Chapter 5: Kneel Before Me

The air in the Great Hall grew suffocatingly cold.

Julian remained frozen on one knee, his mind completely numb, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped beast. He stared at the throne, praying that his eyes were deceiving him. But the woman standing before him—draped in royal midnight-blue velvet and wearing the diamond-encrusted crown of the High Realm—was unequivocally Audrey.

The same Audrey who had quietly washed his battle clothes for five years. The same Audrey who had stitched his wounds in dark basements while he fought for his pack. The same Audrey he had callously discarded in his penthouse forty-eight hours ago.

"Julian?" Seraphina whispered sharply from beside him, her voice trembling with irritation as she tugged at his sleeve. "What is wrong with you? Stop staring at the Sovereign like that! You're going to offend her!"

Julian couldn't form words. His throat felt as if it were filled with crushed glass.

Audrey glided to the center of the raised marble platform, her silver eyes sweeping slowly across the fifty kneeling Alphas. When her cold, majestic gaze finally landed on Julian, a bitter, lethal stillness settled over her features.

"Rise," Audrey commanded softly. Her voice carried no echo, yet it resonated in the mind of every wolf present, infused with an ancient, terrifying authority.

The fifty pack leaders stood up, brushing off their knees. Julian staggered to his feet, his eyes locked onto Audrey’s face in sheer, desperate disbelief.

"Audrey...?" Julian gasped, his voice cracking across the silent hall.

Before the word could fully leave his lips, Commander Eric’s broadsword cleared its scabbard with a terrifying SCHWING. The blade stopped less than an inch from Julian’s throat, radiating a aura so intense it forced Julian's wolf to cower in fear.

"Insolent fool!" Eric’s voice roared through the vaulted hall. "You speak the sacred name of Her Imperial Majesty without permission? Address the Sovereign as 'My Queen', or lose your head where you stand!"

Gasps erupted across the throne room.

Seraphina’s eyes went wide as saucers as she stared at Audrey, her face draining of all color. "Wait... Audrey? The nameless stray wolf you banished from Vance Tower?!"

The whisper rippled through the assembled lords like wildfire. Low, angry murmurs began to build among the territorial Alphas.

Audrey held up one slender, pale hand, and the hall instantly plunged back into complete silence.

"Alpha Julian of the Vance Pack," Audrey said, stepping down the first marble tier of the dais. Her silk train whispered against the stone like a impending storm. "You stand before the Imperial Court today seeking aid. Your border defenses are failing, your merchant credit is frozen, and your treasury is depleted."

Julian swallowed hard, his hands trembling at his sides. "My Queen... I... I did not know—"

"You did not know that the woman whose sacrifices built your empire was your true ruler," Audrey interrupted coldly, her voice slicing through his pathetic defense. "You did not know that when you handed me a five-million-dollar severance package and commanded me to leave your city before sunrise, you were throwing away the Imperial Crown itself."

A collective shockwave hit the room. Several high-ranking Alpha lords turned to stare at Julian with absolute disgust and contempt. To cast aside a mate was dishonorable; to insult and banish the hidden Royal Queen of the entire realm was an act of unfathomable stupidity and treason.

Seraphina’s father, Lord Vane, paled so severely he looked as though he might faint. He spun on Julian, his fists clenched tight. "You fool! You told us she was a low-born orphan!"

"I offered you loyalty, honor, and my heart for five long years, Julian," Audrey continued, her eyes burning like silver fire. "You chose political expediency. You chose Lady Seraphina’s title over the woman who bled for you."

Julian dropped back down to both knees—not out of court protocol, but because his legs could no longer support the crushing weight of his regret. "Audrey, please!" he begged aloud, abandoning all pride in front of his peers. "I was blind! I was foolish! The contract was a mistake—I'll cancel the alliance! Just come home! Come back to Vance Tower!"

"Home?" Audrey let out a soft, mocking laugh that sent chills through the room. "Vance Tower was never my home, Julian. It was merely a prison where I lowered my light to make a weak man feel like a king."

She turned her back on him, stepping back toward the throne.

"Hear my decree," Audrey announced, her voice echoing with absolute finality. "The Vance Pack’s emergency subsidies from the Imperial Treasury are permanently revoked. All trade routes registered under my personal seal remain closed. No pack under the Royal Crown shall offer financial or military aid to Alpha Julian until his debts are paid in full."

"No... Audrey, please!" Julian cried out, reaching a hand toward her as two heavy armored guards stepped in front of him, blocking his path with crossed spears.

Audrey paused at the top of the dais, turning slightly to look down at him over her shoulder. As her cloak shifted in the ambient light, the golden aura surrounding her flared brightly—and deep within her chest, Julian’s wolf felt a sudden, unmistakable resonance.

It was a faint, delicate pulse... a tiny, fluttering heartbeat vibrating with both his Alpha blood and her royal magic.

Julian’s breath hitched in his chest as horror, realization, and agony tore through his soul all at once.

She's pregnant.

She was carrying his child—his heir—and he had thrown them both out into the rain.

"Remove them from my sight," Audrey ordered calmly, turning her back to the court as she sat upon the high throne.