Marrying a Warhound (Cassian) novel Chapter 70

Chapter 70

ATASHA’S POV

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Minutes later, I sat outside in the courtyard, the cold air brushing against my cheeks as I lifted a cup of tea to my lips. The taste was bitter, but was at least enough to calm me down.

Before me, Reina knelt on the ground, her back bared, her voice raw with screams as Lucas brought the cane down again and again.

Her cries echoed across the post, each strike sharp enough to silence passing soldiers in their tracks. I didn’t flinch. I had expected the noise and the attention that came with it.

The pounding of hooves soon cut through the air. A dark stallion galloped into the yard, its rider hauling the reins hard as the beast slid to a stop. Halden Morrow swung down with surprising speed for a man his age, his cloak snapping behind him. His eyes went straight to his daughter, then to me.

“My lady,” he said tightly, though his voice carried a tremor of fury. “I beg you, release her at once.”

“Lord Morrow… I have been waiting,” I said without looking at him.

“There must be some misunderstanding here… I- my daughter is harmless. I only wanted her to come to talk about logistics. How could you punish her for only wanting to talk to the Lord?”

I set my cup down on the table beside me. I can clearly hear the panic and anger in the man’s voice. What I also heard was the meaning behind his words. He wanted to paint me as someone jealous. Someone who just punished his daughter out of nowhere. I snorted. Then finally, I looked at him. “Are you going to ask me what your daughter did first, Lord Morrow?”

Halden’s face darkened. He turned to Reina.

“I did nothing!” she spat, seizing the moment. Her voice was ragged, laced with venom. “This bitch just-”

“It seems that Lady Reina is hell bent on acting like a dog. I will take this moment to treat her like one, Lucas,” I said without raising my voice. “Add another ten. Use at least fifty percent of your strength.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Lucas’s expression didn’t flicker as he raised the cane again. Reina’s curses dissolved into raw shrieks, and the sound carried over the yard.

The crowd thickened. Soldiers who had never seen me before, men who only knew me as a rumor, now stood shoulder to shoulder, watching. Their gazes were strange, weighing me as if

11:21 Wed, Sep 10

Chapter 70

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trying to decide what kind of woman sat sipping tea while another was punished at her feet.

“You- “Halden’s hands curled into fists. “Enough of this—”

I stood slowly, brushing down the folds of my robe, and met his glare. “Do you know what your daughter said to me?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes shifted to Reina, but she only sobbed, her earlier boldness gone.

I pressed a hand against my chest. “I cannot even transform. I have no wolf. How could I possibly sway him? I am just a woman he brought home, a woman the council has mocked and doubted since the day I arrived. If your daughter can accuse me so carelessly, then what does that say of her respect for him? For the shield that protects us all?”

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