Chapter 344. It Was Still in Place

By morning, you could already taste the tension in the air.

Ann stood on the palace steps looking over the work sites, cloak thrown over her shoulders against the chill, Coral at her side with a clipboard and two guards hovering close enough to twitch at every sound.

They came in a ragged line through the main gates...men, women, a handful of children clinging to whatever scraps they carried. Wolves in them, yes, but now they were stripped down to bone and stubborn will. No banners flying, no armor on their bodies, just scars and tired eyes.

Lycan survivors.

The guards shifted uneasily.

“They shouldn’t be here.” One of them muttered

“They’re under my protection the moment they set foot on these grounds. Remember that.” Ann snarled as she whipped round to face them.

He flushed, bowed his head.

The group halted at the base of the steps. Their leader was tall, even with his shoulders hunched under a torn cloak, and he lifted his chin and