I turn to look at him, but he’s already stepping back, allowing moonlight to fall between us like a silver curtain. His eyes, though…They burn with something that looks like hunger, like knowledge.
Without another word, I begin walking away. Pride keeps my spine straight, my pace measured, despite instinct telling me to run. I don’t look back, but I feel his eyes on me long after the trees should have hidden me from view.
I feel marked, though he never laid claim to me. Warned, though he spoke no threat.
Somewhere in the forest behind me, a wild wolf howls—a sound so mournful it could break the moon.
The morning sunstreams through the palace windows, turning the marble floors into rivers of gold. I make my way to the royalherb garden, where I know I’ll find Astra. Even as queen, she has never abandoned her herbalist skills—knowledge that once helped us survive in the Silver Stone Pack.
I find her tending to her prized moonvine, delicate plants that few others in the Wolf Kingdom know how to grow properly. Though pregnant with the royal heir, she still insists on caring for her most valuable medicinal herbs herself. The herb garden is her sacred space; no servants are ever allowed inside, not even to water the plants in her absence. This is Astra’s domain alone.
My queen. Once believed to be a latent shifter, now revealed to possess powers beyond what anyone imagined. A healer whose extensive knowledge of medicinal plants has earned her respect throughout the Kingdom. My friend since childhood, though our experiences were vastly different.
“You look tired,” she says without actually looking at me, her hands gently adjusting the moonvine tendrils. “Trouble sleeping?”
I lean against a nearby column at the garden’s edge, respecting the boundary she has established. “I went for a run last night. Ran into Kieran in the woods.”
Her hands pause, and she glances up, interest immediately piqued. “And? What happened?”
“Nothing,” I say a little too quickly.
Astra sits back on her heels, giving me her full attention. Her hand rests protectively on her belly, a habit she has developed since the threat to her unborn child was discovered.
I sigh, looking toward the mountains barely visible in the distance. “When are they going back?”
“The Snow Mountain delegation?” Astra returns to her plants, but I can tell she’s watching me from the corner of her eye. “Why? Is Kieran bothering you?”
“No,” I admit reluctantly. “But something about him unsettles me.”
Her eyes widen, and I can practically see the romantic notions blooming in her mind.
“Stop,” I say firmly, rolling my eyes. “It’s not a fated mate bond, Astra. Relax.”
She looks disappointed as she carefully prunes a damaged leaf. Since finding her own happiness with Lucian, Astra has become determined to see everyone around her similarly paired off.
“You may as well get used to his presence,” she says, her hands never stopping their skilled work. “Kieran has formally requested to join the court. Lucian is stressed because the purist faction is strongly opposing his entry. They claim his pack’s ancient magic is dangerous.”
“I don’t understand,” I murmur, more to myself than to her. “Why would he leave the safety of the mountains to come here? His pack has avoided court politics for generations.”
Astra tilts her head at me, her expression thoughtful. “He must have a reason. A powerful alpha doesn’t abandon his territory without cause.”
I gaze at those distant peaks again, remembering the feel of Kieran’s hands on my neck, the warning in his voice.
What would cause the leader of a pack that has been hidden in the mountains for centuries to emerge now?
Chapter Two
Kieran
I stare out the window of my assigned chamber, feeling the walls closing in around me more and more with each passing moment. The palace’s gilded constraints press against my lungs like a physical weight. Ironic, how these enclosed spaces represent power in the Wolf Kingdom when true strength comes from the boundless mountains that have sheltered my pack for generations.
But here I stand. Trapped in this ornate cage of political necessity.
The scent of pine needles and fresh mountain air still clings to my clothes, a reminder of home that both comforts and haunts me. I roll my shoulders, trying to shed the discomfort of being so far from my territory.
“Have you actually thought this through?” Artisem’s voice breaks the silence as he enters without knocking, comfortable with the familiarity earned through decades at my side.
I don’t turn to face him. “The prophecy was clear. Blood will be shed. This kingdom will fall.”
