Chapter 19: Lukas

I ended the security briefing with a dismissive wave, cutting Dominic off mid-sentence. He paused, his scarred face betraying a flicker of surprise before his professional mask slipped back into place. Ares had stirred restlessly throughout the meeting, but now he surged forward with sudden urgency. 'She shifted. Our mate has shifted. Copper wolf walks our territory.' His excitement pulsed through our shared consciousness, impossible to ignore. "We'll continue this later," I told Dominic, already rising from my chair. "There's a matter requiring my immediate attention."

"But Your Majesty, the Silver Lake delegation—" Dominic began, his single good eye narrowing slightly.

"Can wait," I finished for him, not bothering to hide my impatience. "Secure them in their quarters until I decide their fate."

He nodded once, the movement crisp and economical. "And the female prisoner? Victoria Bloomsbury?"

I paused at the doorway, allowing a cold smile to touch my lips. "Ensure she remains... uncomfortable. I want her well-rested for her trial, but not so comfortable that she forgets her position."

Ares growled his approval, the sound vibrating in my chest. 'Make her suffer. She touched what was ours.'

I strode through the corridors of the palace, my pace just short of running. Guards and servants flattened themselves against walls as I passed, eyes downcast, bodies submissive. None dared speak or even look directly at me when I moved with such obvious purpose. They sensed my wolf close to the surface, his eagerness a tangible force that rolled off me in waves.

'Faster,' Ares urged, pushing against my control. 'Need to see her. Need to see copper wolf.'

The mate bond thrummed between us, stronger now that Amelia had shifted. I could feel Athena's consciousness more clearly through the connection—wild and fierce, yet oddly settled. Content in a way Amelia herself was not. It was fascinating how distinct they were from each other, wolf and woman maintaining separate identities rather than the seamless whole Ares and I had forged decades ago.

As I approached my quarters—our quarters now—I reached out through the bond. Amelia's mind felt different when she was shifted, more primal, her human thoughts subsumed beneath Athena's wolfish perspective. I caught fragments of sensation: the wind in her fur, the riot of scents from the city below, the pure satisfaction of standing tall and proud on what she already considered her territory.

The guards outside our door snapped to attention as I approached. "Has anyone entered?" I demanded, though I already knew the answer.

"No, Your Majesty," the senior guard replied promptly. "Only the servants with food, as instructed."

I nodded, dismissing them from my thoughts as I pushed open the door. The scents hit me immediately—the lingering aroma of the food Amelia had eaten, the faint traces of her human form still clinging to the air, and overlaying it all, the wild, musky scent of shifted wolf. Ares inhaled deeply, satisfaction rumbling through our shared mind.

'Mate,' he purred. 'Queen.'

The bedroom was empty, the bed still rumpled from Amelia's rest. My shirt lay draped over the back of a chair near the balcony doors, which stood open to the cool morning air. I moved toward them, drawn by the pull of the mate bond and the distinctive copper-and-honey scent that was uniquely Amelia's.

She sat on her haunches at the far corner of the balcony, her back to me, massive head held high as she surveyed the kingdom spread below. Sunlight caught in her copper fur, setting it ablaze with fiery highlights that shifted with each breath she took. She was enormous for a female wolf—nearly as large as some Alphas I'd seen, her powerful shoulders and haunches speaking of strength that belied her slender human form.

'Beautiful,' Ares breathed, his pride and possession washing through me. 'Strong. Perfect Queen.'

At the sound of my footsteps, Athena's head turned, her emerald eyes fixing on me with an intensity that sent heat through my veins. There was recognition in that gaze—not just the acknowledgment of a mate, but something deeper. Acceptance. Certainty. A knowledge of her place in the world that Amelia herself still fought against.

"Look at you, little luna," I said, my voice emerging rougher than intended. "You're magnificent."

Athena's massive head tilted slightly, an almost human gesture of consideration. Her tail swept once across the stone floor of the balcony, neither submissive nor challenging—the gesture of an equal acknowledging an equal.

'She knows,' Ares said, his mental voice smug with satisfaction. 'Knows she's perfect Queen. Always meant to be Queen.'

I moved to the stone bench that wrapped around the inner wall of the balcony, sitting where I could gaze out over my kingdom while still watching my mate. Athena rose in a single fluid movement, padding toward me with silent grace. She settled beside the bench, her massive head coming to rest in my lap with surprising gentleness.

My hand moved to the ruff of fur at her neck, fingers sinking into the thick copper strands. She was warm beneath my touch, her heartbeat steady and strong. This close, I could smell the complexity of her scent—wildflowers and honey from her human form, undercut with pine and earth from her wolf. The combination was intoxicating.

"You don't have any reservations, do you, copper wolf?" I murmured, scratching behind one of her ears. "Not like your human half."

Athena snorted, a distinctly wolfish sound of derision, and shook her head beneath my hand. Her meaning was clear enough—no, she had no doubts, no hesitations about our bond. To her wolf, this was right and natural. Inevitable.

Ares preened at her certainty. 'Athena knows. Understands pack. Understands strength. Understands us.'

I continued stroking her fur, marveling at how comfortable this felt, how right. I'd been Alpha King for decades, had known countless females who would have given anything to stand at my side. Yet none had stirred anything in me beyond brief physical interest. None had ever triggered the mate bond, that rare and sacred connection that went beyond physical or even emotional attachment to touch something deeper—soul to soul, wolf to wolf.

Until Amelia. Until this copper-haired girl with defiant eyes who'd stood before me in chains, awaiting execution. Fate had a twisted sense of humour indeed.

Athena shifted beneath my hand, rising to her full height. She was tall enough in this form that her eyes were level with mine as I sat on the bench. She regarded me with that unnerving emerald gaze for a long moment, then, without warning, darted forward to lick a wet stripe up my cheek.

