#Chapter 548: The Mantle

Nina The warm summer breeze caressed my face, gently tousling loose strands of hair, but I felt utterly numb to its soft touch. My gaze remained fixated on the freshly upturned earth in front of me, the simple granite headstone bearing my father’s name and legacy in stark, uncompromising letters. Here lies Aldric, the third of his name. Alpha King. Beloved to all. The words seemed to mock me, like a hollow tribute to a man who meant so much—not just to me, but to my mother, my brother, Enzo, the entire realm. Almost two centuries of watching over the werewolf realm, and now it was gone. Now the Alpha King was buried beside my sister and my mother. And together the three of them laid silently. I had failed him. Failed to protect him when our family needed me most, when his life was in peril. Perhaps if I had been swifter to action, none of this would have happened. Perhaps... The endless stream of what-ifs echoed mercilessly in my mind, a relentless torrent of hatred and