Chapter 25

Tobias's POV

** flash back**

We are on the road, Nick beside me, the car tires crunch up the gravel drive, boarded by the beech wood, that covers Night Howlers’ lands. It is a Saturday and the pack members are all out enjoying the sunshine, pups chasing each other through the trees, old wolves with fingers steepled sitting outside their houses, families spread on blankets soaking the last of autumn’s sun. It is late October and Zahra has been at the academy for six weeks. I live for these weekends. Nicholas and I drive up every Saturday and stay at the pack house. He vanishes into conversations with Edwardo and Jameson, checking on the academy with a seriousness that is mostly performative. I go looking for Zahra. I watch her train with Edwardo and Henry or join her on a run. After training we sit in the gardens, by the lake, talking until the light dies. Those hours keep me steady.

I pull the Audi up in front of the pack house and Brice and Jenny are waiting on the top step. I have told them not to fuss, not to bother with the royal protocol.  But they ignore me. Mitchel the beta leans half-visible behind Brice’s shoulder. We climb out and walk up to them.

“Your Highness,” Brice says formally, bowing his head. “So good to see you.”

I shake hands and peck Jenny on the cheek. “Brice, Jenny, please, there's no need for the formalities, not when we're seeing this much of you. Thank you for hosting us again.”

They smile and shepherd us inside. I pause at the doorway, reluctant to wait even a second more.

“Tobias, will you step into my office for a moment?” Brice asks. I turn, his careful tone catching my attention. A trickle of dread crawling up my spine.

The study is big and lined with books. Light streams through tall windows, the wood panelling echoing the beech trees outside. I pause on the threshold, noticing who is already here. the dread icing my veins now, Nicholas and I take our seats. opposite Simon, Jameson and Director Holt. The tension in the room ramps up, as i survey the waiting wolves, and my palms prickle with nerves.

“What is this about?” Nicholas asks. He is a coiled thing beside me, alert.

Jameson clears his throat and the room shifts. “Your Highness. Beta Nicholas. There have been complaints.”

I blink and sit straighter. “Complaints about what?”

“About these visits,” Jameson says. He does not look at me. He speaks like a man reciting a policy. “We restrict outside contact for the first three years to encourage bonding within cohorts. The cadets form closer teams without distractions from family and pack ties. It makes them stronger soldiers when they move into their positions.”

I have heard the rules, and their theories behind them before. I know where this goes. But when Jameson continues my stomach drops. “However, Zahra is not bonding with her cohort. Some of them and other cadets have complained. this week Edwardo witnessed behaviour and reported bullying that directly related to your visit last week."

The words slow my blood as if someone has turned down the heat. I can feel Nicholas beside me tense so hard I can see the muscle at his jaw. “We were prepared to overlook some contact due to the circumstances,” Jameson adds. I know he is thinking of my position as Crown Prince and that the academy has bent rules before. The implication is that my visits are special. The implication is that my presence changes things.

Jameson’s voice softens and the blade shows. “But for Zahra’s welfare, these visits must be limited.”

I feel as if the room is tilting. “What do you mean?” I ask. My voice is smaller than I expect.

“We feel that direct contact must stop,” Jameson says plainly. The silence after that answer is full of small, rattling things. No one meets my eye.

Brice leans forwards, his eyes gentle, voice soft, as if he’s talking to a child “Direct contact must cease. Nicholas may observe from a distance, but I must advise that further visits from yourself cease. you're harming Zahra's ability to settle in here, and Favouritism harms cohesion. contact must be limited.”

The kindness in his voice is poison. I want to tell him to fuck off. I want to tell every one of them the truth, to scream that I would rather stand in the line of fire than watch her be isolated. I want to tell them about the bond. I cannot. No one in that room knows. Not even Nicholas. The secret sits like a hot coal in my mouth and I swallow it down.

We stand and they walk us back to the porch. The sky sharpens, the air cuts. and my heart shreds. they could even let me see her one last time to say goodbye, to explain why i have to break my promise to her. to my mate!

** flash back end***