The gesture was so unexpected, so purely wolfish in its affection, that I laughed—a genuine sound rarely heard within the palace walls. Ares howled his delight in my mind, pushing forward to share in the moment of connection.

Before I could react further, Athena stepped back, and the air around her shimmered with the unmistakable energy of shifting. Bones rearranged, muscle and sinew flowing like water as her form compressed and reshaped itself. The process took mere seconds—impressively fast for one so new to shifting—and then Amelia knelt on the stone floor before me, naked and vulnerable in the morning light.

I reached for the shirt she'd discarded earlier, draping it around her shoulders as she stood. She slipped her arms through the sleeves with a murmured thanks, her movements careful, still mindful of her healing injuries. When she sat beside me on the bench, she left a careful few inches between us—a small but deliberate space that Athena would never have maintained.

"I hope it was okay to shift up here," she said, her voice soft as she fastened the buttons of my shirt. "Athena was feeling cooped up after everything... She needed to stretch her legs."

"Of course," I replied, gesturing to the expanse of the balcony. "Ares sits up here all the time. I had the balcony extended specifically for that purpose." I turned to face her, studying the delicate profile that held such strength beneath its surface. "Athena is something special, little luna. Remarkable for one so newly awakened."

A small smile touched Amelia's lips. "She's absolutely smug that you think so," she said, a hint of rueful humour in her voice. "Her ego is already insufferable."

I laughed again, surprised by how easily she drew the sound from me. "Wolves tend toward pride," I said. "Especially those with reason to be proud."

Amelia closed her eyes briefly, and I could feel her communicating with her wolf through the bond. "Athena has no reservations about any of this," she said finally, opening her eyes to stare out at the city below. "She's completely convinced this is what we were born for. That we were always meant to be here, to be... yours." The last word emerged reluctantly, weighted with all her human doubts.

"And you?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. The mate bond carried her uncertainty to me, the tangled knot of fear and resentment and reluctant attraction that colored her thoughts.

She twisted her fingers nervously in her lap, a gesture at odds with the regal bearing she'd displayed as Athena moments before. "I need time," she said finally. "To process everything that's happened. I was a servant girl in Silver Lake. Then I shifted for the first time, ran, was captured, imprisoned, nearly executed, and claimed as mate to the Alpha King. It's... a lot."

"Time you shall have," I conceded, though Ares grumbled his impatience in my mind. "Though not unlimited time, little luna. The court will expect certain things from their new Queen."

She nodded slowly, her gaze still fixed on the distant horizon. "There's something else," she said after a moment of silence. "Athena thinks... she thinks it might give us closure if we watch Victoria's trial. After everything she's done over the years, not just to me but to others at Silver Lake. Athena has... opinions about what should happen to her."

I studied her profile, noting the tension in her jaw, the slight tremor in her hands despite her outwardly calm demeanor. "The trial won't be pleasant, Amelia," I warned. "Justice in my court is swift and often... final."

"I know," she said, finally turning to meet my gaze. "Nor is anything Athena has imagined to do to Victoria particularly pleasant either. But we need to see it. To know it's over."

I reached out, capturing one of her restless hands in mine. Her fingers were slender, bearing the calluses of servant work. "The trial will be held tomorrow," I told her. "You may attend if you wish, though as my claimed mate, your presence beside me would be expected regardless."

Relief flickered across her features, quickly masked but not before I caught it. "Thank you," she said simply.

"Don't thank me yet," I cautioned, my thumb tracing small circles on the back of her hand. "Victoria's fate was sealed the moment she laid hands on you. Whether you attend or not won't change the outcome."

"I understand," she said, and I believed she did. Despite her human hesitations about our bond, Amelia was no stranger to the harsh realities of wolf justice. She had lived among us her entire life, had seen firsthand the consequences of challenging established hierarchies.

I lifted her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss against her knuckles that made her pulse jump beneath my touch. "You should rest today," I told her. "Continue healing. Tomorrow will bring challenges enough."

She nodded, making no move to reclaim her hand from mine. Progress, however small. "Lukas," she said, her use of my name—not my title—catching my attention immediately. "What's going to happen to Silver Lake? To Marcus and Elena? To... Alexander?"

The names of her former pack—her former family—soured my mood instantly. Ares growled, the sound rumbling in my chest. "They abandoned what was precious," I said, my voice hardening. "Rejected what was valuable. Cast out what was theirs to protect. What do you think should happen to them, little luna?"

She flinched slightly at my tone, but didn't look away. "I don't know," she admitted. "Part of me wants them punished. Part of me just wants to never see any of them again."

"A diplomatic answer," I observed, releasing her hand to brush a strand of copper hair from her face. "We'll discuss their fate after Victoria's trial. One enemy at a time, little luna. One enemy at a time."

She accepted this with a small nod, then stood, smoothing down the shirt that fell to mid-thigh on her slender frame. "I should shower," she said. "And maybe try to eat something more."

I rose as well, towering over her slight form. "I'll have more food sent up," I told her. "And clothing—something that actually fits you."

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "You don't like seeing me in your shirt?"

"On the contrary," I replied, allowing my gaze to travel slowly down her body, noting with satisfaction the flush that rose to her cheeks. "I enjoy it very much. But as Queen, you'll need your own wardrobe. I've already sent for the royal tailors."

"Queen," she repeated, the word still foreign on her tongue. "I don't know the first thing about being Queen."

I cupped her face in my hand, thumb brushing across her lower lip. "You will learn," I promised. "Athena already knows, and in time, so will you." I pressed a light kiss to her forehead, restraining myself from claiming more despite Ares's urging. "Rest now. Tomorrow you will stand beside your King as Victoria faces justice for her crimes against the crown."

Against you, I didn't need to add. The message was clear enough.