جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 7

The scent hit me before I even opened the door.Wild heather and female wolf—sharp, unfamiliar, clinging to the corridor outside Kael's chambers like an accusation I couldn't name. I stopped walking. My hand hovered an inch from the wood, and behind my ribs, my silver wolf lifted her head and whined."Your Highness?" Ivy's voice came from behind me, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"I didn't answer. I couldn't. The scent was winding through my senses now, unraveling something I'd kept carefully knotted for weeks. For years, maybe."Selene." Ivy's hand touched my elbow. "You've gone pale.""I'm fine." The lie came automatically, the way it always did. A princess doesn't panic. A princess doesn't accuse. A princess smiles and waits and trusts that the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing when she bound her to a male who flinches at her touch.I pushed open the door.Kael was standing at the window, his back to me, his shoulders rigid beneath the formal tunic someone had wrestled him into f

The eastern library was locked.I stood in the dark corridor, my cloak wrapped tight around my shoulders, staring at the iron door as it had personally betrayed me. My mother had said midnight. She'd said to meet her here. But the torches were unlit, the door was bolted, and something cold was curling in my stomach."You came."I spun around. Rowan Vale stepped out of the shadows, his ash-gray cloak blending with the darkness, his brown eyes catching the faint moonlight from the window. He looked like he'd been standing there for hours. Maybe he had."Rowan." My voice came out half-relieved, half-furious. "What are you doing here?""Your mother sent me." He moved closer, and his scent—cedarwood and rain, steady as a heartbeat—cut through the corridor's musty air. "The Queen couldn't come herself. Your father summoned the entire royal family to a private council an hour ago. She's trapped in the throne room with Victor and Elias and half the senior advisors.""Trapped?""Her word, not

"You're shaking."Rowan's voice was barely a whisper, his lips close to my ear as he fell into step beside me in the corridor. I hadn't heard him approach. I never did."I'm not shaking," I said. "I'm vibrating with bridal joy.""Your hands are clenched so tight your knuckles are white."I forced my fingers to uncurl. We were walking toward the grand hall, Ivy trailing three steps behind, my silk train whispering against the marble. Every guard we passed bowed their heads. Every servant pressed themselves against the wall. The princess was preparing for her wedding, and the whole palace was watching."My father summoned me," I said through my fixed smile. "He requests my presence before the ceremony. Any idea why?""None that you'll like." Rowan's arm brushed mine, a casual contact that looked accidental to any observer. It wasn't. "Victor stopped me in the barracks this morning. Told me the Blackmane delegation has been moved to the front of the ceremony seating, directly facing the

"No."The word left my mouth before I knew I'd spoken it. Kael's grip on my hand tightened, his eyes flaring with something between shock and desperation. Around us, the courtyard had become a battlefield—wolves clashing, screams rising, my father's laughter echoing across the Ninefold Platform like a curse."No?" Kael pulled me closer, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper. "Selene, you don't understand. Your father is going to kill everyone who stands against him today. He's been planning this for months. The wedding was never about peace—it was a trap. For me. For my people. For anyone who's ever questioned his rule.""I know." I yanked my hand free of his grip. "I've known since last night. Maybe longer. I just didn't want to see it.""Then come with me." His voice cracked again, and for the first time in six years, I saw the boy I'd loved. The one who'd told me about his mother's singing voice. The one who'd almost smiled. "We can still fight this. Together. The way the Goddess