The throne room had been scrubbed, but the tension still clung to the walls like smoke.
Vireya sat on the windowsill in Kael's chambers, chin resting on her knees, watching the sun sink over the cliffs. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there. Her back still ached. Her pulse still thudded like her body remembered something it couldn't name.
She hadn't said a word since the council left.
Neither had Kael.
He paced the room like a caged predator, silent and unreadable. Not brooding. Not thoughtful.
Coiled.
They both were.
"I hate them," she said finally, voice flat.
Kael paused. Turned. "Good."
She glanced at him over her shoulder. "They looked at me like I was already a problem they were calculating how to eliminate."
"You are a problem," Kael said, stepping closer. "To them. To everything they thought they controlled."
She huffed. "That's not comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be."
________________________________________________________________________________
Iska arrived just after nightfall with a tray of food, three scrolls, and zero patience.
She kicked the door shut behind her and dropped the scrolls onto Kael's desk. "So. Quick update. Everyone's whispering about the queen no one saw coming. You're officially the palace ghost-slash-goddess-slash-dangerous mystery."
Vireya raised a brow. "Did they get to the part where I nearly growled at an elder and got pulled into the king's lap like a child mid-meltdown?"
Iska grinned. "Oh yeah. That part is legend already. They're saying he growled at the council and lit up like a storm god."
"He did," Vireya muttered. "I was there."
Kael hadn't spoken much since. But now, his eyes flicked toward her, stormlight simmering behind restraint.
"They were going to push you too far," he said simply. "I ended it before you could do something that would've made this worse."
Vireya crossed her arms. "Like speak?"
"Like kill one of them." He said with a look that was almost PROUD?
She blinked. He wasn't joking.
Later, when the food was picked at and the fire burned low, a knock came.
Kael answered it.
His Beta entered quietly, shutting the door behind him. "There's pressure from the outer territories. They want to see her. Soon."
Vireya tensed, but also the looks between the Beta and Iska did NOT go unnoticed by Vireya and had this moment not been about her she would have given Iska shit like she gave her earlier.
"They're asking for a presentation," the Beta continued. "A balcony appearance. A formal court event. Something public. You lit up the whole damn range during the bond flare. They want to know who the hell she is."
Kael turned back toward her. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
Vireya met his gaze. Something about the way he said it made her spine straighten.
"No," she said slowly. "I'll do it."
Kael raised a brow.
"But on my terms."
That night, she couldn't sleep.
Her body was tired, but her mind was sprinting. Every time she shut her eyes, she felt it again, that burning heat crawling up her spine. That whisper in her ribs. That damn word echoing between her lungs.
Mine.
But it wasn't Kael in her head.
It was deeper.
Older.
And it didn't just want her awake.
It wanted her ready.
She sat up in bed, breath tight, skin damp with sweat.
Next to her Kael stirred.
"Another dream?" he asked, voice low and rough from sleep.
She nodded. "I think... I think she's getting louder."
"She?"
"My wolf."
He didn't move. Didn't speak.
But the air shifted.
"Then we need to find her," he said finally.
"Yeah," she whispered. "Before she finds everyone else first."
________________________________________________________________________________
The throne room felt different in daylight.
Not brighter. Just more exposed.
Guards lined the corridor. Staff whispered in corners. The entire kingdom had been buzzing since dawn, waiting to catch a glimpse of the woman who'd ignited a bond flare that rippled through the cliffs like a sonic boom.
Vireya adjusted the thin leather bracer on her wrist and stared at herself in the full-length mirror.
Her dress wasn't as regal as the last one. But it didn't need to be.
Deep crimson, laced up one side. Fitted to move. To fight if she had to. Her hair was braided down her back, face clean of all but a smear of metallic gold across her eyelids that made her green eyes burn like poison dipped in moonlight.
She looked like war wrapped in silk.
And still — her heart thundered.
Kael appeared behind her in the mirror. Black on black. Storm in his veins. He didn't speak, just placed his hand on her hip and leaned in close.
"You don't have to say anything. Just let them see you."
"I want to say something," she said quietly.
He raised a brow.
"Let them look," she said. "But I want them to listen, too."
The courtyard was packed.
Tiers of wolves lined the stairs and outer terraces. Council nobles had gathered off to the sides. Soldiers stood at attention. Civilians and delegates from allied territories whispered and strained for a better view.
Vireya stepped out onto the upper landing, Kael at her side.
A ripple moved through the crowd — shock, awe, confusion.
She saw it in their eyes. The bruises were gone. The blood had been scrubbed away. But something darker clung to her.
Power.
Not the refined kind.
The kind that broke cages.
Gasps followed in her wake. Some knelt. Some didn't know what to do.
And just when the moment held that breathless tension...
A voice rang out.
Sharp. Mocking.
"That's the one who nearly killed a Beta before shifting? The Alpha King's desperate enough to crown a feral?"
The crowd parted slightly as a wolf pushed his way forward.
Young. Smug. Beautiful in a polished, dangerous way.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"Who is that?" Vireya muttered.
Iska's voice came from behind them. "Corin. Highborn from the southern border. Thinks he's untouchable because his father owns half the silver trade."
Corin bowed dramatically. "Apologies, your majesty. I just assumed the King would present someone... stable."
Vireya's spine stiffened.
He kept talking. "You look powerful, my lady. But power without control is just a threat. How do we know you won't snap again? Lose yourself like you did with Rake?"
The crowd sucked in a collective breath.
Vireya stepped forward once before she even knew she'd moved.
Kael growled low in his throat.
"Don't," he warned, barely audible.
But it was too late.
Something in her cracked. The heat surged up her spine.
Her eyes flashed a bright, unnatural green.
And her voice dropped low.
"Say his name again, boy."
Corin blinked.
She bared her teeth. "Say his name again and I'll show you exactly how controlled I can be while I peel your ribs out one by one."
Gasps. A few wolves backed up.
Corin laughed. "So dramatic."
But Vireya's pupils had changed. Slit. Her fingers flexed, claws half-formed before pulling back. Behind her Kael and Iska gasped... she didn't have her wolf.. how in the fuck were her claws descending?
And just then—
A growl ripped through the courtyard.
But it didn't come from her.
It came from Kael.
He stepped forward like death had just walked into the room.
"This is your one warning," he said, voice like gravel and thunder. "Touch her name again in your mouth and I will take your tongue and gift it to your father in a box."
Corin went still.
Kael's eyes glowed silver, searing.
"She is mine. She is yours. And she is more wolf than you'll ever earn."
Vireya's heart slammed in her chest.
The crowd was silent now.
Frozen.
Staring at her like she wasn't just a mate but something worse. Something more.
She turned, slowly, gaze sweeping the entire court.
And when she spoke again, her voice carried like a strike of lightning.
"I am not a ghost. I am not a mistake. And I am not asking for your permission."
She held up her hand, letting the ring Kael gave her catch the light.
"This kingdom doesn't need to accept me," she said. "It needs to survive me."
And with that, she turned on her heel and walked back into the palace, her braid whipping like a blade behind her.
Kael followed.
And the courtyard didn't breathe again until the doors slammed shut behind them.
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