**Soren’s POV “Don‘t you think it‘s time we went back home?” Thomas asked me as the two of us stood in my tent late one evening. “The war is practically over now, Soren. Your uncle needs you back home to help him regroup.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not feeling the need to explain myself to my subordinate. “Not now,” I told him. It was short and to the point, and that‘s all he needed. “But you have to understand, Soren, no one expected Ethan to act that way! After he was banished... he actually attacked your uncle! He went right into that camp and bit his f*cking arm off! The man has clearly lost his mind.” I shook my head. “I don‘t want to hear anything else about my d*mn brother, all right?” I told him. “He doesn‘t matter anymore.” “Wait, what?” Thomas asked me. “I thought... if Ethan doesn‘t matter anymore, then why the h*ll are we looking for Rosalie? You‘re not trying to get her back to hurt him?” I dropped my gaze to the floor. Thomas didn‘t need to know my motivation. “It’s more complicated than that,” I muttered. “More complicated? Soren... the queen is pregnant with the heir, so Ethan‘s baby is nothing now. If you‘re not trying to get back at him, then what is it?” I shook my head. “Leave all of that to me,” I told him. “Oh, I see,” he said, his lips pursed together as he gave me a disapproving look. Glowering at him, I said, “Thomas, I‘ll remind you that you‘re not in charge here.” “Yes, sir,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “It‘s just... with Kal‘s forces being pushed back after he was injured, I think it‘s best if we leave the north and go back home. They‘re in a full retreat now! The East has had all the time in the world to move in and drive them back since he‘s been injured. Having the queen carrying a child didn‘t get rid of Ethan, instead, it backfired on us, and indirectly caused our king‘s suffering.” Finally, I agreed with something he said. “I warned my uncle to never underestimate Ethan. I personally told him I thought it was better if he didn‘t get so close to Mirage in person. But the b*stard didn‘t listen. He wanted to feel the glory of winning the war himself.” I shook my head in disgust. “He said he wanted to see his enemies fall with his own eyes. Now, Uncle Kal is eating the consequences of his own arrogance.” I rested my hand on the table, thinking about how foolish the king had been to go about things the way he had. He never listened to me, and now he was the one suffering for “And Romero?” Thomas said with a chuckle. “It serves his *ss right to be locked up by King James for what he did, trying to play both sides. I never did trust that guy.” “No, I knew better than to trust him, too,” I told him. “He‘s no longer useful to James, so he had no trouble locking him up for his betrayal.” An image of Romero suffering in a dungeon cell filled my mind, making me want to laugh. “So... you‘re not at all interested in going back to the islands?” Thomas asked me again, a look of disbelief on his face. “You don‘t care that Damian‘s claiming to be the new Alpha of the islands? Don‘t you want to go back and force his *ss out of your land?” I sneered, “Romero let me use the island as part of the deal he had with my uncle. It wasn‘t mine to begin with.copy right hot novel pub