Chapter 1242

Chapter 1242:

A voice, sharp and cold as a winter blade, shattered the quiet.

My eyes snapped up, locking with Dominic’s deep, inscrutable gaze.

“The werewolf mountains,” he declared, his lips barely parting, his tone devoid of warmth. “I’ll go there.”

“No!” I surged to my feet, the chair screeching against the floor. Milk splashed onto my hand, its sting unnoticed in my panic. “It’s far too perilous! You can’t go!” Dominic’s icy glance cut through me, his eyes like frost-covered steel, chilling my very core.

“It’s settled,” he said, his voice unyielding, a whisper of finality.

Before I could protest, his tall, silver-gray form turned and strode away. The door slammed shut with a resounding thud, sending a tremor through my heart.

My knees buckled, and I sank into the chair, my fingers twisting the fabric of my dress, crumpling it in my grip.

“He has never been so reckless…” I murmured, my throat tight with unshed tears. “If not for the rift between us, he wouldn’t have chosen such a perilous path. This is my fault.”

Clayton approached, his warm hand enveloping my trembling fingers. “Makenna, even if Dominic hadn’t volunteered, I would have gone in his stead.” Bryan, standing by the window, turned to face me, his voice steady. “I was prepared to go as well. The werewolf mountains are treacherous, and only one of us—someone who knows the terrain—can undertake this mission. It has to be one of the three of us.”

I shot to my feet, the chair scraping once more. “No, I must speak with him!” Lifting the hem of my dress, I dashed toward the door.

The hallway stretched empty before me, Dominic’s presence reduced to a faint, frosty scent lingering in the air.

I bit my lip, ready to hasten after him, when urgent footsteps echoed behind me. “Miss Dunn!” A servant, breathless, caught up to me. “Mr. Cloud… there’s been an incident.”

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My heart lurched. “What has happened to Alden?”

“Mr. Cloud insisted on leaving the hospital to find you this morning, and he has reopened his wound…”

I froze, my gaze lingering on the distant hallway where Dominic had vanished, and then shifting toward the hospital. My chest felt torn asunder, agony pulling me in opposite directions.

With a heavy sigh, my nails bit into my palm, and I turned toward the hospital, each step heavier than the last.

Leonardo’s POV:

“Useless! A bunch of useless fools!” I roared, snatching the gilded goblet from the table and hurling it toward the soldier kneeling before me with all my might. The heavy metal clattered across the marble floor, its echo lingering in the vastness of the hall like a grim reminder of failure.

The soldier’s forehead was marked with a fresh gash, crimson trickling down his brow. Yet, he dared not flinch, dared not even raise a trembling hand to wipe the blood away. He only bowed lower, like a dog awaiting its master’s next blow.

“Your Majesty, please… please calm down—”

“Calm down?” My voice thundered through the hall, silencing even the flicker of torchlight. In one violent sweep, I overturned the mahogany table, sending maps and documents cascading to the floor like fallen leaves scattered by a storm. “You expect me to calm down? How? Tell me!”

I stalked toward a towering window, gripping its frame with white-knuckled hands.

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