I folded my last scarf and placed it inside the trunk. Then I turned to face him fully.
“I am leaving for a vacation,” I said in a flat voice.
“You don’t have to follow me anymore.”
His brows pulled together, disbelief sharp in his tone.
“What are you talking about?”
He knew about my weak body, my panic attacks, the health issues the healers always warned him about. He knew I was never left alone.
“We have a contract, Freya. It is my duty to stay with you day and night and protect you-”
“And yet you failed,” I said.
“I don’t trust you to protect me anymore. The least you can do is obey my orders.”
Then I handed him a small velvet box tied with a navy ribbon.
“Bring this to Gwyneth,” I said.
He opened the box. His whole body froze like I had struck him again. Inside was the key to the Silverfang Luna’s jewelry chest, the one given to the heiress when she was a pup.
“This chest?” Gareth’s voice cracked with disbelief.
“I remember when we were kids—you said you’d rather die than give it up. You cried when Lady Gwyneth tried to touch it… and now you’re handing it away?”
“I was foolish to think it held any value,” I whispered.
“If Gwyneth likes it so much, she can have it.”