Mary Ann’s POV
“I met my uncle years ago under another name at the Elite Alpha Academy.”
The words left my mouth, but they did not feel real.
Modric stood beside the council table, staring at the old Nightveil portrait in my hand. The image showed my mother and Cassius as children, but all I could see was the man he had become.
Master Vale.
That was what the students called him.
Not Professor Cael Vane.
Not Cassius Vale.
Master Vale.
He had taught political history and inter-pack leadership during my final years at the academy. He was not a permanent instructor. He arrived for several weeks each term, delivered lectures to the Alpha-born students, then disappeared again.
No one questioned it.
The Elite Alpha Academy was always filled with visiting commanders, council advisers, a
