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His expression cracks then. Just for a second. I see it—the weight of the grief he has carried. The failure he never forgave himself for.

He crosses the room and yanks me into another rough, crushing hug. One hand clasps the back of my neck, and the other curls into the back of my shirt like he’s scared he’ll lose me again. My brother, the one who hated everything aside from fighting, who commanded my entire army.

“I thought you were dead,” he chokes out.

I grip him just as tightly. “I know.”

“I looked. I swear to the Goddess, Griffin—I looked. I went after you myself.”

“It must have been a lot. I’m sorry for leaving you like that.”

“What happened?” Erik pulls away, glaring at me. “Where have you been? And none of your cryptic answers. I need to know. Who took you? No, wait.” He walks over to the desk and presses a button. “Have lunch prepared for us in the dining room.”

He returns, dragging over one of the armchairs that he used to lounge in while I worked, my carefree brother who loved telling me I got the short end of the stick because I had to rule the kingdom.

We sit, and his face is grim as I speak. “I don’t remember how I was taken or what I was doing when it happened. But I know Quentin betrayed me. I woke up in a cell. They experimented on me. When they first captured me, they injected something into my blood. I shifted into my wolf form immediately, and theyneeded me to change back. Whatever the drug was, it severed my bond with my wolf. My human side still existed, but I could not connect with it. I became a mindless beast. I remember the torture, being cut open. I wanted it to end, but it never did. They fed me but only gave me enough to keep me alive. I couldn’t regain my strength without meat. I was on the verge of giving up.”

Erik’s face is pale. He doesn’t interrupt, though.

“And then Maya was brought to my cell. Cassian Vayne, Jerry’s nephew, he was there. He was running everything. He told Maya to create a drug to force me to shift back but keep the disconnect. She—That clever girl, she did what he asked, but she made sure the bond between my wolf and me was repaired. I was so far gone that my wolf didn’t even recognize its fated mate till Quentin attacked her. I was trying to help her, and I licked her blood. The shock of it helped me shift back to my human form. I got us out of there. We hid in a cabin belonging to one of the Lysotte witches till two days ago.”

Erik’s jaw is hard. “Is that everything?”

“In a nutshell, yes.”

“It’s not, though, is it?” my brother asks quietly.

I hesitate and look away from him. “You don’t need to hear every gory detail of what happened to me, Erik. But know this: they have the ability to sever our connections with our wolves, and they’re using human chemicals to do it. The human race has advanced enough to create things that can harm our very core, and our own kind is helping them.”

“What do they want with us? Why are they doing this?”

“I don’t have an answer to that.” I shake my head. “But if they were able to restrain me, a royal, that makes them very dangerous.”

Erik sighs before filling me in on what he has learned. “The Silver Ring Organization has been around for far longer than wethought. They were responsible for the murder of the previous king and queen of the North, Cedric Raine’s parents, and given that they were both warriors, nobody is safe. The Eastern royal family was in cahoots with the organization, and they’ve been wiped out except for their king, a young child whom Cedric and his mate Leanna are raising alongside their own son.”

He leans back, a strained expression on his face. “You don’t remember why you went out that day, the argument we had. So, let me tell you. Quentin came to you with a tip. He said the rebel leaders had begun crossing the Veil. I told you not to go, but you were determined.”

The anguish in his eyes is thick. “When I went to find you, there was blood. The guards I’d sent with you were dead. No sign of you. We searched for months, for any trace of you, but there was nothing.”

“You thought I was dead,” I say quietly.

He nods. “There was so much blood, Griffin. And no trail. Quentin must have made sure of it. But I hoped you were alive. The brother I knew wouldn’t have died easily. So, I kept looking. Any word, any tip, and I would chase it down. I—I protected your throne for you, Griffin.”

My hands curl into fists. “Quentin was always ambitious. He was envious, greedy, vying for things he had no business aiming for. Like the throne.” I shake my head. “What about Maya? How was Cassian able to kidnap her? How did you let such a key member of the Silver Ring Organization infiltrate the palace?”

Erik’s jaw twitches. “Cassian went to the Eastern Kingdom to pursue his education, and he insisted on joining the palace when he returned. It’s evident now that he was recruited by the Silver Ring while he was in the East.”

“I am not blaming you, Erik. You trusted Jerry, and you had no reason not to trust his nephew.” I get to my feet and walk over to the window that overlooks the palace gardens. “At this point,either the organization is going to come at us with full force or they will lie low now that I am back.”

My brother agrees, but he has another question on the tip of his tongue. “Does Maya—Does she know?”

“No.”

The word causes a silence to fall over the room, and for a moment, Erik says nothing. Then, he lets out a slow breath. “You’re going to have to tell her at some point. She doesn’t like being kept in the dark.”

“She doesn’t like you very much, either.” I crack a smile. “But I don’t want to overwhelm her.”

“Is that really the reason?” Erik leans forward now, staring at me.