Chapter 50

MAGNAR’S POV She’s alive. The thought slammed into me like a blow to the chest. I watched her as the guards dragged her forward, her steps defiant despite the rough treatment. She didn’t look like the Valeria I remembered—frail, broken, and beaten down. No, this Valeria was different. Strong. There was fire in her eyes, a resolve I didn’t recognize. My wolf was losing it inside me, roaring to be let out. She’s alive! She survived, Magnar! Don’t you see? We need to go to her. Fix this! Fix what you’ve done! But I shoved him down, locking him away in the darkest corners of my mind. I couldn’t deal with him right now. Not with her here. Not with the past clawing its way back to the surface. That night by the lake replayed in my mind like a cursed memory I couldn’t escape. The way I’d looked at her, the disgust I’d felt—at her and myself. The words I spat, the cruel rejection. And then…what came after. I clenched my fists, nails digging into my palms. I had buried her chapter in my life th