The Warlord of Wycliffe: The Dethroning of My False Mate novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: The General

Dorian looked at me.

I nodded once, and he picked up his shirt and walked back toward the ruins.

He did not go far.

I could feel him just beyond the chimney, in case.

Verity Crane stood very straight in the dawn light.

Up close, the bruise on her cheekbone was the size of a fist.

"Who did that?" I asked.

"The Alpha. Last night, in the war room, after you left." She touched her lip. "He said I opened the Moon Hall door against orders."

"You did."

"I did. He said a general who thinks for herself is a general he can't mark." She gave a short, bitter laugh. "Funny. I thought that was why he wanted me."

"Verity."

"I need to say this fast, because I might lose my nerve." She took a breath. "I did not know you were his mate."

"I believe you."

"He told me at the border fire that there was a girl at home. A bookkeeper. Kept the lodge running. A courtesy, he said, a debt from the old Wycliffe days." Her jaw tightened. "He said he'd mark me, because I was the only one who could stand next to him. I was flattered. God help me, I was flattered."

I said nothing.

She looked at my left shoulder.

"I saw your mark in the yard. I knew then. I've been sick all night."

"You're not the one who tied me down."

"No." Verity's eyes flashed. "But I was going to be the one who stood next to him while he did it again."

She reached inside her coat and pulled out a flat leather case, bound with string.

"I kept these," she said. "I'm not supposed to have them."

I untied the string.

Inside were a dozen sheets of rough paper, folded and soft with handling.

Field reports, in a hand I recognized.

Roderick's.

"Hollow Ridge," Verity said. "Read the third one."

I unfolded it.

The date was five weeks ago.

At dawn, Greyhollow forces had been driven back to the river by Stormreach.

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