#Chapter 146: With the Ruin

CASSANDRA The numbers weren’t adding up, and Father was livid. I sat stiffly at the table in the packhouse’s formal office, a fan of expense reports and ledgers laid out in front of me like a criminal record. My criminal record, apparently. “You bought what?” he barked, his voice bouncing off the walls. “A mare,” I said evenly, smoothing my palm across the crease in my blouse. “Moon-blessed. Champion lineage. For the charity auction—” “For what auction?” he snapped, stabbing a thick finger at the figure circled in red at the bottom of the page. “You spent more on saddle fittings than we did training new warriors. Are we running a pack or a stable?” I bit the inside of my cheek. Hard. I’d learned long ago not to take the bait too quickly. He leaned across the table, eyes narrowed. “You think you’re going to be Luna,” he sneered. “That Derek’s finally going to come to his senses and put a crown on your pretty head. You think if you decorate the palace, the king will move in