LOGINThe morning sun climbed over the walls of Stonehearth, but warmth did not reach the royal quarters.Elira sat at the table in Lyra's chambers, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea that had gone cold. Thane stood by the window, his back to the room. Lyra paced slowly, her face carved from stone. Rokan sat in the corner, silent and watchful. Corin had been sent to keep Kieran and Leo occupied, away from the tension.No one spoke.The silence was heavy, full of words that needed saying but no one knew how to start.Finally, Lyra stopped pacing. She looked at her daughter."Tell me everything."Elira's voice was flat. "Thane told
Elira stood frozen.The morning air was cool against her skin, but she felt nothing. All she could feel was the hammering of her heart as she watched the two figures walk toward the guest house. Thane and Kael. Her mate and her ex-husband. Walking together like old friends.Like conspirators.Her mind raced through possibilities. A fight? No, they were walking calmly, not fighting. A threat? No weapons drawn. They were just... talking. Walking and talking in the grey light of early dawn.Talking about what?The answer came to her like a blade in the dark.Kieran.
A week passed.The days in Stonehearth took on a strange rhythm. On the surface, everything looked normal. People worked the gardens, tended the forge, trained in the yard. Children laughed and ran through the square. The sun rose and set like it always did.But underneath, everyone felt it. The tension. The waiting. The secret that sat in the middle of everything like a stone in a stream, changing the flow of every conversation.Kael felt it most of all.He went through his days mechanically. He trained with Leo in the mornings. He ate meals in the guest house. He nodded to pack members who crossed his path. But his mind was never on any of it. His mind was always on the boy.Kieran.He had not seen him since that night. Elira made sure of it. Every time Kael walked through the square, someone was always between him and the royal quarters. A guard. A pack member. Sometimes Thane himself, standing like a wall of silent warning.But Kael still had the wooden wolf. He kept it in his poc
Queen Lyra woke to screaming.She was out of bed before her eyes fully opened, her hand reaching for the knife she kept beside her sleeping mat. Rokan was already moving, his big body blocking the door as he checked for threats."Elira," Lyra breathed. The scream was her daughter's.They burst into the night. Torches were flaring to life across the square. People were running. Lyra's heart pounded as she pushed through the crowd, following the sound of her daughter's voice.She found Elira in the center of the square, her face white as bone. She was staring at something beyond the crowd. Lyra followed her gaze.Kael stood near the guest house. And beside him, small and still, wa
The morning air was cool. Corin stood at the edge of the training yard, watching the younger children practice. Her mind was not on them. It was on the boy in the guest house.Three days had passed since the encounter on the wall. Three days since she had watched her sister's face go pale at the sight of Kael holding Kieran in the dark. Three days of tension hanging over Stonehearth like a cloud that would not move.Her mother, Queen Lyra, had given her a task."Show the prince around. Let him see our home. Let him see that we are people, not monsters." Corin understood the strategy. Make the boy comfortable, and he would be less likely to cause trouble. Make him an ally, and they might learn things about the capital.Corin was no
The council meeting lasted longer than Kael expected. Queen Lyra asked sharp questions about the capital, about the King's health, about the Regency Council's true intentions. Kael answered with careful honesty. He did not lie. He also did not tell everything. Lyra's eyes missed nothing, but she did not push.Prince Leo sat quietly through it all. He spoke when spoken to. He did not fidget. Kael noticed the boy's eyes kept moving to Corin, who sat near the back of the room. Corin was watching Leo too. A small, strange thing. Two young people in a room full of wolves and politics.When the meeting ended, the sun was low. Lyra said they would talk more in the coming days. For now, the prince would rest, and Kael would be shown to the guest house properly.Kael walked back through the







