CHAPTER FIFTEEN — BLOOD DOES NOT LIE
Silence is never empty.
It presses.
It suffocates.
It waits.
The moment Alpha Marcus spoke, the chamber seemed to inhale and then hold its breath. The silver runes dimmed but didn't fade, their glow now steady and watchful, like eyes that had opened and would not close again.
I stayed on my knees because my legs refused to remember how standing worked.
"You're lying," I said again, but the words had no weight this time. They floated, fragile and hollow, between us.
Marcus didn't flinch.
"I gain nothing by lying now," he said quietly. "The Heart Chamber doesn't respond to half-truths. It recognizes lineage. Blood. Power."
My stomach churned violently.
I shook my head, hair clinging to my damp cheeks. "My father was human."
Raven inhaled sharply behind me.
Marcus's gaze softened not with pity, but with something closer to regret. "That's what your mother told you."
My chest burned.
"No," I whispered. "That's what she believed."
