LOGINANDREW'S POV, “That seems premature. We're at a delicate point in the discussion—” “Which is exactly why we need a few minutes,” I said, holding his gaze. He looked away first, and I continued. “To discuss your proposals in private and speak our mind without you listening to us. Unless there's a r
ANDREW'S POV, I noticed the guard first. Not his presence, his absence. The post in the east corridor had been manned every time I had checked it since we arrived. It was a consistent, unremarkable detail that I had catalogued the way I catalogued everything in a room like this one—automatically,
ELENA'S POV, The report came in fragments, the way bad news always did. It wasn't clean, nor with the kind of clarity that made decisions easy. Just pieces, arriving one after another through channels that were supposed to be secure and reliable, and each piece landed worse than the one before it.
ELENA'S POV, “I don't need a recess,” I said and my voice came out flat. It wasn't cold, nor sharp, just flat, emptied of the performance of composure I had been maintaining since we walked through the door. Al'thor blinked once, and for the first time since this meeting began, I watched fear fli
ELENA'S POV, I don't know how long I stood there before Andrew noticed. He didn't say anything at first. He just shifted around, closing the distance between us by half a step, the way he always did when he sensed something was wrong but didn't yet know what shape it had taken. It was a small thin
ELENA'S POV, “During what?” I asked, not caring that I cut him off from finishing, or that my voice was loud. I had spent years making sure others were happy with what I was doing, and I wasn't the reason for any of their troubles. Now I wanted to be better than that, for myself, instead of being
“Is this true, Elena?”“Is your real name, Princess Sofia, Elena?”“Were you hiding your identity all this time from us?”“Did Julian know about you?”“Was your divorce to Julian related to your new identity?”I swallowed hard, my throat tightened as I looked for answers that could satisfy them. I w
RYAN'S POV,The meeting ended with a round of applause from both sides.It was polite, measured and rehearsed. They were clapping hands not out of joy, but out of obligation. I saw it on their faces. The chairs scraped softly against the marble floor as everyone rose, the advisors murmured congratul
“She should stay with us, in this palace,” I continued before he could say anything about taking her back to the Lycan Kingdom. “You know this is the safest place for her, amongst the people who will fight for her till their last breath.”This time, Andrew turned fully toward me. “Ryan—”“I know,” I
ANDREW'S POV,The message came through my father's old spy network in a crimson envelope.Thanks to Ryan and his beta, Corbin, I knew what it was even before I broke the seal. Still, the moment I started reading the letter, the room seemed to shrink around me. The quiet of the guest suite pressed in







