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DEREK POV

I was halfway through my warm-up sets when my mind drifted again to last night.

The image of Nora in the kitchen last night, standing over the pan, that shy smile. My wolf still hadn’t stopped talking since.

Mate knows how to take care of us, he kept repeating, like a drumbeat in my head.

I threw another punch at the bag, but my focus was gone.

The door opened and Gerrick walked in.

“Training early today?” he asked, coming closer.

I slowed down. “What now?”

“The Queen Mother will be coming… with Ariana.”

My hands still. “Ariana?”

“Yes. I thought you should hear it from me before they show up.”

I wiped my face with the towel. “When?”

“They’re coming for dinner.”

“That witch….Fine. Let them come,” I said, already heading for the door.

“That’s it? That’s your reaction?” Gerrick asked, following.

“You need to calm down,” he added.

I kept walking without responding.

“Derek,” he called again.

I stopped just long enough to glare at him. “She knows she can’t stop me with any of her tricks.”

“I know,” he said, stepping in front of me, “but think about her.”

“Who?”

“Nora,” he snapped back. “You might be untouchable for your stepmother, but what about her?”

He pointed upstairs. I followed his gaze., Lyra was teaching Nora how to walk in heels, shouting dramatic things like, “Give them! Yes! That's the attitude! Come on, girl!” Nora’s was smiling 

I looked back at Gerrick. He was right.

“You see?” Gerrick said quietly. “She’s the one they’ll go after.”

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked.

He shook his head. “So you better be ready. If Ariana is here for you, Queen Mother will try to make things difficult for her.”

I didn’t reply. I went straight to my office and shut the door.

The sight of Nora with Lyra had already pulled something out of me. I sat back in my chair, and my mind went to a promise I made long ago. The day my mother took her last breath, I swore I would wait for my mate alone. She was my father’s fated mate, but politics forced him into an arranged marriage with Lucy,  the woman who is now the Queen mother and my stepmother. My mother raised me in the human world, in Canada, far away from the throne and its poison. Fate brought me back here after my father’s death.

Lucy only has two daughters — Lena and Lyra. Lena is just like her mother: mean, selfish, and obsessed with control. Lyra, on the other hand, is a free soul who only cares about fashion and has no time for hate. She’s the closest thing to family love I’ve felt here.

Now, as the only son, I was brought back to take the throne. And I’ll be damned if I let history repeat itself. My father abandoned his mate for power. I will not abandon mine for anyone.

Gerrick closed the door behind us. “You can’t go into this dinner blind,” he said.

“I’m not blind,” I replied. “I already know how she plays her games.”

“This isn’t just about games. Your stepmother is bringing Ariana here for a reason. She wants a show. She wants to make Nora feel small.”

I rubbed my jaw, my mind going back to last night again. The way Nora smiled when I ate her cooking. The way her eyes softened for me, even if she tried to hide it. My wolf growled low in my head. No one touches our mate.

“She won’t touch her,” I said finally.

“She doesn’t have to,” Gerrick countered. “She just needs to make the right people doubt her. Whisper enough lies, and it’ll spread faster than truth.”

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk. “Then I’ll make sure they know exactly who she belongs to.”

Gerrick shook his head. “That’s not enough. You have to make her untouchable before they even think about it.”

I didn’t answer. I was already thinking of what that meant. Claiming her fully wasn’t a problem — I’d already decided she was mine. But doing it in a way that shut down the Queen Mother before she even opened her mouth… that was something else.

“Derek,” Gerrick said after a pause, “if you’re serious about her, then this dinner might be your first real fight for her.”

I met his eyes. “Then let them come.”

Gerrick leaned back in his chair, watching me with that blunt, older-brother look of his. “What about ….this…I think…You should tell her about Ariana,” he said. “Better she hears it from you than be caught off guard when she shows up. It won’t make her feel insecure that way.”

I stared at him. “You think so?”

He nodded once, firm.

“She’s so innocent,” I muttered, My head found the wall beside me, and I hit it lightly, once… twice… the dull thud matching the heaviness in my chest.

Gerrick didn’t say anything else. He’d already made his point, and we both knew I wasn’t going to sit here all afternoon pretending it didn’t matter.

A few minutes later, I pushed away from the wall and left my office. Every step toward Nora’s rooms made my wolf restless. I wasn’t sure if it was because of Ariana’s name in the air, or because I hated the idea of any shadow falling over Nora’s smile.

I was going to tell her. Maybe not every ugly detail, but enough so she wouldn’t be blindsided. 

When I reached her door, I paused. I could hear faint laughter inside. It almost made me turn back, because I didn’t want to be the reason that sound stopped.

My hand was already halfway to the door handle when I froze

“…you should rest before tonight,” Mira was saying. “You’ll need your energy for the dinner.”

Nora laughed lightly in response, 

If I went in now, I’d bring Ariana’s shadow into her peace. She deserved at least a few more hours without it hanging over her head.

I let my hand fall, turning away quietly.