My hands were shaking as I reached for the door handles. This was insane. I was five months pregnant and about to walk into what sounded like a battle. But Mal was in there. In danger. And despite everything he’d done, despite the rejection and the pain and the months of heartbreak, I couldn’t just leave him to die.
I pushed open the massive doors and they swung inward with a bang that echoed through the chaos inside.
Pure chaos greeted me.
Bodies were scattered across the throne room floor. Some moving. Some not. Nobles cowered against the walls with terrorwritten across their faces. Guards were fighting other guards in brutal close combat. Blood was splattered across the beautiful stone floors and pooled in places where people had fallen. The metallic scent of it hit me and made my stomach turn.
And in the center of it all was Mal.
He was fighting five men at once with a sword in each hand. His movements were faster than should’ve been possible. Deadly and precise. His eyes glowed red with his wolf at the surface. Blood covered his clothes and I couldn’t tell if it was his or theirs.
Across the room Aurion in wolf form was tearing into another group of attackers. His jaws closed around someone’s arm and I heard bones crunch. Another man tried to stab him from behind but Aurion spun and caught him by the throat.
The doors slamming open had drawn every eye in the room.
Including Mal’s.
He turned toward the sound and his eyes went impossibly wide when he saw me. “Wen?”
Then his gaze dropped to my very obvious pregnant belly and his swords clattered from his hand.
Everyone was staring now. Atmeand my stomach.
28
— • —
Malachar
I had been having the worst fucking month of my life.
Every single interaction was a performance. Every smile was fake. Every conversation required an amount of energy I did not possess. I had to pretend in front of the council. Pretend in front of the nobles. Pretend in front of everyone that I was fine. That rejecting my mate had been easy. That I was moving forward with my plans to marry Amaia and secure alliances.
All of it was a lie.
I could not sleep. Could not close my eyes without seeing Wen’s face as I destroyed her in that throne room. The way she had looked at me with such betrayal and pain. The way she had crumpled to the floor. The sound of her sobs as guards dragged her away.
I barely ate. Food tasted like ash in my mouth. My mother kept having meals sent to my chambers but most of them went untouched. It took a horrifying amount of willpower just to get out of bed each morning. To take a shower. To put on clothes and pretend to be the Wolf King instead of the broken man I actually was.
People had started to notice despite my best efforts at deception. I was thinner. The bags under my eyes had turned purple. My clothes hung looser on my frame. Nobles whispered when they thought I could not hear. Guards exchanged concerned glances when I passed.
I was fucking miserable and only my mother knew the truth.
But even she could not be here to support me. She was stuck traveling between Ravenor and Noctherion because my brother’s kingdom also needed oversight while he was gone protecting my mate. Poor Sorcha, caught between two kingdoms in turmoil, though Noctherion was doing far better than Ravenor thanks to Aurion’s council being actually competent and loyal and efficient.
Unlike mine. Fuck them all.
The worst part was Amaia and her constant need to push the wedding forward. She appeared at every meal. Every council meeting. Every public event. Hanging on my arm. Talking about venues and flowers and guest lists for a wedding that was never going to happen.
I had no intention of going through with it. The engagement was just another barb designed to hurt Wen. To make the rejection more believable. More devastating.
I wanted to exile Amaia. Wanted to never see her face again. If I went the rest of my life without hearing her voice, it would still be too soon.
But I could not. Not yet. Not until Andreas and his supporters were dealt with permanently.
The good news was that I had finally found the proof I needed. Financial records showing bribes. Letters detailing plans to undermine my rule. And most damning of all, a witness who had seen Andreas meeting with the assassin moments before the man had met with Matthias. Direct evidence linking him to the attempt on Wen’s life.
I had called an emergency council meeting to present the evidence. To finally end this nightmare and start cleaning house.
