Roman landed in a blur of fur and claws onto the stone balcony of the Warfur Pack Alpha’s office with a controlled growl. His gold eyes gleamed under the setting sun before he walked through the opened balcony doors. The shift came mid-step, bones crunching and reforming until Micah strode into the room barefoot, body slick with sweat and eyes sharp with leftover adrenaline. He barely glanced at the shifting hologram screen Laurie tapped on as she entered through the office door.“The hunt didn’t turn up much?” she asked without looking up, her voice tight but calm.Micah huffed, still breathing hard from the last stretch back as he stalked to the desk. He looked down at the notes Laura had spread across his desk–parchment and crystal, dried herbs and half-burned sigils. He reached for the map pinned at the center and marked off an
Everyone waited, breath held, as if Archie's next inhale might mend the rift threatening to split the room in two. But he didn’t stir. His chest remained still. His skin, though no longer blotched with poison, was still far too pale.Xenia knelt beside him, hands limp on her thighs. Even she looked unsure now.Duche’s nostrils flared. “This is an act of war!”Laurie stepped protectively in front of Archie, her magic trailed across her palms like fading embers. “We’re saving him from the likes of you,” she spat.“And look at him now. Is this what peace looks like?” He pointed at the werewolves gathered on the far side of the table. “They trespass in our halls, they bleed their cursed magic into our bloodlines, and now–now they play gods with our kin.”
King Renald and the Alpha King Gerald sat at the end of a long table inside the council chamber. Renald was flanked by stiff-backed soldiers and a few wary elders. Gerald sat with his warriors with a calm expression, which only seemed to make Renald even more nervous.Xenia entered, Micah on her right, Cristobal on her left. She moved to the center of the chamber while Micah and Cristobal greeted the kings. She knew she didn’t have much time so she got to work. She pulled out a dagger, causing the guards to go for their weapons.“It’s fine.”Both Cristobal and Micah assured them as Xenia drew blood and painted runes on the long table. With Nova’s guidance she closed her eyes, heart steadying, breath syncing to the subtle rhythm of the room. Nova drew forward, her eyes burning whit
Micah opened the door to the room that smelled of lavender and potatoes, but nothing could mask the overwhelming scent that made his chest ache: warm vanilla and winter blossoms. Xenia. His mate.The atmosphere had completely changed, softened. The girls had rearranged the space with blankets and cushions, forming a nest of makeshift beds. Most of them were already dozing or curled up in conversation. And in the center, Xenia lay atop the stripped mattress, one arm protectively draped across her belly. Even in sleep, tension clung to her. Her brow creased, her breathing shallow. She twitched now and again, caught in some restless dream.Delilah, seated nearby with a damp cloth in hand, looked up as he knelt beside the bed. “Don’t worry,” she said gently, reading the concern in his eyes. “The doctor came. Said she’s just… spe
Micah left to get a private session with the kings. Cristobal went to round up Serif and the girls, and any guards who were willing to stand by their side. Before she could move in to help her mother stopped her.“Plan or not, baby girl, you look about two seconds from toppling over again,” Delilah gestured for the girls to come over.“I’m fine,” Xenia insisted, but her voice was losing steam.“No, you ain’t,” Frieda replied flatly. “You’re holdin’ on by a thread, and even your sass can’t hide that.”“If this plan is going to work you need to be at your best,” Delilah added.“Your mother is right,” Nova agreed. “You have been pushing yourself way too much, Xenia. We need the rest.”
“Archie didn’t disappear, Your Majesty,” Xenia continued. “He was attacked by an assassin…” she paused for dramatic effect. “...hired by Commander Edmund Duche.”The grand hall erupted in chaos. Micah and the rest looked at Xenia with shocked expressions. No one would openly accuse someone in the royal family of something like this. So openly. Yet, Xenia was calm, watching King Regald’s expression.“She’s right,” Cristobal said flatly, stepping forward. “Aside from the assassination attempt, we were attacked on the seas by one of Duche’s warships. Even Archie couldn’t stop them with the secret signal.”Duche’s expression darkened. “This is treason–”“You’re one to talk about treason,” Micah snarled, his voice thick with restrained fury. “You’ve twisted the court with fea