Kieran's POV
I stared at Liandrin, certain I'd misheard her.
The air in the room was already thick with tension, but her words sliced through it like a serrated blade.
"You…. want me to kill a Lycan?" I asked slowly.
Liandrin nodded, looking perversely satisfied. "Yes. You should be grateful I'm only asking you to kill one and not the whole lot of them."
A humorless laugh escaped her lips, hollow and cutting.
Lorraine stepped forward, brows pulled together. "Aren't you a Lycan too? Why do you hate your kind so much?"
Liandrin's mismatched eyes shifted toward her. For a moment, she was silent, then she exhaled as though speaking was a burden.
"Lycans," she began, "are too myopic. Too arrogant. Too proud. Empty vessels parading themselves as leaders of a kingdom they barely understand." Her lip curled. "Their kind thinks power is strength. When in reality, it is nothing more than noise. Posturing. Shallow vanity wrapped in muscle."
She looked away.
