Chapter 23: The Truth About Nolan

We reached the old northern border shortly before midnight.

The abandoned checkpoint was surrounded by dense forest and ruined watchtowers.

Emmett ordered the guards to spread out while Elias and Mira stayed close to me.

“Don't leave my side,” Emmett said.

I nodded.

A single light flickered inside the old checkpoint building.

Someone was waiting for us.

We entered slowly.

Nolan was sitting in a wooden chair at the center of the room.

His hands were tied behind his back, and there was blood on the corner of his mouth.

The moment he saw me, his expression changed.

“Laurel?”

I stopped several feet away.

“Why are you here?”

Nolan gave a bitter laugh.

“Apparently, I'm useful bait.”

Emmett's eyes narrowed.

“Who brought you here?”

“I don't know.”

Nolan looked at me again.

“But I know why they chose me.”

I folded my arms.

“Then tell me.”

He lowered his eyes.

“Because I helped them once.”

Silence filled the room.

My heart felt strangely calm.

Somewhere inside, I had already expected it.

“How?” I asked.

Nolan swallowed.

“After our marriage in the previous life, I was approached by Marcus Hale.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Marcus?”

“He told me the Ironwood alliance was dangerous. He said your marriage could destabilize Riverbend.”

Nolan looked ashamed.

“I believed him.”

“So what did you do?”

“I gave him information about you.”

My fingers curled into my palms.

“What information?”

“Your movements. Your medical records. Your contacts.”

He closed his eyes.

“I thought I was protecting Riverbend.”

I stared at him.

Thirty years of humiliation suddenly made a terrible kind of sense.

Nolan hadn't simply hated me.

Someone had spent years feeding his hatred.

But that didn't erase what he had done.

“You watched me die,” I said quietly.

Nolan's face crumpled.

“I know.”

“You ignored me when I was sick.”

“I know.”

“You let everyone believe I stole you from Chloe.”

His voice broke.

“I know.”

I took a slow breath.

“Then don't ask me to forgive you.”

Nolan looked at me for a long moment.

“I won't.”

That answer surprised me.

He lowered his head.

“I don't deserve it.”

Emmett stepped forward.

“Who was controlling Marcus?”

Nolan looked at him.

“Adrian.”

“We already know that.”

“There's someone above Adrian.”

The room became still.

Nolan continued.

“Adrian reported to a member of the royal family.”

Elias's expression hardened.

“Who?”

Nolan shook his head.

“I never saw their face.”

Mira suddenly stepped forward.

“But I did.”

Everyone turned toward her.

Her eyes became distant.

“Adrian used to take me to a private chamber beneath the old palace.”

“What did you see?” I asked.

Mira's face went pale.

“A portrait.”

“Whose portrait?”

She looked at King Dominic's royal crest on Emmett's uniform.

“The former Queen.”

My breath caught.

Elias stared at her.

“That's impossible. She protected us.”

“She did,” Mira whispered.

“But the person in the portrait wasn't the former Queen.”

I frowned.

“Then who was it?”

Mira looked at me.

“Her twin sister.”

Silence.

Nolan suddenly spoke.

“She has been using the Queen's identity for decades.”

Emmett's expression turned cold.

“That's why no one could find her.”

I felt a chill run through me.

A woman had hidden behind the identity of the former Queen, manipulated the royal court, controlled Adrian, and helped erase our family.

Then the lights in the checkpoint suddenly went out.

A gunshot echoed through the darkness.

Nolan fell sideways from his chair.

“Nolan!” I shouted.

Emmett immediately pulled me behind him.

Elias and Mira shifted at the same time.

Silver light exploded through the room.

The guards rushed toward Nolan.

He was alive.

The bullet had only grazed his shoulder.

But on the wall behind him, someone had left a message carved into the wood.

Three words.

“COME TO ALDWYN.”

My pendant began glowing again.

This time, a second voice entered my mind.

Not mine.

Not my wolf's.

A woman's voice.

“Come home, little heir.”

I stared at the message.

Emmett took my hand.

“We're going back to the capital.”

I nodded.

But before we left, Nolan called my name.

I turned.

His expression was filled with something I had never seen in him before.

Regret.

“Laurel,” he said quietly.

“If I get another chance in this life, I'll spend it making sure no one hurts you again.”

I looked at him without hatred.

But there was no love left either.

“Then start by telling the truth.”

His eyes lowered.

“I will.”

I turned toward the forest.

The final battle was no longer about my past life.

It was about taking back the future that had been stolen from all three of us.