Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 556

Chapter 556

Upstairs, I washed up and changed, then went to the war room.

My generals were already assembled. There were four of them, each responsible for a different quadrant of the territories above. They stood when I entered and sat again when I gestured for them to.

I relayed the information I’d gathered and watched them update their maps accordingly. The conversation that followed was efficient–it always was. My people had learned that I didn’t tolerate beating around the bush.

The army was nearly ready. Three more months, perhaps four, to move the last of the units into position. The scouts were reporting consistent patrol behavior from the target packs, which meant that they didn’t suspect anything yet.

I dismissed the generals just after midday and stood alone at the war table for a while, looking at the maps.

The largest mark was on Moonshadow territory. It had always been the largest mark. I wasn’t entirely sure why–strategically, there were more efficient places to begin. But my Lord said that Moonshadow was important, that there was someone there we

needed to break before we moved onto the others.

He didn’t say who, but it wasn’t my place to ask questions or hesitate. If my Lord wanted something done, then it would get

done.

I ate alone that evening, as usual. The castle had a great hall capable of seating a hundred, but I rarely used it. I preferred the smaller room off the study, with the single window that looked out over the Ashfields. The view was actually beautiful, jagged rocks like knives jutting into the red sky. There was no wind. Everything was perfectly still and hot.

After dinner, I worked late into the night, reading reports and composing instructions. By the time I went to bed, the sky outside was still red, but the clock read two AM. We still needed the concept of time here for those of us who were still technically alive.

I fell asleep quickly, just as always.

The dream started the way it started every night.

A room. Warm light, the smell of wood and fabric and charcoal. A large bed with rumpled blankets and velvet pillows.

And there was a woman.

She was curled on her side facing away from me, her amber hair spread across the pillow. I couldn’t see her face, but I didn’t try to. I just lay there on my side watching the slow rise and fall of her shoulders with each breath.

Something about it felt comfortable. Easy. Content. Like I could stay this way forever.

I reached out. The warmth of her was right there, just at the edge of my palm-

But I woke up before I could touch her.

The ceiling of my room stared back at me. Dark stone, same as always. No warm light, no smell of anything other than sulphur and decay. The space beside me in the bed was empty and cold, the blankets smooth.

I sat up and looked at my hand, still half extended.

I knew it wasn’t real. I knew there was no woman, that there was nothing waiting for me in whatever warn room my sleeping mind had invented. And yet it came every night, like a constant memory that I could never shake.

“There’s no one.”

The voice came from somewhere deep in my mind I had been with me as long as I could remember–longer than the castle, longer than the title, longer than anything I could recall of this lite It was as much a part of me as my own heartbeat.

“A dream. Nothing more. You’ve always had them.”

Chapter 556

I rubbed my face with both hands.

“Lie down.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

I laid down.

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