“Your father,” the spirit began, her voice melodic yet heavy with grief, “was not a wolf. He was a mage — one of the most powerful that ever walked this realm. A man whose command of the elemental forces could bend nature itself. His name was Kaelen. And he loved your mother with a passion so fierce it defied the gods themselves.”
River’s heart thudded painfully. “A mage?” she echoed, disbelief flickering through her tone.
The spirit nodded slowly. “When your mother’s people discovered their love, the Northern Council declared it an abomination — a betrayal of the bloodlines. They imprisoned her within the Crystal Citadel, guarded by wards woven from the coldest northern magic. Kaelen tried to negotiate, to plead… but the Iron King of that time ordered his execution, as Kaelen ruined his
