way, the lies became real. My loyalty shifted. That’s why I’m here now, telling you the truth when I could have simply disappeared.”

I searched his face for deception and found only raw honesty. It would be easier if he were still lying.

“How am I supposed to trust anything you say now?” I asked, hating the vulnerability in my voice.

“You’re not,” he answered simply. “I don’t expect trust. I just… needed you to know.”

Outside, the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the training grounds. Soon the pack would return, and this strange bubble of truth would burst.

“You know,” Caelan said, a hint of his old humor returning, “now that I’m officially unemployed, I don’t suppose that Beta position is still open?”

The laugh burst from me before I could stop it. “You have some nerve.”

“One of my better qualities,” he agreed with a tentative smile.

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