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We come to a stop when one of my advisers—an alpha older than my father himself—steps in our path and bows his head. His hair is gray, his stature stooped from too long standing at the side of the court, waiting for the king’s commands.

When my father died and I took over as the ruler, I made it clear to him that he was no longer expected to continue serving. He did his time and should be spending the rest of it with his children and grandchildren.

Instead, he continues to show up to the court, day after day, reminding me of the way my father preferred for things to be done. Bringing with him a whole slew of older advisers who have been with the court for too long. Long enough that were I to dismiss them outright and all at once, it would seem disrespectful. Nearing insanity.

“Kellen,” I push out through my teeth as I nod at the shifter. “You don’t need to bow to me in public. We’ve been over this.”

He smacks his lips in what I interpret to mean right. “Of course, sir. I’m happy to see you here. The other advisers and I are eagerly awaiting the report from your meeting this morning.” He pauses, eyeing the other three kings with me, his gaze snagging on the infant hanging from Denvil like a little monkey. Slowly, Kellen opens his mouth but seems to think better of it when I offer no answer to his earlier statement and no explanation for the baby’s presence.

“Have a good night, sir,” he says, bowing again before hurrying off in the other direction.

“He’s going to get those other old fucks,” Denvil says, and Brack shoves his shoulder.

“Language.”

“You seriously think this kid is not hearing f-bombs in Gavyn’s household?”

“The whole point is supposed to be that we’re better than him,” Zade says, and Denvil shrugs, unable to argue with that.

“Fine,” he mutters, jerking his free thumb in Kellen’s direction. “But you know it’s true. I do not envy you having to listen to them, Aug.”

“I don’t have to,” I say, automatically, my father’s training kicking in. I would never want anyone—even the three men closest to me—to think that I’m so weak I wouldn’t have a choice in whether or not to listen to my advisers. “They’re wise. Knowledgeable.”

Zade and Denvil share a look. “Right.”

Maybe if I wasn’t so exhausted and torn apart by this fucking aching in my head, I would argue with them. But I’m tired, and I just want to get this night over with. Just want to show Gavyn that we have the upper hand and intimidate him into leaving our fucking storehouses alone. I’ve already doubled the watch shifts on each one, hoping that if one shifter is a traitor, the other might report him.

Hopefully, I don’t end up with any dead shifters on my hands, either way.

“Up ahead.” Brack’s voice is quiet enough that only we can hear it, but we don’t need the warning.

We’ve all been coming to these festivals enough that we know where the lunar pool is. We can all feel the hour growing closer to midnight, the weight of the divines around us, waiting for their sacrifice.

We step closer. I brace myself for the confrontation, bringing myself to my full size, getting ready to tell Gavyn that if he wants his own pack, they can figure out the logistics of growing their own fucking food.

But when we step through the crowd—shifters parting for us immediately, most of them bowing their heads when they scent us—and come to the front of the reflecting pool, I see something that sends a full-body shock down the length of my spine.

The headache is gone. The weight in my stomach is gone.

She is here.

Mylah.

My mate.

The omega that I have been doing everything in my power to avoid. The woman that I’ve pushed from my head every night. The face that I imagine when I’m sitting across from my betrothed, knowing that some day I will have to bed her and imagine another body, another set of hips, another scent entirely.

My mate is here.

Tied up like a fucking animal, weights roped around her wrists and ankles, another male shifter holding her in his arms like he has any fucking right. Like any fucking being on this earth should ever lay a single finger on her.

A feeling rolls through me like I have never felt before.

I lose control of myself.

The voice that comes out of me seems to belong to another entity entirely.

“Stop.”