The King Who Came Too Early

I barely slept that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the execution platform. Lucian running toward me with an expression I still could not explain.

Now he was coming here.

By morning, the entire pack house was in motion. Servants hurried through the halls, warriors checked the gates twice, and every council member who normally arrived late was suddenly early.

King Lucian Cross did not visit ordinary territories without reason.

Kael had already left for the council house before sunrise. Mira came to my room while I was getting dressed, carrying the same restless energy she always had when something important was happening.

“You should see everyone downstairs,” she said. “They look like they’re preparing for war.”

I fastened the last button on my dress and turned toward her. “Maybe they are.”

Mira narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been strange since yesterday.”

I forced a smile. “You’ve told me.”

“And I’m going to keep telling you until you explain.”

I looked away before she could read too much from my face.

There was nothing I could tell her.

Not yet.

How was I supposed to explain that three days ago, in another life, she had been dead?

That Kael had watched me die?

That the King coming to our territory was the last man I had seen before darkness swallowed me?

Even I barely understood it.

A knock sounded at the door.

Nadia entered before either of us answered.

She looked perfect.

Of course she did.

Her hair was pinned neatly, and she wore a deep blue dress that looked far more formal than anything she normally wore for council visits.

Mira looked at her and smiled. “Planning to marry the King?”

Nadia rolled her eyes. “It’s called looking presentable.”

I watched her.

In my first life, Nadia had been excited the first time Lucian visited. She had spent half the morning asking what she should wear.

But that had been eight months from now.

This time, she seemed nervous.

That interested me.

“You know why he’s coming?” I asked.

Nadia’s gaze moved to mine. “No.”

I said nothing.

Mira, thankfully, did.

“You answered that like someone guilty.”

Nadia glared at her. “I answered because Selene asked.”

“Hmm.”

I hid a smile.

Before Nadia could respond, a horn sounded from outside.

Then another.

The entire house seemed to quiet.

Mira’s expression changed.

“He’s here.”

My stomach tightened.

We joined the others outside.

The courtyard was already full.

Warriors formed two lines leading from the gate to the main building. Council members stood near Kael, all dressed formally. Helena was there too, her face unreadable.

Kael looked every inch the Alpha.

I remembered a time when the sight of him commanding a room had made me proud.

Now it only made my chest ache.

The gates opened.

The royal riders entered first.

There were more of them than I expected, all dressed in dark armor marked with the silver crest of the Lycan crown.

Then Lucian appeared.

For a second, everything around me disappeared.

He looked almost exactly as he had at my execution.

His expression gave away nothing as he dismounted and handed the reins to one of his men.

But I remembered the horror on that same face.

I remembered him shouting my name.

Why?

Kael stepped forward.

“Your Majesty.”

Lucian shook his hand.

Formal words were exchanged, but I barely heard them.

My heart was pounding too loudly.

Then Lucian turned.

His eyes moved across the courtyard.

Past the warriors.

Past the council members.

Past Nadia.

And stopped on me.

The reaction was small, but I saw it.

His expression changed, and then his eyes narrowed.

For one terrible moment, I wondered if he remembered too.

Impossible.

I was the one who had died.

I was the one who had been sent back.

Lucian had no reason to remember anything.

Still, he kept looking at me.

Kael noticed.

Of course he did.

His attention shifted between us.

Lucian finally spoke.

“Who is she?”

My throat went dry.

Kael’s jaw tightened slightly.

“My mate. Selene Vale.”

Lucian repeated my name under his breath.

“Selene.”

Hearing it from him sent a chill down my spine.

Exactly like the courtyard.

Exactly like the moment before I died.

Kael stepped closer to me and placed a hand against my back.

The gesture was subtle.

Possessive.

I stiffened.

Lucian noticed that too.

His gaze dropped briefly to Kael’s hand before returning to my face.

“You’re the Luna?”

“Not officially yet,” Kael said. “But yes.”

Something unreadable passed through Lucian’s eyes.

Then he looked at me directly.

“Have we met before?”

My pulse jumped.

“No.”

The lie came out smoothly enough.

Lucian did not look convinced.

Neither did I.

His attention remained on me for another moment before Kael redirected the conversation and led him toward the council house.

I released the breath I had been holding.

Mira leaned closer to me.

“That was weird.”

I did not answer.

Because she was right.

It was.

Nadia had gone unusually quiet.

I looked at her.

She was watching Lucian walk away.

But unlike the others, there was no fascination in her face.

There was fear.

That made no sense.

Unless Nadia knew something I did not.

The formal meeting began less than an hour later.

I had not expected to be included.

In my first life, Kael rarely invited me to high-level meetings this early in his rule. Nadia, however, had already begun finding ways into them.

This time, Kael sent for me personally.

Maybe the altered patrol document had made Kael more cautious, or perhaps Lucian’s obvious interest in me had made him decide I should be present. Either way, when I entered the council chamber, the conversation stopped for a brief moment.

Lucian sat at the far end of the long table, with Kael opposite him and several council elders filling the remaining seats. Nadia stood near the wall, trying very hard to appear calm. The moment I stepped inside, Lucian looked up again, and that same unsettling focus settled on me.

I took the empty seat beside Kael just as one of Lucian’s men placed a sealed document on the table.

“We came because of this,” Lucian said.

Kael broke the seal and opened it. His expression changed almost immediately, enough for one of the elders to lean forward.

“What is it?”

Kael looked across the table at Lucian. “Where did you get this?”

“From one of our intelligence officers.”

Kael read the page again before passing it to the elder beside him. Whatever was written there was serious enough to change the mood of the entire room.

Finally, he looked at me. “Three border routes were compromised last month.”

My stomach tightened.

Lucian rested one hand on the table. “And the information did not come from outside your territory.”

Kael’s eyes hardened. “You’re saying someone inside the pack leaked them.”

“Yes.”

At the edge of my vision, Nadia went pale.

I noticed.

So did Lucian.

His attention moved toward her. “You seem concerned.”

Every head in the room followed his gaze.

Nadia recovered quickly, straightening her shoulders. “Anyone would be concerned.”

Lucian did not answer, but somehow his silence felt more dangerous than an accusation. Kael glanced at Nadia, and for the first time, I saw something uncertain in his expression.

Then Lucian turned back to me.

“There is something else.”

He reached into the folder in front of him and removed a second page. This one was older, the paper worn around the edges as though it had been stored for years.

“This was recovered from an archive connected to the same investigation.”

Kael looked down at it, and I leaned forward instinctively.

At the top of the page was a symbol.

A crescent moon wrapped around a crown.

The moment I saw it, pain shot through my chest so sharply that I gasped.

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

Heat spread beneath my skin, the same strange heat I had felt before my execution. Something inside me shifted, deep and powerful, and I knew immediately that it was my wolf.

She was not silent this time.

She was awake.

Lucian stood so quickly his chair scraped against the floor.

His eyes locked on mine. “Where have you seen that symbol?”

I could barely breathe. “I haven’t.”

But the lie tasted wrong.

I had seen it before.

Just before I died.

Lucian stared at me for another second before his gaze dropped to my wrist. His face changed so suddenly that I followed his eyes.

A faint silver mark was appearing beneath my skin, forming the same crescent moon wrapped around a crown.

The room fell completely silent.

When I looked back at Lucian, there was no uncertainty left in his expression.

“You’re the one we’ve been looking for.”