Chapter 2

The next morning, I found my mother’s moon crown in the center of the breakfast table.

It rested in its polished case, carrying no trace of Lillian.

Darius sat at the head of the table with an untouched cup of black coffee before him.

“Your succession ceremony has been rescheduled for midnight the day after tomorrow,” he said, pushing the crown toward me. “The guest list will remain unchanged. Marcus will arrange the priestess and the Council representatives. You do not need to concern yourself with the details.”

Midnight the day after tomorrow was also when my four father-daughter bonds would be severed.

I looked through the glass at the crown. “All right.”

Julian seemed surprised by my calm response, then gave me a warm smile.

“I knew our Sera wouldn’t stay angry over what happened last night.”

He pulled out the chair beside him, where I had always sat as a child while he shared his berries and removed the vegetables I disliked.

This morning, Lillian’s coat was draped across the chair.

I walked to the other end of the table and sat down. Julian paused, but before he could speak, Lillian came downstairs.

Her pale face showed the effects of another sleepless night. When she saw me, one hand rose instinctively toward the top of her head.

“Sera, I returned the crown last night. You aren’t angry with me, are you?”

“No.”

Relief crossed her face, but she remained standing.

Ronan frowned at her. “You didn’t sleep again?”

Lillian shook her head, and her eyes quickly filled with tears. “Every time I close my eyes, I dream that rogues are breaking into the house. The room in the east wing is too quiet. I keep thinking someone is outside the door.”

“There is nothing wrong with the protection ward,” Marcus said, setting down the document he had been reading. “I inspected it myself last night.”

“I know.” Lillian forced a weak smile. “Maybe the room feels wrong because it doesn’t carry any of your scents. When I lived in rogue territory, I never dared sleep far from the fire.”

Julian’s expression softened immediately.

For three years, any mention of Lillian’s life among rogues had persuaded them to grant whatever she asked. This time was no different.

Darius turned to me. “Your room carries the protective scents of all four of us. Lillian will stay there for now.”

He added, “Only until your succession ceremony is over.”

Julian reached across the table and took my hand. “She received a family blessing for the first time last night. Making her sleep alone immediately afterward would be cruel. You understand, don’t you?”

Marcus offered the practical explanation. “The guest room has already been prepared for you. This arrangement will not interfere with your routine.”

Ronan rose and took the spare key from the hook by the wall. “I’ll help you move. No one will touch anything your mother left behind.”

“No,” Lillian said quickly. “Sera has lived in that room since childhood. I can remain in the east wing.”

She protested, but her gaze kept drifting toward the stairs.

I set down my fork. “I’ll pack my own belongings. I will also move my mother’s things myself.”

Silence lingered around the table.

Julian was the first to smile. “Thank you, Sera. I knew you meant it when you said you weren’t going to hold last night against her.”

I did not correct him.

There was little in the room that truly belonged to me. Darius had chosen the desk, Julian had hung the star-shaped lights, Marcus had filled the shelves, and Ronan had carved protection symbols into the doorframe with a wolf fang. All of it belonged to this house.

I packed my mother’s photograph, several changes of clothes, and the worn gray wolf toy beside my pillow. Ronan had given it to me when I was five, after my first attempt to shift had failed.

He carried one of my boxes and noticed the toy’s torn ear sticking out.

“You still have this old thing?”

“I’m used to it.”

“I’ll buy you a new one after the succession ceremony.”

“I’ll keep this one. You don’t need to replace it.”

I would be gone by midnight the day after tomorrow.

Ronan shrugged. “Fine. I’ll take you to the northern ridge tonight. I still owe you that run.”

He never came.

After Lillian moved into my room, she had another nightmare. Ronan stayed outside her door, Julian sat with her, Marcus inspected the wards again, and Darius ordered the guards to strengthen patrols around the entire Alpha residence.

No one remembered the promise at the northern ridge.

I sat alone in the guest room and placed my mother’s photograph inside my travel case. A notification appeared on my phone.

[Moon Goddess Council: Two days remain before the fourfold father-daughter bond is dissolved.]

A second message followed.

[Before severance, the petitioner must return every protective token given by the bonded fathers. Failure to return even one token will invalidate the petition.]

I looked at the four objects arranged on the desk.

Darius’s Alpha ring, Julian’s moonstone necklace, Marcus’s hand-carved family seal, and the first silver knife Ronan had ever given me had accompanied me for most of my life.

Their promises of protection had become the final ties I needed to surrender before I could leave.